Cool Goalfor Android

Cool Goal puts players in the shoes of a small, colorful soccer star with only one task: score a goal. Making kicks is the game's only feature, and doing so successfully means earning rewards like new skins inspired by real teams and stars.

A soccer shooter that misses the goal

This game's flaws earn it a penalty card

Cool Goal puts players in the shoes of a small, colorful soccer star with only one task: score a goal. Making kicks is the game's only feature. Doing so successfully means earning rewards like new skins inspired by real teams and players as well as famous characters from games and movies.

This soccer app gives players one simple objective, and that's scoring goals. However, it isn't quite as easy as lining up your shot and kicking the ball into the net. You and your colorful, cartoony player must contend with environmental obstacles and enemy players that will try their hardest to keep you from scoring. You're forced to be creative with angles and trick shots to keep one step ahead of your foes. Completing a level earns coins which you spend in the game's shop to purchase unlockable items like new skins. You can also earn golden keys to unlock rare reward caches.

Cool Goal's graphics are by no means realistic, especially next to other soccer apps like FIFA Soccer. However, the bright colors and bubble-shaped players have a certain charm, and play a big part in the lighthearted nature of the game. There's a satisfaction that comes with watching a flaming soccer ball hit the back of the net, and you can't find that satisfaction by playing a realistic soccer simulator. The controls are simple to learn, which makes it easier to take on the game's puzzles and challenges. From there, you can focus on scoring goals and earning coins to obtain the game's huge number of unlockables. This library is filled with items from skins for your ball to uniforms inspired by real teams and players. There are even skins inspired by characters from games and other media; you'll find Iron Man, characters from Assassin's Creed, and other famous faces in the library of unlockables. The variety of skins is easily one of Cool Goal's best features, and is something you can't find in more realistic rivals like FIFA Soccer or Final Kick 2019.

Though the gameplay and style of the app are fun and enjoyable, that initial excitement wears off quickly. Cool Goal is riddled with ads, many of which are unskippable and last several minutes. Though not prevalent at first, they increase in frequency the longer you spend in-game. They play as soon as you load the game and then again after each level, in addition to a banner ad that takes up the bottom part of the game screen. You'll end up spending more time watching ads than actually playing the game... unless you want to pay to upgrade to the ad-free version.

The game itself is also short, with only 20 different levels to play. With such a vast library of unlockables, you're forced to play the same levels over and over again to save up enough coins to purchase the items you want. When taken together with the sheer amount of ads Cool Goal throws at you, replaying levels for coins is an exasperating experience. The levels themselves don't offer much of a challenge either. Despite throwing in new obstacles every few stages, none are difficult, and the game feels too easy.

Cool Goal also has its fair share of glitches and bugs. The animations carry a lag time that can make it difficult to aim and take your shots. There's also a bug that occasionally causes your player to stick in a dancing animation in-game, and the game has some cache issues that can cause it to crash on startup.

Where can you run this program?

Cool Goal is available as a download for both Android and iOS devices.

Is there a better alternative?

The glaring flaws in Cool Goal mean you won't have to look far to find a soccer app that has more to offer. Final Kick 2019 is an Android app that has essentially the exact same concept as Cool Goal: you take control of a player and try to score goals. The core gameplay is almost identical, but Final Kick offers much better graphics and less ads. If you’re looking for a more fleshed out experience, try FIFA Soccer. This Android app features console-level graphics, online PvP, and team management features that make for a fun and addictive game.

Our take

Cool Goal does have some cool things going for it. However, it's a rough experience in its current state, and doesn't offer enough to make it a standout app.

Should you download it?