By Simon Wright - Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88
Football has
become one of the most popular simulations available for video game
addicts. There have been a range of
different titles over the years, and in a new regular series for Simon’s
Football Zone, I will be reviewing some of these games. They will range from excellent playable
games, to titles that were probably best being left on the shelf.
It is 20
years since the FIFA series started and I’ve been lucky enough to own all but
one title at some point during my life.
The first game to get the review treatment in the Computer Chain is the
very first game in the series, FIFA International Soccer.
FIFA International Soccer (often
referred as FIFA 94)
Released: Christmas 1993
Systems: PC, Nintendo Game Boy, SEGA Mega
Drive, SEGA Master System, SEGA CD
Cover Stars: David Platt and Piotr Swierczewski
Football
video games were around in the late 1980s, but before then – they weren’t that
good to be honest. I mean who has heard
of games called Kick Off or Match Day.
The titles themselves speak for how much imagination there was behind
these.
That all
changed when in 1993, EA Sports managed to bag an official license from
football’s main governing body FIFA.
From that moment on, football games changed forever.
FIFA International
Soccer was first released in 1993, becoming a popular gift for Christmas of
that particular year. It is more
commonly known nowadays as FIFA 94, and burst onto the various top gaming
systems at the time, such as the Nintendo Game Boy, and Sega Mega Drive and
Master System models.
Former
Arsenal and Sampdoria midfielder David Platt might well have been on the cover
of this game along with some Polish guy, but neither player appears. In fact there are no club teams or real-life
players on the game, despite the FIFA license.
International teams completely dominate this version, and the stars of
the mid-1990s like Roberto Baggio, Romario, Hristo Stoichkov and Roger Milla do
not feature. Instead, say hello to
fictional names such as David Plank, Tim Dennhey and Juan Lopez!
When you look
at this game in 2013 the gameplay is very poor, but back in 1993-94 it set the
standard. This was the first game with a
full isometric view of the pitch, although it more looks like the players are
kicking around a scrunched up paper coffee cup rather than a genuine football. Another bug was if you controlled your
striker to stand right infront of the goalkeeper, the keeper just kicks the
ball against you and you simply can’t miss an empty goal – well unless you are
Ronnie Rosenthal I suppose.
That element
is a shame, as the goalkeepers in the game are generally very good. They pull off some incredible saves and
without the sometimes lame commentary in later editions, they are enjoyed
more. Gianluigi Buffon and Iker Casillas
should be impressed with some of the stops produced by the computer keepers on
FIFA International Soccer.
The game is
very variable with options. You can turn
the dreaded offside rule off and those who don’t like any interruptions can
simply turn fouls off too. So the
players who want to play fouling football will succeed well at this game. You don’t have to score goals and play pretty
soccer like Arsenal try to without winning silverware. All you need to do is push, head-butt and
dive your way to glory.
Tactical
masterstrokes are saved with the better gaming technology, but five different
kinds of strategy are available to tinker with.
Every match also starts with a fictional character named Ron Barr giving
a bland introduction to the game you are about to play and then before
kick-off, the match starts with the coin toss which is about as technical as
the game gets.
At the end of
the day every franchise has to start somewhere and sometimes it is best to
start with a game that made a solid beginning without setting off the main
fireworks. It was a popular hit, staying
number one in the UK gaming charts until well into the summer of 1994, and it
was placed at No.11 in the Top 50 Mega Drive Games of All-Time by Mega
magazine.
FIFA
International Soccer was a decent opening to what has undoubtedly become the
most successful football franchise of its generation.
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