All 16-Bit

Review #12139 World Cup USA '94 The worst one Sega CD 1994 U.S. Gold Sports Sports › Soccer X 10 / 100 You've been warned Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 0 / 5 Gameplay I thought Tony Meolo had cryptic menus. This game beats that one hands down. I spent 10 minutes menuing before I was able to play a game. During that time I somehow made the computer play itself offscreen three times before I was able to control my own squad. I still have no idea what combination of button and icon let me play an actual game. Opponents move about 50% faster than your team. Game moves so fast you basically have no control. Maybe I turned on permanent turbo mode in my menuing. Impossible to pass without an opponent stealing the ball. Couldn't get the ball to the opponents side of the ...

Review #12043 FIFA International Soccer The isometric one Sega CD 1994 EA Sports Sports Sports › Soccer G 46 / 100 Bad Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 2 / 5 Gameplay Good controls. Pitch is isometric which makes movement a bit weird but it lets you see a lot of the field but makes passes challenging. Gameplay is fluid but slower than Sensible Soccer and Elite. 3 / 5 Level Design Lots of modes. Corner kicks and throw in and such are handled well which I liked. Everything felt right Has an action or a simulation mode. I went with action and scored a couple of goals which is better than most games. 1 / 5 Theme It's soccer. I hate soccer 3 / 5 Art Style Sprites look good a...

Review #12017 Championship Soccer '94 Another game that doesn't benefit from the CD medium Sega CD 1994 Sony Imagesoft Sports Sports › Soccer G 42 / 100 Bad Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 2 / 5 Gameplay Very responsive controls. Kicks can be directed in whatever direction you choose. The character you control switches to whoever is closest to the ball which is useful but can be jarring at times. Hard to target a teammate for a pass so it's difficult to put together a play. Very fast and frantic gameplay Super difficult to land a tackle since the sprites are so tiny and the animation takes forever, with a recovery that takes so long your guy is usually off screen before you see him get back up. 3 / 5 Level Design Tons of game mod...

Review #11118 Tecmo World Cup: Super Soccer The one with a Metal soundtrack PCE CD 1992 Media Rings Sports Sports › Soccer F 55 / 100 Not Bad, but Flawed Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 3 / 5 Gameplay Plays quite different than the Genesis version but with most of the same mechanics. For starters it retains the side view. Movement and passing are much slower but are still relatively easy to accomplish. Just like the Genesis version, I love that you can rapidly pass and kick the ball around. No sim here. Unlike the Genesis version, however, are the long animations and awkward timing required for receiving or kicking a passed ball. I was successful maybe 10% of the time. Overall this is an ok (for soccer) game, but pales in comparison to the Genesis version. 2 / 5 ...

Review #11075 Nekketsu Koukou Dodgeball-bu - CD Soccer Hen The precursor to Mario Strikers PCE CD 1991 Naxat Soft Sports Sports › Soccer E 60 / 100 Your mileage may vary Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 3 / 5 Gameplay Checks off most of my sports game checklist - arcadey, simple, fun. You only control a single player on your team. All others will take your orders to pass or shoot, but you only have direct control of the one guy. I like how simple this makes things, which is a double-edged sword because the gameplay loops gets stale quickly. Plays and the ball move at a snail's pace, and players stop to receive a pass, so there's no opportunity to set up even rudimentary passing plays. The only gimmick is a power-up meter by holding down B to create a hard kick. ...

Review #11055 J. League Tremendous Soccer '94 The Japanese-Japanese one PCE CD 1994 NEC Sports Sports › Soccer F 53 / 100 Not Bad, but Flawed Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 3 / 5 Gameplay Plays exactly like Formation Soccer. 2 / 5 Level Design Way way way too many clicks to get into a match. And the long load times don't help. 1 / 5 Theme Language barrier. Only Italian league teams. Mm k 2 / 5 Art Style Small sprites that move well without slowdown or blur. 4 / 5 Audio Good music plays continuously, plus great voices. More PCE CD reviews Browse all reviews

Review #11036 Formation Soccer '95 della Seria A The Italian-Japanese one PCE CD 1995 Human Sports Sports › Soccer F 53 / 100 Not Bad, but Flawed Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 3 / 5 Gameplay Fast movement, overhead view, and passing that actually works. Sort of. Opponenents are aggressive and hard to dispossess, but this is one of the better arcade-style soccer games out there. 2 / 5 Level Design Way way way too many clicks to get into a match. And the long load times don't help. 1 / 5 Theme Language barrier. Only Italian league teams. Mm k 2 / 5 Art Style Small sprites that move well without slowdown or blur. 4 / 5 Audio Good mus...

Review #8104 Power Eleven The easiest pick up and play soccer title PCE 1991 Hudson Soft Sports Sports › Soccer D 71 / 100 Good Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 4 / 5 Gameplay I love the simplicity and fun factor on display here. The AI is dumb as a box of rocks, but I appreciate a soccer game where I can score and play all phases of the game - defense, offense, passing, tackling, and the like. And they do it all with one button. Brilliant. 3 / 5 Level Design Season, VS, Watch, and PK mode Dead simple to jump into a game. 4 / 5 Theme Hudson's patented unassuming, fun, arcadey style. A goofy opening cinematic shows someone enter a HuCard and power up the PC Engine. No language barrier. 2 / 5...

Review #8067 J-League - Greatest Eleven Last gen gameplay PCE 1993 Nihon Bussan Sports Sports › Soccer G 40 / 100 Bad Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 2 / 5 Gameplay Arcadey soccer game. Can't choose which player to control so you have to chase down the ball. One missed tackle can ruin your entire defense. Passing is also difficult because it always goes to one preselected teammate. All other players on the field stand in a predefined spot and swarm to you when you enter their zone. You have to control your goalie which is very difficult. Overall it plays like a simple NES style sports game. 2 / 5 Level Design Exhibition and tournament only. No difficulty settings. 2 / 5 Theme Easy to jump into a game. Minim...

Review #8049 Formation Soccer - On J League The one where the ball never touches the ground PCE 1994 Human Sports Sports › Soccer H 29 / 100 Horrible Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 1 / 5 Gameplay The ball never touches the ground. Everyone kicks it up and heads and bicycle kicks the ball. Impossible to dribble, pass, or shoot. 2 / 5 Level Design Way too many clicks to get into a game. Lots of mode. 1 / 5 Theme Language barrier 2 / 5 Art Style Minimal animation 2 / 5 Audio More PCE reviews Browse all reviews

Review #8048 Formation Soccer - Human Cup '90 Very slow pace. Difficult to complete a pass. Best strategy is to run down the field and fire a shot. Not much to this one. PCE 1990 Human Sports Sports › Soccer H 30 / 100 Horrible Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 1 / 5 Gameplay Very slow pace. Difficult to complete a pass. Best strategy is to run down the field and fire a shot. Not much to this one. 2 / 5 Level Design Only exhibition and tournament modes. Early gen release 2 / 5 Theme A small number of international country teams. 2 / 5 Art Style Simple 2 / 5 Audio Music plays throughout and sounds like a Western movie soundtrack with a harm...

Review #6846 Ultimate Soccer Yet another so-so soccer title MD PAL 1993 Sega Sports Sports › Soccer G 45 / 100 Bad Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 2 / 5 Gameplay Lots of customization options, including game speed and difficulty. It plays fast, even on Slow speed. I was able to score a fair amount on Easy difficulty, which is always a plus. This is a result of braindead AI that doesn't even try to possess the ball. The controls are weird but functional. Movement feels wonky at time, with you suddenly and randomly losing possession of the ball from time to time. Also, there isn't a dedicated pass button, but instead you have two kick buttons that sometimes feel like a light and heavy kick but don't feel reliable in any way. 3 / 5 Level Desi...

Review #6844 Total Football Total football? Naw, it's just soccer. MD PAL 1995 Domark Sports Sports › Soccer H 33 / 100 Horrible Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 1 / 5 Gameplay This is one of the late-gen titles that play so heavily into the simulation side of things that I can't do a dang thing. Every pass is intercepted, the opponent passes and dispossesses at will, and I can't get a word in edgewise. The isometric view is the rancid cherry on top. No thanks. 2 / 5 Level Design I think there are all the usual modes but the unmarked icons so popular in these Europe releases have me all kinds of confused. 1 / 5 Theme I hate these European soccer titles. The over-the-top goal celebrations set this ap...

Review #6841 Super Kick Off The one where you dribble MD PAL 1992 U.S. Gold Sports Sports › Soccer H 28 / 100 Horrible Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 1 / 5 Gameplay Super fast movement and even though it's configurable to three different speed settings, the lowest speed is still too fast. The weirdest thing about this game is that you have to actively maintain possession of the ball. In most games. You pass to a player and they handle all the dribbling and maintaining the ball. But in this one, if you're running fast, the ball will run out ahead of you faster than you can even get to. So you have to maintain your dribble by moving diagonally towards the direction that you're headed. It's a very strange mechanic and difficult to figure out how to work with. That...

Review #6840 Striker The one with horrible AI MD PAL 1995 Sega Sports Sports › Soccer G 42 / 100 Bad Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 2 / 5 Gameplay Same game as Elite Soccer. Fast speed and responsive controls. Computer AI is impressively awful. NPCs are constantly on the wrong side of the ball so every possession is a breakaway. So weird One interesting gimmick is the ability to toggle between three camera views - behind, side, and top-down. Did the SNES version have this? I'm not sure, to be honest. 3 / 5 Level Design Tons of game modes 1 / 5 Theme I hate soccer 2 / 5 Art Style Everything's ugly but it moves nicely 1 / 5 Audio ...

Review #6834 Sensible Soccer: European Champions The Amiga one MD PAL 1993 Sony Imagesoft Sports Sports › Soccer E 64 / 100 Your mileage may vary Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 4 / 5 Gameplay I'm guessing this is a rebranded version of the horribly named International Sensible Soccer Limited Edition: World Champions game because it plays exactly the same. See all momy notes on that one. It's so much better than the sequel, Championship Soccer '94. 3 / 5 Level Design Tons of game modes 1 / 5 Theme I hate soccer 2 / 5 Art Style The teeny tiniest sprites you've ever seen in a video game. These guys are about 4 pixels tall I swear. I estimate they're about...

Review #6828 Premier Manager 97 Roster update MD PAL 1996 Sega Sports Sports › Soccer H 35 / 100 Horrible Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 2 / 5 Gameplay Nothing but menuing. Set up your roster, your arena, your coaching staff, your training routines and in-game strategies, and then watch the game be played. And by watch the game, I mean watch an almost entirely static screen with a four pixel ball move around a narrow green pitch while text announces tackles, shots, saves, and the like. The menus are actually intuitive to navigate and the game simulation can be dailed up or down between six speeds. At any time you can interrupt to make substitutions or change formations and tactics. There's not much to it, but it appealed somewhat to my left brain. 2 / 5 ...

Review #6827 Premier Manager Why play a soccer game when the computer will do it for you? MD PAL 1995 Sega Sports Sports › Soccer H 35 / 100 Horrible Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 2 / 5 Gameplay Nothing but menuing. Set up your roster, your arena, your coaching staff, your training routines and in-game strategies, and then watch the game be played. And by watch the game, I mean watch an almost entirely static screen with a four pixel ball move around a narrow green pitch while text announces tackles, shots, saves, and the like. The menus are actually intuitive to navigate and the game simulation can be dailed up or down between six speeds. At any time you can interrupt to make substitutions or change formations and tactics. There's not much to it, but it appealed somewhat to...

Review #6821 Kick Off 3: European Challenge Arcade or Simulation? MD PAL 1994 Vic Tokai Sports Sports › Soccer F 59 / 100 Not Bad, but Flawed Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 3 / 5 Gameplay This title has enough configuration settings to make it a straight up arcade title, or a straight-up simulator. Naturally, I favor the former, and I love it for that. With the simulation features turns on you have to handle every dribble of the ball, which actually isn't too bad in this game compared to the others from this generation that have the same feature. Unlike the other games in the Dino Dini/World League Soccer/Kick Off series, this one has a side view, which I'm not crazy about, but the fast pace and easy control make it approachable and fun. For a soccer game, anyway. It...

Review #6819 International Superstar Soccer Deluxe ISS with even less scoring MD PAL 1996 Konami Sports Sports › Soccer G 40 / 100 Bad Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 1 / 5 Gameplay Basically just updated roster from the previous game, although it seems much more difficult to move the ball. Less fun 3 / 5 Level Design Different stadiums have various attributes list slightly different length and width of the pitch. Also can choose 1 / 5 Theme I hate soccer 4 / 5 Art Style Same as previous game 3 / 5 Audio Same as previous game More MD PAL reviews Browse all reviews