Sega Soccer Slam is an out right arcade game featuring super human players, they do sliding tackles, they punch and kick their opponents to a pulp and throw themselves high into the air for stunning shots on goal. The field is much smaller than a real football field, but there are only three players per side plus the goalkeeper. This is not a football simulation like Pro Evolution Soccer, this is a real slugfest where only the strong will survive. Sega Soccer Slam is also a very fast game, it takes just 8 seconds to run the entire length of the field and you are never more than 10 seconds away from a potential goal.
Soccer Slam features six teams, which consist of both men and women and each team have their own theme. The small characters can run fast while the large characters are much tougher but pay the price when it comes to speed and agility. Each team also features a power bar, you will accrue points in your bar for stealing, kicking, punching, passing, shooting and scoring etc. When the bar is full you may power up the player you are controlling, this player will become super strong and very fast and depending on the team, the player will be on fire or look like he/she is oozing electricity etc.
Soccer Slam features all the usual shots and passes that a normal football game would have plus a few others such as protection, decks and one-timers. The specific shots take Sega Slam Soccer places that no other football game has been, killer kicks, power meter plays and spot light shots. Killer kicks are available when your power meter is full and executing a killer kick will result in points. If you chain a few killer kicks together in a similar way to THPS then the points will be multiplied. When making a killer kick the goalie will probably save the ball 9 times out of 10, but this doesn't matter because every time the goalie saves a very powerful shot it will knock off a piece of his armour which will make him tire. The more powerful the shot, the more the goalkeeper will tire. This works very well against the harder teams. A spot light shot is very similar to a killer kick, but it doesn't use your power meter. At random times throughout the game a spot light will appear and shine down from the sky. If you hit the shoot button while your player with the ball is in the spot light, he will flip the ball to himself and fire a powerful shot at goal.