28
FIFA
STREET
How good are real pros at four-a-side? This
PS2 game helped us to find out while pulling
off balletic skills using David Beckham, Thierry
Henry and... Tony Popovic. Fans lobbied for
years to have it added to the main EA series,
which finally inspired FIFA 20’s Volta mode.
BEST BIT Lining up as Brazil with Dida in goal,
Roberto Carlos at the back, and a Ronaldinho-
Ronaldo frontline. Unbeatable.
27
SUPER
SOCCER
Super Nintendo’s early years were surprisingly
short on playable football games. This was
the best of a mediocre pile, offering a unique
camera angle based at one end of the pitch –
making it advantageous to attack the closer,
and therefore larger, goal.BEST BIT Getting back from school and diving
straight into a penalty shootout with a mate.
Then another. Then another...26
TOP
ELEVEn
Social-media addiction switched to a whole
new level in 2010 thanks to Serbian studio
Nordeus. Top Eleven included all the classic
elements of a management game, yet was
playable against mates through Facebook.
More than a decade later it’s on mobile too,
and still going strong.BEST BIT Nordeus recruiting Jose Mourinho
as the face of the franchise, enabling you to
challenge the man himself in friendlies.25
FOOTBALL
MAnAGER 2014
A decade after losing the ChampMan name,
FM continued to obliterate all of its rivals. This
edition showcased a giant leap forward in the
matchday engine, a revamped news model,
individual player testimonials and ingenious
system of sharing your tactics, kits and entire
player databases via Steam.BEST BIT Being able to loan a player back to
the club from which you bought him, clearing
the way to forge a Chelsea-like farm system
for young talents.24
PREMIER
MAnAGER
Football Manager’s long-forgotten adversary,
introduced on the Amiga in 1992 and later to
have a fairly successful Mega Drive run. Much
of what it offered feels pretty familiar now,
but the option to see four different matches
unfold on a single screen was innovative and
cool back then.BEST BIT Dialling up 781560 on the in-game
telephone, which immediately boosted your
players’ stats to 99 and granted £20 million
to spend. Sneaky.23
VIRTUA
STRIKER
This arcade favourite boldly went where no
precursor had dared, utilising 3D graphics
for its player models. Dribbling was nigh-on
impossible, but you seldom gave a hoot after
hammering home in the final minute to earn
yourself another match. Gamecube sequel
Virtua Striker 2002 is also noteworthy for its
hilarious team made up of characters from
Sonic The Hedgehog.BEST BIT The intuitive three-button control
scheme, where pressing ‘long ball’ triggered
a cross into the penalty box if your player was
near the touchline.FourFourTwo June 2022 55THIS ARCADE FAVOURITE
BOLDLY WEnT WHERE nO
PRECURSOR HAD DARED,
UTILISInG 3D GRAPHICS
FOOTBALL
VIDEO GAMES