The player forms their soccer team and sets out to win the LEGO Cup. However, the trophy is stolen by the Brickster, leading to a wild chase across multiple LEGO worlds as the player faces off against the best soccer teams.
LEGO soccer Mania provides examples of:
- Adaptation Dye-Job: A number of characters wear differently-colored clothing compared to their physical LEGO minifigure counterparts:
- The Cooper, Shane Sharpshoot, and Tex Stetson wear a brown hat, instead of Flatnose Curry's grey hat.
- Rusty Stone and Steve Saloon wear blue shirts, instead of Zack's red shirt.
- Bill Bullet wears a red scarf, black shirt, and black pants, instead of Flatfoot Thompson's black scarf, red shirt, and grey pants.
- Brian Bandido wears a blue scarf, instead of Black Bart's black scarf.
- Antares wears white clothes, instead of Pollux's grey clothes; however, the real Antares also wears white clothes.
- Guard wears blue clothes, instead of Antares's white clothes; however, Centauri (who is canonically a guard) also wears blue clothes.
- Centuri wears orange clothes, instead of Centauri's blue clothes.
- In cutscenes, the Brickster wears a grey cap instead of his usual black, although his in-game model uses the correct color.
- Adaptation Name Change: LEGO Soccer Mania plays fast and loose with the names of many preexisting LEGO characters, including:
- Sheriff Wild Wyatt West/Sheriff Duke/Sheriff Silver is the basis of two identical sheriffs, who are named Bob Sherrif and Sheriff Dal.
- Flatnose Curry is the basis of three identical cowboys, who are named The Cooper, Shane Sharpshoot, and Tex Stetson.
- Zack/Deputy Danny is the basis of two identical deputies, who are named Rusty Stone and Steve Saloon.
- Big Chief Rattle Snake/Chief Black Eagle is named Chief Buffalo.
- Dewey Cheatum/Wild John is named Nick Dollars.
- Flatfoot Thompson/Prairie Pete is named Bill Bullet.
- Black Bart/Joe Dynamite is named Brian Bandido.
- Zig-zagged when it comes to Sam Sinister, which was indeed the character's name in North American media from 1998-1999. However, by 2002, the name "Sam Sinister" was more widely used by Baron von Barron instead while this character was commonly using his European name Slyboots. Therefore, this is the only instance between 2000 and 2009 where Slyboots uses the Sam Sinister name.
- Mike is oddly named Harry Cane, while the real Harry Cane goes by his German Dub Name Change Billy Speed instead.
- Doc is the basis of two identical medics, who are named Dr. Snow and Dr. Watt.
- Scooter is named Sam Skiddoo.
- Cosmo Cool is the basis of three identical arctic explorers, who are named Meteor Mike, Over, and Out.
- A very minor case with Builder Pete, whose name is rearranged as Pete Builder.
- Flex Combo is named Bill Wire.
- Pollux is named Antares, while the real Antares appears as "Guard" instead.
- Pharaoh Hotep/Pharaoh Ramses is named Eddie Elbow.
- Adaptational Villainy: While it does hearken back to his villainous portrayal in a Failed Pilot Episode, seeing Captain Click as a member of the all-villains Intergalactic team is a surprising change from his role as a Cynical Mentor in LEGO Island.
- Affirmative Action Girl: Many of the featured LEGO toylines are subject to Chromosome Casting or The Smurfette Principle, rarely having more than one female character. By contrast, this game features a lot more female characters, with almost every soccer team featuring at least one or two female characters.
- Alliterative Name: This game loves giving characters names where their first and last names share the same letter, including Nigel Nutmeg, Kevin Keeper, Harry Hotshot, Gary Goalfest, Steve Saloon, Billy Bullet, Pete Pipe, Bill Bullet, Brian Bandido, Luke Lasso, Dreadful Dave, Julian Joust, Concave Clive, Clickety Cyril, Humorous Harold, Fenton Femur, Tommo Tornado, Propeller Pete, Chili Con Charlie, Miles McBad, Nautical Nina, Simon Stripes, Dim Dem Bones, Tom Tin-Ribs, Spooky Skelly, Norris Nobbles, Polly Plaster, Brian Bandade, Gavin Graze, Sam Skiddoo, Rebecca Rachett, Nobby Nuts, Bob Bolts, Peter Petrol, Meteor Mike, P.P. Pickaxe, Hardhat Harry, Nigel Neutron, Steve Sixpence, Shane Sharpshoot, Eddie Elbow, and Horatio Header.
- Canon Foreigner: Most of the playable characters are based upon preexisting LEGO themes, but were created specifically for this game and do not appear in the original sets.
- Captain Colorbeard: In addition to Captain Redbeard, the entire Tricorner Pirates team follows this naming trend with Bluebeard, Yellowbeard, Greybeard, Whitebeard, and Greenbeard.
- Conflict Ball: It makes sense why villainous teams (such as The Bandits, Cedric's Knights, Adventurers Villains, Pirate Skeletons, Tricorner Pirates, and Bricksterbots) would impede the heroes' progress in chasing the Brickster. In all other cases, it seems that the soccer teams are arbitrarily slowing the heroes down with pointless soccer matches for no reason other than to provide more soccer games for the player. In at least one instance, the Brickster takes advantage of the player's soccer matches with friendly teams to sabotage their progress and continue his escape.
- Defeat Equals Friendship: Upon beating a soccer team in Story Mode, that team's members are made available to add to the player's own team. This even includes villains teams such as The Bandits and Adventurers Villains, who are fine with teaming up with the player despite opposing them.
- Dem Bones: The Skeleton Soldiers and Pirate Skeletons are teams of skeletal knights and pirates, respectively.
- Demoted to Extra: Despite being the main recurring villain of the LEGO Adventurers theme, Baron von Barron only appears as a brief cameo in one of the cutscenes.
- Duels Decide Everything: The answer to every problem is playing soccer and winning. A group of villains blocking your path? Beat them in a soccer match, and they'll let you pass! Need fuel from the space station? Beat the astronauts in a soccer match, and they'll refuel your spaceship!
- Market-Based Title: The game is titled either LEGO Soccer Mania or LEGO Football Mania depending on the country.
- Massive Multiplayer Crossover: This LEGO Soccer game also crosses over with a bunch of other LEGO themes, including LEGO Western, LEGO Knights' Kingdom, LEGO Adventurers, LEGO Pirates, LEGO Arctic, LEGO City Center, LEGO Space Port, LEGO Life on Mars, and LEGO Island.
- Named by the Adaptation:
- Tom O'Hawk and Chief Big Feather both originate from LEGO Western sets but are not known to have any prior names, making LEGO Soccer Mania the first instance where they are named.
- The unnamed Skeleton Soldiers from LEGO Knights' Kingdom are given names.
- Inverted with Canopus and Antares, who are named in LEGO Life on Mars but are merely called "Excavation Searcher" and "Guard" here.
- Noble Demon: Although Cedric the Bull and Captain Redbeard are villains hindering the player's progress, they do keep their word and give the player means to continue chasing the Brickster if they are defeated. This is in contrast with the Adventurers Villains, who try to point the player in the wrong direction after being beaten.
- Only Six Faces: In the GBA version, each team only consists of two or three minifigure sprites. For example, an Adventurers team may consist entirely of six Dr. Kilroy and Johnny Thunder clones instead of six unique characters.
- Original Generation: Referee and special reporter Freddy Fit, who is the game's mascot, is an original character not based on any of the themes or toylines in this Massive Multiplayer Crossover.
- Punny Name:
- Luke Yonder's name is a pun on "look yonder".
- Chili Con Charlie's name is a pun on "chili con carne".
- Jimmy Changa's name is a pun on "chimichanga".
- Terry Dactill's name is a pun on "pterodactyl".
- I.C. Day's name is a pun on "icy day".
- Demi Lition's name is a pun on "demolition".
- Bernie Down's name is a pun on "burn down".
- Reused Character Design: Many original character designs are derived from preexisting minifigure designs with minor alterations; for example, Jimmy Changa is derived from Rudo Villano's design, just with a beard and a different hat. In some cases (such as Bob Sherrif and Sheriff Dal), multiple characters appear with identical designs.
- Secret Character: Steve Sixpence, Shane Sharpshoot, Sir Pinpoint, Eddie Elbow, Horatio Header, and Reigel cannot be unlocked by playing through Story Mode; instead, they must be unlocked by completing the Skill Zone challenges.
- Sequel Hook: Although the Brickster is captured and locked up in the spaceship hold, he has a key to break free and cause more trouble in the future.
- Spell My Name With An S:
- Adventurers' Island from LEGO Island 2 makes a return, now called "Adventure Island".
- Centauri and Riegel/Rigel's names are spelled "Centuri" and "Reigel" here, respectively.
- A minor example: the term "Brickster-Bot" is formatted as "Bricksterbot" here.
- Theme Naming:
- In general, the names of players in each team tend to follow a running theme. For example, all of the Astronauts' names (Ian Orbit, Star Gazer, Buzz Lunar, Jet Thrust, Johnny Spacedust, Lunar Unit) are space-themed; many of the Adventurers Pilots' names (Tommo Tornado, Propeller Pete, Misty Goggles) evoke flying; many of the Skeleton Soldiers' names (Sir Byron The Bone, Concave Clive, Clickety Cyril, Humorous Harold, Gyrating John, Fenton Femur) are related to bones; etc.
- Two Shipmate Shipmates pirates are named Port and Starboard, which are the two sides of a ship.
- Two Arctic Explorers are named Over and Out, a play on the phrase "over and out".
- Two Firefighters are named Firefighter Jack and Firefighter Jill, referencing the nursery rhyme about Jack and Jill.
- Toyless Toyline Character: Although this game is based upon LEGO toys, at least half of the characters are exclusive to this game and do not have any physical counterparts.
- Unseen No More: This game marks the first direct appearance of Captain Click in published LEGO media. He had previously only appeared as a trading card in the Game Boy Color version of LEGO Island 2 and in a Failed Pilot Episode for a LEGO TV series.
- Villain Team-Up:
- While Sam Sinister (also known as Slyboots) and Rudo Villano are both parts of the LEGO Adventurers Rogues Gallery, they have never interacted before. Here, they team up on the Adventurers Villains and Intergalactic teams.
- The final match is against the Intergalactic team, which consists of the Brickster, Captain Redbeard, Rudo Villano, Captain Click, Sam Sinister, and Cedric the Bull as a bunch of villains teaming up.
- You Are Number 6: The Bricksterbots are simply named "Bricksterbot 1" through "Bricksterbot 6".
- You Don't Look Like You:
- The LEGO Adventurers character called "Harry Cane" is most likely intended to be Mike instead of Harry Cane, since he has Mike's face and Harry Cane appears separately as "Billy Speed". Even so, Mike's entire outfit is completely different from his physical minifigure, dressing more similarly to Johnny Thunder.
- While Rudo Villano's appearance wears the same shirt and pants as his physical minifigure, his shirt is unbuttoned and he wears a completely different hat.
- According to his trading card in LEGO Island 2, Captain Click wears a conquistador helmet and has no eyepatch, looking just like all the other pirate skeletons in the first LEGO Island game. Here, he wears a bicorne and has an Eyepatch of Power to give him a more unique appearance.
- "Antares" has Pollux's head; since "Guard" appears separately and has Antares's head, it's unclear whether "Antares" is meant to be an off-model Antares or a misnamed Pollux.
