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Download FIFA: Road to World Cup 98 - My Abandonware
True, it takes some getting used to. The multitude of buttons used - covering everything from simple shooting and passing, to player selection which isn't automatic , running you have to keep tapping a button to sprint , automatic crosses and side-shimmies - makes the use of multi-button joypads an absolute must we used a pair Microsoft Sidewinder joypads.
But, with practice, you can put together some excellent moves. Unlike the relatively simplistic Actua Soccer 2, here you'll find yourself involved in lots of penalty box scrambles and, significantly, scoring goals in dozens of different ways. It's also reasonably easy as in not impossible to score as a result of a free kick or comer thanks to a three-option system which enables you to direct the ball with a bendy arrow, aim it at a chosen player or target a specific space.
Good stuff. Bizarrely, you can bend goal kicks, but that's another story. And the artificial intelligence? It's hard to fault it, frankly, with players running intelligently off the ball you'll even see the defence spring off-side traps , and goalkeepers who occasionally slip up and have a tendency to palm the ball away in a continental stylee but, on the whole, behave exactly as you'd expect. Oh, and incidentally, you can switch between three customisable formations and tactic settings as you play.
Yes, that's even more buttons to remember. The 'meat' of the game, then, has improved greatly. And the presentation? Well, where do we start? There's tons of scenesetting video and animated cut-scenes which you can skip at the press of a button , the in-game graphics and animation are simply superb, and the sound -including player grunts and groans and numerous crowd chants - is great too. Even the chosen theme music, Chumbawumba's 'Tubthumping', seems pretty good There's also an awful lot of commentary.
Gary Lineker summarises between matches, Des Lynam introduces the games, while John Motson and Chris Waddle provide the actual commentary. Despite the occasional slip-up "A classic finish - can't wait to see that again" wasn't really appropriate after Sheringham had walked the ball into the net , Motson's commentary is the best -certainly the most natural - in any footie game to date.
Waddle's input, however, is as bad as you'd expect it to be. Most of the time, he just repeats what's already been said. An example? John Motson: "What a great save! Great save, John! Waddle also has the audacity to comment on the penalties.
Well, we've seen professional footballers take much worse penalties than that, Chris. Know what we're saying? World Cup 98 does have some small faults: red cards aren't shown for tackles from behind, for example; there are no old rules for the Classic Cup mode golden goal in , anyone?!
Worst of all, the control system enables you to select an action before your player gets the ball. This is not a great problem once you get used to it, but in the meantime expect passes to go amiss, players to dive in for tackles when you don't want them to Ultimately though, the fact that we've already been playing the game solidly for an entire week -and expect to be playing it throughout the summer - says it all. World Cup 98 is quite simply the finest football game on the PC; the perfect accompaniment to the tournament.
Not so much meat and gravy, then, as a succulent chicken in white wine sauce or something. Gorge yourself on it. Capitalizing on the World Cup '98 craze, EA Sports is hitting the shelves with another soccer title faster than Kiss recorded albums back in the 70s. EA's WC! The menu and interface screens have been revamped with a slick look reminiscent of the N64 version of Road to World Cup. As for graphics. WC '98's are kickin', and the gamcplay speed is smokin'. The player models sport a little bit more detail and brighter colors than those in RTWC for the PlayStation, but they haven't been completely overhauled.
And yes, all the animations arc there, from diving goalies to bicycle kicks. WC '98's computer A. When you're on offense, the CPU will apply a bit more pressure: and it definitely docs a better job of taking away your angle when you attempt a through-pass close to the goal--it's hard to score with three guys on you.
And when the CPU is on the attack, it'll pass more efficiently and perform more cuts to make you miss. The game's control is solid and has been refined to let you perform more dekes and passes.
Plus, you can now change your game strategy on-the-fly and run preset plays with the touch of a button. Soni-cally, all the right bells and whistles, as well as two-man commentary, are still intact. Training, and Penalty Shootout inodes. Unfortunately, there aren't as many teams to choose from: Because the game is based on the actual tournament, EA included only the 32 teams that qualified plus 8 bubble teams , and not the whopping teams that were available in RTWC.
Nonetheless, WC's rosters are still stacked with all the players, and all ten stadiums arc modeled after their real-life French counterparts, including those in Bordeaux, Marseille, and Paris. When the final whistle sounds, World Clip '98 is an extremely fun and challenging soccer game, and one of the best on the market. While some excellent improvements have been made over the recently released FIFA ' Road to World Cup, if you already own that title and unless you're a total soccer nut , you probably won't need to make another soccer purchase.
Lace up your soccer shoes and get ready to be kicked in the shin and a few other places. The renowned World Cup is at stake, and takes place in France so polish up your French and instill carpe diem, for you represent your country. Imagine if you will, 32 Cup hungry teams, millions of fans, and you controlling the free will of every man on your team.
World Cup 98 brings the fever of soccer into your living room and slaps you in the face. The possession of the World Cup is the pinnacle of soccer and it's yours for the taking. I spent most of my life on the basketball courts and not the soccer field so I felt this game would not be up my alley. Upon flipping the power button I was instantly enthralled by the opening of Chumbawamba's chart-topping song "Tubthumping", along with the mascot of this year's World Cup. I soon felt at home with the intensity of power this game has to offer.
From the minds at EA Sports comes a vivid void of limitless action from Mexico's magic, to Brazil's amazing acrobats of ball handling, to the goatee of America's own Alexi Lales.
This game focuses on the teams strong points as well as their weaknesses. So bicycle-kick the other soccer wannabes, get your hands on World Cup 98 , and make your country proud. Big field, small players, and a ball.
The perfect combination when the bragging rights to each country are on the line. When EA Sports creates a game, usually you will find that they did their homework. Again they have come through and demanded that soccer should not just be played on those Spanish speaking television stations. They want you to pick up a game that you are not familiar with and make the sport something you would do if you had some spare time.
Well, you don't have to go outside anymore to work up a sweat, just pop this puppy in and before you know it you will have soccer fever. Let's now dissect the playing modes. First, we begin with the shoot-out, this is an all out war on the goalie. The object, for the soccerly impaired is a best of five shot on goal with you and the goalie and vice versa. Which means after you serve your soccer platter, you will be served an equally appetizing meal.
I found this stage to be fun for the first 20 minutes but was mind numbing after awhile. I mean, you kick, they kick, you sleep, they kick, get the idea? However, it is a necessity to learn this because if on your way to the World Cup you come across a tie, well it's shoot-out time. Another mode which was called "Friendly" was not aptly named. A proper name would have been, "Hey this is just like the World Cup, but only for practice.
This is the mode for the person who, like myself, opens the game and uses the directions for carpeting their birdcage. It is a great "get the feel for the game" mode.
I highly suggest it to the first time players. The Training mode is next and allows you to understand the fundamentals of this fast paced game. It does a fairly decent job of getting you ready for the World Cup, but felt I learned everything I needed to survive in the Friendly mode. Last but not least, the big banana, World Cup mode. Well, depending on the difficulty level you felt you have attained, you will quickly find yourself on the soccer totem pole.
The game also has a sub-menu which allows you to configure things such as player management, team management, customizing players and squad. In player management you can change your players' aggression, so in a sense you can have a team consisting of Barney Fifes or Gypsy Savages running rampant on the field. I really couldn't tell the difference in the style except a lot more penalties were called, so it's good to be in between on their aggression. Now, in team management was were the complication of strategy entered the game.
When objectively looking at the game you see a bunch of grown men running around chasing and kicking a ball around a field. Well, you are no longer a spectator, you must control your team and give them an offensive and defensive angle you feel comfortable with.
In this you must decide what area is most important, a strong offense with weak defense, or the other way around, or just plain equal. Under the Squad customizing, I found that to be a trade-off. Yes you can compile a dream team of your favorite players and wreak havoc.
The most compelling option had to be the customization of the players. This had me rolling because you get to change your players faces, hair color, and so on. This made the game funny because if you wanted you can have a team of players that just left the cloning institute. The combinations you can create could be a game in itself, I fooled around with it for about an hour, made faces of people I knew, and gave them their names.
All in all the modes and sub-menus make this an interesting game. Upon playing this game you will quickly realize it's realistic. For instance, when you dribble the ball, you must quickly catch up to the ball because its very easy to get the ball ripped from you. Slowing down the tempo and setting up your offense is the key to this game.
The feel of your player is very natural and easy to control and to switch from man to man. The only complaint I had in this department was that the game seemed to remember if you pressed the kick button while the ball was being passed, so the guy you pass it to launches it into the stratosphere. The handling of speed with your players is realistic especially with the power boost. This enables you to lose a player that is challenging you for dibs on the ball. Once you get accustomed to playing you will find that the tricks you can perform come naturally and at the proper times instead of having to show your buddy that you can do a fake with no one on you.
Speaking of buddies you can have up to 8 people on the multi-tap. This allows for some all out damn good competition. When you start going to the World Cup, you will find that every team gets harder the further you advance. So when playing, try to emulate the styles and control that your previous team displayed. For example I was burned by a corner kick and header that left my goalie with his shorts down. After practicing that in the training mode, I found that to be a great shot to attempt with success with good accuracy.
Another aspect of this game that I found entertaining was when the other teams scored there were a couple of taunts and some silly airplane arms from celebrating soccer players. The replay is a great thing to always have in any game while playing a friend.
The object is to show play by play how you made them look like they had the intelligence of a gnat. The commentators come up with some slick comments but for the most part are there to let you know who scored and who you pass to and from.
The part that everyone usually just scrolls down to read, the graphics were actually very fluid and convincing. What's funny is that you don't pay attention to the graphics because the game gets you wrapped up in winning. When close-ups are taken you will find a polygon player with attention to detail on their uniforms and shoes.
When I play and review games the graphics are a big selling point, but when you get down to it it's the gameplay that sells the title. For example, Gran Turismo has the most convincing replays known to the Playstation world, however the gameplay is what makes the game phenomenal. I could say the same for this game but I'm not, simply for the fact that I do not compare apples and oranges. This game has the gameplay that true soccer players can appreciate and be proud to call their own.
The bottom line is this, you want soccer, you get it in World Cup From the bicycle kicks to the red flagging from taking down your opponent with an illegal kick, this game compiles everything you need to know about this gut wrenching sport. If you're like me and soccer is not your cup of tea, an evening rental is still worth your time and your money.
However, if you are the die hard soccer enthusiast this game is for you, so get off your computer, get this game, and go kick some grass.
So what's different this time? Well, World Cup 98's goalies seem a bit better than before. They're no longer fazed by headers and seem to react a lot quicker to the action. There are some adjustments to the moves that the players can make too. It's now easier to stop the ball running off, but more importantly the whole tackle system has been overhauled to stop the game from descending into a sliding tackle fest.
As you'd expect it's an international affair, and the attention to detail is impressive throughout. The French stadiums are all beautifully rendered and the teams are all wearing the correct strips. A historical game feature opens up once you've taken a team through and won the Cup that allows you to play famous matches from history.
Some of these are even presented in black-and-white and have Kenneth Wolsten-Holme commentating the man who said, "They think it's all over! The controls are still a bit tough to get used to--and this is marred further by the fact that the N64's Control Pad just wasn't designed with this kind of thing in mind. Passing is still a bit erratic-but at least you can pass into space and hope the player select system realizes what you've done. It's still not as good as Konami's ISS This is basically the same game, touched up with a few negligible enhancements.
The frame-rate still stinks, and the goalies still act confused although less often. Don't get me wrong: This is still a fine soccer game. But EA is ripping you off with this so-called update. If you own RtWC 98, subtract seven points from my score. World Cup 98 is only a marginal improvement over Road to World Cup 98 which was released just a few short months ago.
But to be honest, it's still a great game, and if you don't own RtWC, I highly recommend it. On the other hand, a few things have been removed such as indoor soccer. But what's annoying is that they didn't improve some of the things that begged for it, such as the game's frame-rate.
There's no excuse--if ISS64 can run that smooth, so can this. Nevertheless, if you don't own RtWC 98, I recommend it. EA finally got it right, but then this was their third attempt. Very good soccer game based around the now-historic World Cup. Competent, licence-led but sluggish, frustrating and now with semi-automatic tackling. Soccer, soccer and more soccer. This seems to be the prevailing philosophy of the folks over at the EA Sports studio. Personally, I find soccer about as exciting to watch as most of the programs on PBS.
Playing on the other hand, well, that is a totally different story. For some reason, I really enjoy playing soccer games and this one was no exception. The range of motion is painstakingly represented from merely running to shooting, performing degree turns, passing, throw-ins, as well as corner, goal, and penalty kicks.
Toss in the after the goal celebration and from a distance you would almost swear that you were watching an actual game on TV. The more that I play this game, the more that I like it. Everything is top notch, from the game play and graphics, to the overall realism and atmosphere of the game. Toss in that with three levels of difficulty, you should never get too frustrated. In fact, increasing the difficulty kept me from getting bored. The amateur level was considerably easy, but the professional and World Cup levels will definitely keep you challenged for a long time.
If you love soccer, you will love this game. As excitement builds up for France '98, you can get your home team there early on the N64, and liven things up with these cheats! During the game, push various directions ori the d-pad and the crowd will hurl abuse at the other team! The players now respond to your actions, for a start.
Let's be brutally honest - FIFA 64 was so much of a dog it was shedding hair and slobbering. It played so clumsily that it might as well have been programmed in '64! A lot people had written off the once-proud licence as a result, thinking that it descended into the Hell Of The Sequel Too Far occupied by Alien Resurrection and all those Friday The 13th films. EA Sports obviously realised this, and rather than just knock out another lacklustre update that would top the charts anyway purely on the basis of the name, they've completely tweaked everything about FIFA and come up with a footy game that's finally worthy of the N64, in the rectangular shape of FIFA: Road To World Cup ' Every single aspect of the game has been improved, from the opening of the game complete with Blur's 'Song 2' blasting out from your TV and getting you straight into the proper mood to the animation and responsiveness of the players.
Although it's not an actual World Cup licence, the cunningly titled FIFA: Road To World Cup '98 might as well be, taking international teams as close as they can get to the actual final without having some important French bloke handing over the silverware.
You can then go down even further, and choose the actual teams that make up the leagues! Taking things to a ridiculously local extreme, you can then edit the teams - and the appearance of the players - so that you can actually jog out onto the pitch alongside Beckham or slam a few balls into the back of Blackburn's net.
All that's missing is a way to slap your own face onto one of the players - something for the 64DD version, perhaps? Off the pitch, FIFA '98 offers a hugely comprehensive management option, which is detailed enough that it almost qualifies as a game in its own right. Players from all over the world can be bought and sold, tactics developed and your chosen team generally honed into a world-class side - if you get things right, of course!
It's actually possible to play FIFA '98 entirely as a management game. At the start of a match, you're given a controller selection screen - by leaving this in its default position, the match will play itself without any intervention on your part at all. If you don't think your playing skills are up to par, but instead fancy yourself more in the Glenn Hoddle role, this is the one for you.
People will look at you funny when you admit to buying a game with the intention of not actually playing in it, though. Team tactics play a much increased role in FIFA '98 over its predecessor.
Although it's perfectly possible just to jump into the game and start playing, tinkering with formations and strategy can improve your chances of slotting one into the onion bag, and new options like 'man marking' and 'aggression' now you can turn your whole team into raging psychopaths!
If the team are performing badly, you can give them a dressing-down at half time and try to psyche them up for the second half by whacking up their aggression and sending them back out there with a red haze in front of their eyes. You just have to hope that they don't end up seeing too many red cards as well! When you actually start to play a game, the first thing you notice is how much the graphics have been improved over FIFA It's probably hard to tell here, because PAL machines and our video grabbers still don't get on quite as well as they ought to, but FIFA's use of a nonstandard graphics mode gives everything a look rarely seen on the N It's still not pin-sharp by any means, but it's far better than the Coke-bottle glasses effect of old.
The animation of the players is much better than it was; if you think that everyone's got the moves of David Ginola, it's because they have! The posy Frenchman was motion-captured doing his stuff for the benefit of EA Sports' computers, and it pays off. Having fully animated players does cause some annoyances from time time, because there are occasional points in the game when it seems like you have to wait for a particular animation sequence to finish before you can regain full control of your player.
It's especially apparent when you're trying to make tight turns, where what should be a single smooth movement feels like move-turn-move-turn-move.
This time lag is short, but just noticeable enough when it happens to be irritating. The animation isn't the only thing that's better about FIFA ' The players are now a lot more controllable than the hobbling pensioners of old, and the drastically improved control system now lets you pass the ball about with some degree of accuracy, rather than just hoofing it up the pitch and hoping for the best.
It's much more of a passing game than it used to be, and is a lot more fun as a result. Although the intelligence of the opposition has been improved, they thankfully aren't the invincible supermen that some football games over the years have provided. The keepers aren't infallible, and providing you're quick enough on your feet you can get shots past them from all distances without having to resort to the little slippy kicks and specific tight angles that often plague soccer sims.
A very good new addition to the game is the on-screen directional arrow that accompanies corners, free kicks and dead balls. The arrow itself is pointed at its target with the analogue stick, while the Z and R buttons bend it so you can belt out curve balls without messing around with aftertouch.
Although some people might not like it in a multiplayer game, on the grounds that it gives away your intentions, it makes things a lot easier for the player taking the kick - which is as it should be, as they're meant to have the advantage! From the more varied chatter of the commentators Motty, Des and Andy Grey to the extremely in-depth management options, FIFA '98 is polished in every way.
But is it as good as Konami's International Superstar Soccer 64? On the other hand, FIFA's management and customisation options and more up-to-date teams, as well as its greater variety of camera angles and familiar commentators, might tip the balance back for some people, and unlike ISS versus FIFA 64, there isn't a huge difference in playability.
Plus there's the rather obvious point that FIFA '98 is cheaper! Which you buy is up to you, of course. But for the first time in ages, you won't be falling for the old trap of 'big licence over gameplay' if you buy FIFA ' If you want to take your home team to the World Cup, you can't go wrong with this!
Banishing the memory of FIFA 64, there's plenty of promise here and a seemingly rosy future for the World Cup '98 version. The game copies in accuracy Football Championship in France starting with since the qualifiers. That involves virtually every team of the world Besides, all of the 11 leagues are retained. Suffice to say, I was extremely pleased when I got some solid playtime on this game, because it is remarkably improved over its predecessor.
There are a lot of improvements in FIFA 98 , but the most important one is that the game is very fun. There is a variety of realistic moves, and some are quite dramatic when they involve shots on goal. Multiplayer is where this game excels, but the One-player Modes are fast and challenging. For a change of pace, you can even try some frantic indoor soccer.
There are only two major flaws with FIFA. First, the goalie A. For example, sometimes the goalie will walk by a ball that should be picked up, or will dive at routine catches. It'll cause you to grumble "cheap goal" more than a few times, I'm sure. Next, the frame rate is suspect at some points during the contest. It doesn't hurt the pace of the game much, but you'll notice it occasionally. FIFA 98's 3-D graphics are excellent. The players are very detailed, and they have a variety of realistic moves.
The atmosphere of the game just feels right, and if you like you can dampen it with the rain, sleet or snow options. FIFA 98 is a huge improvement over last year's version. FIFA 64's engine has been totally overhauled for the better. The stadiums are more detailed, the player animations are much smoother and the gameplay is much more intuitive and friendly.
Multiplayer games are a blast and the whole experience reminds me of ISS64, and that's a good thing. The goalie Al is braindead at times, but other than that, all is peachy.
Al Sports: It's not in the game. Soccer games are getting better and better. A few flaws prevent FIFA 98 from reaching stardom. Inconsistent goalie Al they don't seem to know where the ball is sometimes ; 2. Poor frame rates even in 4x4 indoor soccer and 3. Poor passing mechanics. Overall, the game is fairly entertaining. I hope EA keeps improving the series. If so, FIFA 99 will be king. What a difference a few months can make!
The game controls really nicely, the graphics are awesome the frame rate could've been better, but it's hardly bad , and the play-by-play is excellent. Indoor Soccer is a blast too. My only gripe is that goalie Al can get flaky at ti mes. If you're a soccer enthusiast that was a little let down from FIFA '97 , you'll definitely dig the improvements made to this year's game, which make it the best on the Nintendo And since this is the only soccer game with the official World Cup license, you can also try to earn a spot in the World Cup championship in the Road to World Cup mode.
As far as teams go. On the features side, FIFA throws in 16 re-created outdoor stadiums and one indoor stadium, along with the ability to manage every aspect of your team from its formations to its roster --you can even tweak your players' aggression levels. You also have the option to create a custom player and put yourself in the lineup.
FIFA '98's overall presentation is really topnotch, featuring some of the best all-around graphics, sound, and control found in a soccer title. The players are superbly detailed and move with fluid grace, and the character animations are so realistic, you'd swear you were watching a televised game the goal-scoring celebrations are especially cool.
On the sound side, FIFA '98 never misses a beat with its two-man commentary, and the in-game effects and crowd chants really raise the intensity during the match. Borrowing a page from International SuperStar Soccer 64, the control for this year's feet-fest is probably the most improved feature of the game.
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