FIFA International Soccer facts for kids
Quick facts for kids FIFA International Soccer |
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European cover art with David Platt and Piotr Świerczewski
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| Developer(s) | Extended Play Productions Creative Assembly (MS-DOS) Tiertex (GG) Tec Toy (MS) |
| Publisher(s) | EA Sports |
| Composer(s) | Jeff van Dyck Graeme Coleman (3DO) Anthony N. Putson (Amiga) Ray Deefholts (DOS) |
| Series | FIFA |
| Platform(s) | Mega Drive/Genesis, 3DO, Amiga, MS-DOS, Game Boy, Game Gear, Sega CD, Master System, Super NES |
| Release date(s) | Mega Drive/Genesis 15 December 1993 Ports 1994 |
| Genre(s) | Sports (association football) |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
FIFA International Soccer is a super popular football video game from 1993. It was made by a team called Extended Play Productions at EA Canada and published by Electronic Arts. This game first came out for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis in December 1993. Later, it was released on many other gaming systems in 1994. It's really important because it was the very first game in the famous FIFA video game series!
When the game came out, people really liked it. Critics praised how detailed and smooth the football players looked. They also loved the sounds of the crowd, which made it feel like a real match. Some small issues were the game's speed and how quickly players responded to controls. The 3DO version of the game had even better graphics and allowed you to choose different camera angles. The game sold very well, and the Mega Drive version was the best-selling home video game in the United Kingdom in 1993. It even came bundled with some Goldstar 3DO consoles. Its success led to a sequel, FIFA Soccer 95.
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How to Play FIFA International Soccer
FIFA International Soccer lets you play the sport of association football, also known as soccer. The game focuses on international matches between different countries. Unlike other football games at the time, which showed the field from above, FIFA International Soccer uses an isometric viewpoint. This means you see the field from a slightly angled, 3D-like view.
You control one of the eleven players on your team at a time. You can easily switch to control a different player whenever you want. The game allows up to four players to play together at the same time! Each person can control a different player. You can play on the same team or against each other. The computer controls the rest of the players on the field.
Game Modes to Enjoy
There are four exciting ways to play the game:
- Exhibition: This is a quick one-off match. You pick two teams and play a single game.
- Tournament: This mode is like the real FIFA World Cup or UEFA European Championship. You choose a team and play through a series of matches. It starts with three group games. If you do well, you can move on to four more games in a knockout style.
- Playoffs: This mode is similar to Tournament mode, but it skips the group games. You go straight into the knockout matches.
- League: In League mode, eight teams play against each other. They play a double round-robin tournament, meaning each team plays every other team twice.
Teams and Players in the Game
The game features a total of 48 national teams from around the world. There's also a special team called the EA All Stars. Each team has 20 players. The players in the game are not real football stars; they are made-up characters. Some of them are even named after the people who helped create the game! All the players look pretty much the same, except for some teams having players with darker skin. The PC CD-ROM version of the game even has commentary from Tony Gubba, a real sports commentator.
There's a funny trick in the game that makes it easy to score a goal. If you stand your player right in front of the opponent's goalkeeper when he has the ball and is about to kick it away, the computer-controlled goalkeeper will often kick the ball right to your player. This gives you a super easy chance to score!
Playable Nations in FIFA
Here are the 48 national teams you can choose to play as in the game:
AFC (Asia)
CAF (Africa)
CONCACAF (North/Central America)
CONMEBOL (South America)
OFC (Oceania)
UEFA (Europe)
How FIFA International Soccer Was Made
Electronic Arts (EA) first started making sports games in 1988 with an American football game called John Madden Football. They later made updated versions of that game, plus golf and ice hockey games, all under the EASN brand. EA's team in Europe looked into making a sports game that would be popular with European players. They decided that a football game would be the most successful.
EA's main office in the US agreed to the idea. A team of ten developers at EA's Canadian studios started working on the project. It was led by Bruce McMillan. The game was first developed for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis and was called EA Soccer at the beginning. At that time, the most popular football games were Sensible Soccer and Kick Off, which both showed the field from a top-down view. EA's UK team looked at these games but wanted to do something different. They aimed for more realism and chose an isometric viewpoint.
Getting the FIFA License
Other EA Sports games had official licenses from real sports leagues. This allowed them to use real team names, player names, and stadiums. EA wanted the same for their football game. So, they signed a five-year deal with FIFA, which is the main governing body for football. This deal allowed them to use the "FIFA" name.
However, the license didn't include any real team names, logos, player names, or stadiums. This meant the game could only use country names and flags for the national teams. The player names had to be made up. In fact, some of the developers even put their own names into the game!
The license for the upcoming 1994 FIFA World Cup tournament was held by another company, US Gold. Their game was planned to come out in Spring 1994, just before the tournament in Summer 1994. EA decided they needed to release their game earlier than US Gold's. They aimed for a Christmas 1993 release.
Release and Success
At first, EA thought about releasing the game as "Team USA Soccer" in North America. They weren't sure if the FIFA name would be well-known there. But they changed their minds. They decided to release the game worldwide as FIFA International Soccer. This way, if it didn't sell well in one place, they could move unsold copies to other markets. The game was finished in November 1993.
In 1995, Atari Corporation made a deal with EA to bring some of their games to the Atari Jaguar CD. FIFA International Soccer was one of them. However, this version was never released. This was because the Atari Jaguar console did not do very well.
The Legacy of FIFA International Soccer
A sequel to this game, FIFA Soccer 95, came out in July 1994. It was only for the Mega Drive/Genesis. This was the start of the huge FIFA series! A new main FIFA game has been released every year since then. There are also spin-off games based on specific tournaments.
The FIFA series has sold over 100 million copies in total by 2010. EA's license to use the FIFA name was set to last until 2022. The Sega Genesis version of the game was even included as a bonus in some versions of FIFA 06. That version of the game is sometimes called FIFA 94.
