With football comes football games and since the good old Super Nintendo days fans have loved nothing more that kicking the family out of the living room and sitting back for a few hours of simulated fun.
At The Football Sack we think it’s high time we celebrated the humble football sim by bringing you our best-of list. So controllers down and listen up.
International Superstar Soccer Deluxe – SNES 1995
International Superstar Soccer Deluxe was ahead of its time on the simulated football circuit. Commentary, a choice of stadia and a range of tactical strategies gave this game a cutting edge that lead the way to the football games we know and love today. In addition to these features, small touches like the ability to curl a free kick gave the game a sense of realism not seen in its release year of 1995. So popular was the game that two years later it was ported to the PlayStation, a system much more advanced than the Super Nintendo for which it was originally made.
Football Manager 2014 – PC 2013
The Football Manager series has been a staple for armchair managers since it began in 2004, having branched off of the exceptionally successful Championship Manager series. The 2014 edition had it all, from an upgraded match engine that enhanced the game’s atmosphere, to the new job interview features that had you sucking up to the Arsenal chairman for the coveted spot. In reality the entire series belongs on this list. No program has made staring at spreadsheets as fun as Football Manager. It’s likely that no program is behind failed university degrees as Football Manager, either.
FIFA: Road to World Cup 98 – Nintendo 64, PlayStation, PC 1997
EA’s FIFA series is, for many, the pinnacle of football simulation. Since 1993 its been second only to being on the pitch, and as home entertainment has continued along its developmental journey, the FIFA series has been riding shotgun the whole time. So why FIFA 98? This game was the first attempt to get all 172 international teams under the FIFA umbrella into one title and gave you the opportunity to drag them from football obscurity, through the qualifiers and onto the podium with the famous trophy aloft. It also brought in the offside rule, a player editor and a crazy indoor mode. Add in the 11 leagues it had licensed and this was the platform on which your favourite modern FIFA games were built.
Got a better football game in mind? Still think foosball is where it’s at? Let us know @thefootballsack
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