☆ The History Of Soccer Video Games 1979 to 1999 v1.0 ☆ #Retrogaming @Gav_brumwell @gonarchslair

Have you ever wondered how many soccer video games were made during the period of 1979 to 1999 and what exactly those titles were called?

No?

Well I have….

Let me rewind a bit <<

I was looking to write an article on soccer video games history and it got me thinking about all the soccer video games from the early 80’s.

I wanted a definitive list that I could reference and use to build an article but the more I looked the more I found holes in the online lists.

Generally the lists were skewed towards the current generation or a particular era but I struggled to find a definitive list that started from the Atari 2600 days and worked it’s way towards the current generation.

I thought (foolishly) that it would be a quick job to compile a definitive list of my own so off I set…..

As I began to compile the list it was clear to see that I was going to need to plug the gaps myself through searches on various websites and forums and so the I entered a soccer video game worm hole that lasted the best part of a week.

Many scribbles later and many hours spent in front of InkScape trying to work out how I was going to display this heap of useless information and I managed to produce the first part of this foolish escapade.

Here is The History Of Soccer Video Games 1979 to 1999….

I chose that timespan in the end because it felt like after 1999 it was only really ISS and FIFA that were worth mentioning as the endless revision cycle really took hold!

This list covers 182 soccer video games that I researched and 99% of the games I have played too!

DISCLAIMER: 

"THIS LIST DOES NOT COVER MANAGERIAL SOCCER GAMES AND I WILL DO A SEPARATE LIST FOR THOSE BEAUTIES VERY SOON!"

For me 1979 to 1999 hits the sweet spot of soccer video games evolution and displays the variation in gameplay styles and graphics from the Match Day 2 days until the last iterations of the 90’s versions of  ISS and FIFA.

I've boxed in yellow any significant influential games from this period of time and have given them a trophy, a review snippet with source included and a review score.

The key games that I came up with were:

1. Match Day 2 - 1987 - 94%
2. Microprose Soccer - 1988 - 90%
3. Kick Off - 1989 - 96%
4. Footballer Of The Year 2 - 1989 - 90%
5. Kick Off 2 - 1990 - 94%
6. Player Manager - 1990 - 93%
7. Sensible Soccer - 1992 - 93%
8. Striker 1992 - 92%
9. Super Sidekicks - 1992 - 91%
10. GOAL! - 1993 - 93%
11. FIFA - 1993 - 94%
12. Sensible World Of Soccer - 1994 - 93%
13. International Super Star Soccer - 1994 - 92%
14. Super Sidekicks 2 - 1994 - 90%
15. FIFA 95 - 1994 - 86%
16. ISS Deluxe - 1995 - 94%
17. Super Sidekicks 3 - 1995 - 94%
18. ISS Pro 98 - 1998 - 9.1

Out of those 18 games my favourite 3 have to be:

1. GOAL!
2. Sensible World Of Soccer
3. ISS Pro 98

Hopefully you like the poster that I have created to display these awesome games and just to let you know that it makes a cool desktop background if you want to use it.

Let me know in the comments box below if you can spot any missing video game titles from this list and I’ll revise the version.

Can you spot your favourite?

Article By Rich