"World Cup... my first soccer game... and what a game!"

World Cup... my first soccer game... and what a game!

What? I did play soccer on PC with UEFA Champions League 1998 and PES 5 on PSP. My soccer references can be counted on the fingers of my hand, that's sure if you compare them to the FPS world.

But when I discovered World Cup, I was barely 11-12 and only discovering Doom 2, Rise of the Triads and Heretic (with Colonization). I already had a NES with the unforgettable Zelda, Mario, Duck Hunt, Popeye, Rad Racer (that's why I still buy race games), DragonBall, Chip'n'Dale...

And my GameBoy was a faithful companion at that time. Super Mario Land, Jurassic Park, Tiny Toons or Tetris were my handheld world.

My cousin came to live with us the week-end when his parents divorced and he had with him: SNES and Megadrive and a lot of NES and GB games. I picked some and kept them. World Cup is one of them.

That's how when I was 12, I discover soccer games. And well, it does explain one thing and you'll discover it if you read the review.

You have to choose a team (knowing me and my Italian origins, you do guess which I've chosen), then choose the players who play (or do you choose who you'll be?) and then, you have to win against teams like France, USA (well, it's only taking the place of the chosen team in the race), Cameroon, Russia, Japan, etc. etc. I do not remember all the teams.

On the field, you can only control a player but this one can give order like tackle, slide, pass, shoot. And you can shoot to the goal with a special attack, very useful against powerful teams.

One of the features of the game is that there is no referee at all, so, be prepared to be tackled and knocked out for a second... More you're being knocked, less you're fast to be up again and you can finish a match K.-O. By chance, you can also do the same to your adversaries and it's always useful to have defenders "sleeping".

Another thing is the state of the field: you can have some rocks that have the same effect as a tackle or if you prefer, knock you out, you can slide on a frozen grass (Russians loooove that), etc. etc.

Every player is a cliche of the country represented: French players will have on their heat the typical hat for example. Also, players have different facial features, making them easy to recognize.

When you're winning, you'll get rewarded with a password, the traditional way in that time for continuing a play later.

Graphics are nice, not really varied but the Game Boy wasn't allowing what we know today. You have the feeling that you're in a anime. Anyway, you can see where you're going (hum not all the time, because I remember when running being a lot out of the field).

Soundtrack was probably good, as I've few memories about it but it was probably adapted to each team.

Gameplay was easy as I've explained: the player you've chosen can give his orders and can shoot to the goal with a special attack after getting a precise number of steps (thing I've just discovered a few day ago).

Well, fun was present and that's why I've become addicted to it.

But I remember being frustrated by the game. Nothing is in perfect in a parody world cup.

I never finished the game: I never kept passwords and well, my mind wasn't set on a special strategy, I was perhaps too young or too into my world of FPS for being a good soccer player.

The problem I've had with this game was the difficulty for me to give orders at the right time or to see them executed nicely, I saw a lot of my teammates being knocked out before giving the ball to me for example and well, that was something I didn't like: seeing my folks on the grass because they've been knocked out too many times.

I do not remember another default to the game, memories are memories but something is sure: if I must blame something about my tendency to tackle everyone in a soccer game, World Cup is the perfect culprit. And that's the famous thing explained, announced at the beginning of the review.

Bottom line is that World Cup is a good game. Funny, easy to play and with nice graphics.

If I do recommend it? Yes, of course, you can play it on a GBA, so, don't be afraid to buy it if you see it somewhere. It deserves its 8/10 (no gameplay, sound, etc ratings since well, I need to play it again for having it and unless I download a emulated game or I search my GBA who is peacefully sleeping since the arrival of the DS, I will not do it).

Because if you knock them out, you'll be the World Champions!

Ark/Vic

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/28/08

Game Release: Nintendo World Cup (US, 1991)