Live Magazine September 2014 Volume 9/2014 | Page 100

retro

THE GENESIS OF FIFA
Welcome to September, the month
where EA unleash FIFA ’15 on the
unsuspecting gaming world! Actually, with FIFA games being released
every year, the word “unsuspecting” may not be completely correct
there… This is true of a lot of EA
sports titles, though FIFA was one of
the first to receive annual updates. I
though this month we might have a
look at the history and evolution of
the FIFA series throughout the 90s.
Let’s get started!
Up until the FIFA series was released, the home gaming market
was dominated by soccer titles such
as “Match Day”, “Kick Off”, and
“Sensible Soccer”. One could argue
that these games were all a little bit
samey in their style and presenta-

tems of the day, including the Super
Nintendo, Amiga, 3DO and PC.
With this new style of gameplay and
the FIFA license, the game far exceeded EA’s expectations and sold
in excess of 500,000 units in the
first 4 weeks. The revolutionary 3D
viewpoint, the outstanding graphics
and tight control system ensured the
game was worth the hype.
The first update, “FIFA 95”, was released a year later alongside other
updated EA sports titles such as
“NHL Hockey 95”. There was very
little new content, and the game remained similar to the original “FIFA
International Soccer”. With a few minor tweaks it was really only of interest to those who didn’t purchase the

point the teams and player names
in the FIFA series were works of fiction, invented by the creative minds
at EA. With the release of this latest
edition real teams and real player
names were implemented, adding a new dimension for those who
wanted to see their favourite team
go right through to the finals.
“FIFA 97” expanded on this further
by implementing motion capture to
ensure the movement of the players
was correct and smoother than ever
before. It was also the first game to
feature 6 a side indoor soccer as
well as commentary, a staple feature of the series today.
1998 bought with it another World
Cup, as well as another edition of

“IT WAS ALSO THE FIRST GAME TO FEATURE 6 A SIDE INDOOR
SOCCER AS WELL AS COMMENTARY..”
tion. The original “FIFA International
Soccer” was released in 1993, after
much hype, on the Sega Megadrive.
While most traditional soccer games
at that time, such as the aforementioned titles, offered an overhead
viewpoint, FIFA offered a unique
isometric 3D perspective, similar to
classic games such as Head over
Heels or Sweevo’s World. The game
was later ported to the popular sys-

original release.
With the release of “FIFA 96” the series received its first major change,
with the next gen consoles receiving 3D real time graphics. Sadly the
underpowered Super Nintendo and
Megadrive versions received what
could only be seen as a minor update
to “FIFA 95”. “FIFA 96” also offered
another major change. Up until this

FIFA. This time an additional title
was added, and “FIFA: Road to the
World Cup 98” was born. As well
as further refinements and real life
FIFA teams, the game featured a
soundtrack that featured Song 2
by Blur. “FIFA 98” was also the final version released for the Super
Nintendo and Megadrive consoles.
As you can imagine, “FIFA 99” fol-