FIFA International Soccer is a 1993 association football video game developed by EA Canada's Extended Play Productions team and published by EA Sports. The game was released for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis console in December 1993 and ported to numerous other systems in 1994. It is the first game in the FIFA series.
The game was positively received by critics upon release; critics lauded the detail and animation of the footballers in the game, the crowd sound effects, and the overall presentation. The speed the game ran at and issues with the response to the player's input were seen as the game's primary faults. The 3DO version added multiple camera views and more detailed graphics than other versions. The game sold well, with the Mega Drive version becoming the best-selling home video game of 1993 in the United Kingdom. and led to a sequel, FIFA Soccer 95.
Gameplay
right|thumb|Gameplay showing the [[Isometric video game graphics|isometric viewpoint, the way the view moves to keep the ball on-screen and footballer animation.]]
FIFA International Soccer simulates the sport of association football. In particular, the game is based on international matches. The game utilises an isometric viewpoint, unlike other football games at the time such as Tehkan World Cup or Sensible Soccer which utilised a bird's-eye view or Kick Off which used a top-down view. The player controls one of the eleven footballers on their team at a time, with the ability to switch players on command. The game allows up to four human players at the same time, each controlling a different footballer. The players can choose to control a footballer on the same team or on opposing teams. The remaining footballers are controlled by the computer.
Four modes of play — Exhibition, Tournament, Playoffs, and League — are available. Exhibition engages the player in a single match. Tournament mode resembles the format of the FIFA World Cup, UEFA European Championship, with the player controlling a team of their choice through a series of matches, starting with three group games with the possibility of progressing to four further games in a knockout format. Playoffs mode takes the same form, but skips the group games and starts at the first knockout game. League consists of eight teams who contest a double round-robin tournament.
The game features 48 national teams in total, plus a team called EA All Stars. Every team has 20 players. The players are fictional (some of them, e.g. Tim Ansell of England or Joe Della-Savia of Italy, are named after people credited as the development team) and look the same, except for darker skin of certain teams' players. There is also commentary from Tony Gubba (PC CD-ROM version).
An oversight by the developers makes it easy to score a goal by making a player stand in front of the opponent's goalkeeper when he holds the ball in his hands and is about to clear it away. The computer-controlled goalkeeper will kick the ball to the opposing player, giving the other an easy chance to score.
Playable nations
There are 48 national teams in the game:
AFC
CAF
CONCACAF
CONMEBOL
OFC
UEFA
Development
Electronic Arts (EA) had first ventured in the sports games market in 1988 with an American football title, John Madden Football. Updated versions of the game, along with golf and ice hockey games, followed under the EASN (Electronic Arts Sports Network) banner. EA's European arm carried out research into the possibility of a sports game that would appeal to European audiences and decided that an association football game would stand the best chance of success, predicting high sales figures. EA US gave the go-ahead for the project to proceed, and a team of ten developers at EA's Canadian studios began work on the project led by Bruce McMillan. Initially, the development took place for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis under the working title of EA Soccer, with a small budget of around $50,000-$100,000. The football game market leader at the time was Sensible Soccer, followed by Kick Off, which both used top-down viewpoints. EA's UK team looked at both games, but felt they needed to do something different to set themselves apart, by adding more realism and an isometric viewpoint.
Other EA Sports titles held official licences from the leagues depicted to allow real team names, players and stadia to be included, and with a view to securing the same for their football title, EA signed a five-year deal with football's governing body, FIFA. The deal involved "minuscule" royalty payments, and on further inspection the reason became clear. The licence didn't include any team names, logos, player names, likenesses or stadia. The game would therefore only include national teams identified by country names and flags, and player names would be made up – several of the developers added their own names into the game. The licence for the forthcoming 1994 FIFA World Cup tournament was held by U.S. Gold and their game was due for a Spring 1994 release in time for the tournament which was to take place in Summer 1994. EA decided they would need to bring forward their game ahead of the U.S. Gold title, and aimed for a Christmas 1993 release.
Questioning the recognition that the FIFA licence held in North America, EA suggested the game be released as Team USA Soccer in North America. Fearing a sales flop, they reversed the decision and decided to release the game worldwide under the FIFA International Soccer title, providing the option of moving unsold stock to other markets. Development of the game was completed in November 1993.
Reception
Sales
EA initially anticipated sales of around 300,000 copies of the game in Europe. Upon release for the Sega Mega Drive, sales surpassed expectations. In the United Kingdom, the game sold 400,000 copies in the last two weeks of December, becoming the fifth best-selling home video game of 1993 in the United Kingdom. It went on to sell more than 500,000 copies in its first four weeks.
In the United States, it topped the Super NES sales chart in June 1994.