| Platform Reviewed | Sony Playstation |
| Genre | Sports Simulation |
| Number of Players | 1-8 |
| Multiplayer Value | Obviously, great. |
| Length | Variable |
| Difficulty | Variable |
| Skills Required | Hand-Eye Coordination, 'Sports Sense' |
| Interface Devices | Playstation Joypad |
| Interface Design | Excellent, once technique is fully grasped. |
| Programming | Superior |
| Game Design and Playability | Superior. The best Soccer game, period. |
| Type Of Fun | Sport |
| Replay Value | High |
| Overall Value | Very High |
| Quality | The Best |
| The Best | Exquisite, perfect Soccer game. The finest footie fun available. The Best. |
| The Worst | I would have added custom camera positioning, as well as 'regular' FIFA view from the carts. |
| How much would I be willing to pay for this | 65 Bucks |
Description:
FIFA 96 Soccer IS Soccer. It is hard to imagine a more perfect simulation, except by expanding on the basic design already present.
Story:
Association Football, or 'Soccer' as it is sometimes called in backward places like America, is the most popular team sport ever played by the human species in the entire history of the world. No other team sport, in any time or era even comes close. This is partly due to the fact that the majority of all humans who have ever lived are alive currently (a result of massive planetary overpopulation) and partly due to the fact that Association Football is the fanatical obsession of most of the earth's population.
Almost every civilization on the planet, therefore, claims to have invented the planet's most popular game, usually hundreds to even thousands of years ago. Nevertheless, the current game of Football as the world knows it today, can trace it's roots to 1863 Great Britain. By 1904, a governing body was created to administer the world's game, the Federation Internationale de Football Association, or FIFA. Today, FIFA has over 140 member nations, and oversees the activity of more than 39 million players worldwide. Quite a team sport indeed.
Review:
EA Sports Playstation version of FIFA 96 is, quite simply put, the current benchmark against which all other Football games must be measured. It is a crown achievement in electronic football. Within a virtual stadium, rendered players act out the running game that owns the world in smooth 3D. Actual teams from around the planet are faithfully represented, and the controls are quick and effective. There are more options than can be easily described, and the effort lavished on this product is apparent in every portion.
My few objections are these; that I would have liked to create a custom team with my own original names, as can be done in FIFA 96 on the Genesis, and I would like to have had the option of setting up my own camera angles for play according to my whim. There are a plethora of camera choices to be sure, but I am rather persnickety about such things. Other than that, if Football is your game, the Playstation version is the one to buy. Highly recommended.
Jennifer Diane Reitz is a Game Designer and Computer Artist, and one of the founders of Happy Puppy. She is the creator of numerous games and software products, including Boppin' , Shark Chums, Elsewhere, and many others. She has worked for such companies as Activision, Sculptured Software, Epyx, SRI, and Electronic Arts, and founded Accursed Toys. She has been active in the computer gaming industry since it's earliest days. She considers games to be works of artistic merit and achievement, and views computer entertainment as the most important media of our era.