The best football games of all time

After a long and arduous wait for the arrival of FIFA 12, I have compiled and reviewed the best football (or soccer if you prefer) games of all time. The chosen games have been selected for various reasons, you may agree with my choices, you may not, but chances are that each list will be different in some way.

1. FIFA Series

Back in 1993, when the first FIFA game was released, the graphics and player animation were a million miles away from the deft player movements and facial detail we now expect. He simply moved a drop around a field of green blocks. Looking back and comparing to our games we have now, you tell yourself what we were thinking. But knowing that we had hours and hours of fun was what FIFA did for me! Over the years, what has improved? Off the court, his face and menu appearance improve every year, and much faster than his slow-moving old self. FIFA introduced a manager mode and an ultimate team mode lately and that seems to be having a big impact on FIFA. What is worse? In my opinion nothing has gotten worse, it just needs adjustments and updates, for example wind control and ball control are not that realistic yet, but I’m sure they will be soon. Over the years you may realize that they have jumped a huge gap, you can actually know who you are playing with and it seems like you are watching TV.

2. Championship Manager

Championship Manager is a series of international football management games and it was first released in 1992. The release of the first version of the game was not a big success due to people’s ignorance of this kind of games, and sales they were constant rather than astronomical. However, this soon changed and today the renowned Football Manager franchise now boasts an army of dedicated fans, myself included, who literally live, breathe and sleep Championship Manager (much to the chagrin of close family, friends and generally anyone who knows you!). For me, Championship Manager 99/00 was what really started my passion. The simplicity of managing your favorite team was a breath of fresh air; Being able to bring in those star players you wish your coach would sign while nurturing your favorite players from the academy was a huge part of my growth. Today the series has reached an incredible depth of detail, with the in-game scouting grid so detailed and accurate that professional clubs with lower budgets use it to scout potential transfer targets as well as players and staff from the opposition. With the game of soccer constantly evolving and the Championship Manager series evolving with it, I can only see a golden age for this type of soccer strategy game. And I love it!

3.PES Series

Soccer Pro Evolution It’s a brilliant game, but it’s always been behind FIFA, except for one year, Pro Evolution Soccer 3, I was impressed with the improvements and you could see the creators putting all their effort into this game to make it bigger and better. Pro Ev 3 took full advantage of everything PlayStation had to offer with fluid, realistic player movement and graphics. You no longer felt like you were in an arcade playing with a joystick, you enjoyed FIFA more, I enjoyed this game so much that I spent my life on it when it was released. But in my opinion this was the high point of the series and it declined from PES5 onwards.

4. Sensible football

Sensible Soccer was one of the first soccer games to really hit the mark. While the graphics don’t seem to have come that far from pong compared to FIFA 12, back in the early nineties those little specks were cutting edge. However, the main attraction of Sensible Soccer was not in the graphics; It was the outstanding game. The fact that anyone could pick up a controller and play the game at a reasonable level, but the game still left room for serious gamers to develop and become masters. But best of all, you even had the correct player names. There is no need to cheer for Bryan Goggs in Sensible Soccer.

Summary

In this writer’s opinion, despite the outstanding qualities of all the games, FIFA is head and shoulders above the rest. First released in 1993, it has continually evolved and while Pro Evolution may have overtaken it in the hearts of some gamers for a couple of years in the late 2000s, now it’s back on top. The new FIFA 12 game is ready to break all records and leave its rivals desperately trying to imitate.