Five football games for Atari XL/XE
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There is no better excuse than the quarter-finals of the 2014 World Cup to remember five games of the "king of sports" written for our Atari 8-bit computers.
Kick Off
Byte Back (1991)
Self-proclaimed as a"Accurate" and "proportional" simulation of a football tournament, in this game ofhorizontal perspectiveWe can do everything from dribbling to jumping to heading the ball, as well as making passes, saves and corner kicks.
Theoptions are abundant: You can define formations; play a single match, a championship (national, reserve, youth league or Sunday league) or an international tournament representing Holland, Brazil, France, Germany, Russia, Italy, Argentina or England.
Like few games of its time,supports up to 8 players. Allows you to record up tosix scoreboards; and there is even a penalty kick practice mode. That's not even counting thetwelve possible refereeswho will supervise each meeting.
Super Soccer
Tynesoft
Undoubtedly, this title stands out from all the others in the field for itsbig characters: They are all detailed to such an extent that the movement of their arms when they run is clearly visible. Also memorable is theroar of the crowdwhich increases as the ball approaches the goal line.
One of its weaknesses is thepoor variety of equipment-You must choose between England, France, Holland, Norway, USA and Atari World; although theRival AssignmentWhen you play against the computerby means of a roulette wheel
Oddly enough, perhaps the main problem with the so-called "European Super Soccer" be in thecolors of clothesof the casts: one team will wear a purple polo and black shorts, while the other will wear a black polo and purple shorts. Instead of contrasting, thecombination ends up confusingto the player.
Fantastic Soccer
Zeppelin Games (1989)
Personally, ourfavorite gameof the genre: first, for being the only one ofvertical perspective; second, because it hassimple and efficient playssuch as long passes and snatching the ball from the opponent. In addition, you can entertain yourself with games of 10 to 90 minutes anddifferent types of formations. That without taking away merits from thegoal celebration sequence. Its only drawback: that the teams are limited to the English league (Everton, New Castle, Liverpool, Manchester, Norwich, etc.).
Soccer
Thorn EMI (UK) 1982
Heundisputed favorite of the majority, because itsSimplicity of graphics and gameplay mechanicsThey are faithful to theclassic Atari style. Despite that, the title is solid enough to offerup to four levels of difficultywhen competing with the computer; apart from supportinggames with four players
Some users highlight the naturalness with which theball moves across the playing field; and others thereferee's whistle- missing or unclear sound effect in the aforementioned programs.
World Soccer
Zeppelin Games (1990)
We didn't want to close the list without mentioning this one.unique simulator, where you play themanager of a British club-Liverpool, Manchester United, Celtic, Arsenal, Dundee, Tottenham, Rangers, Everton, Aberdeen, Newcastle, Norwich and others- eager to not stop until theworld football leagues
With that objective you shouldSell and buy playersbased on indicators such as age, physical condition, skill, speed and position. If you like, you can use thebank seeking loansthat allow you to acquire better items for your squad.
That (optional) sequence ofmatch commentsin charge ofJoss MacDonnald, ZEP TV courtside reporterThe tragic thing about the game is the complete absence of music and sound effects.
Other games
According to the Mr. Bacardi website, Zeppelin Games developed beforeSoccer Manager, which despite being finishednever reached the storesThe authors state that there are no copies of this title available.
Although there is no record of theofficial dateof launchingSuper Soccer, most likely it has been publishedat the end of 1987. And it is that at that time the programmer Brian Jobling resigned from Tynesoft Computer Software to found Zeppelin Games Limited
In it AtariAge Forum, the AtarianFilippo Santellocco "Philsan"posted an image supposedly released in the Atari User Magazinewhere a game of similar appearance is observedSuper Soccer, although withdifferent details"The game was due to be released in December 1989," he said.
Finally, recognize that thepicture with soccer ballshown at the beginning of this article is the work of Atarian Steve "Snicklin" Nicklin.
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