What’s the greatest football video game of all time? It’s a question I’m sure we’ve all asked ourselves at one time or another, so we might as well make it official and answer it right here.
In years gone by we’d be a couple of weeks into a FIFA World Cup by now, but with the 2022 edition still months away and in the midst of the world’s longest domestic off-season, we’ve got plenty of time to ponder the important things in life.
We’ve got time to play a few video games as well – assuming you’re not Tony Gustavsson trying to put a competent Matildas side on the park – but the question is which football game is the best?
It’s one I started to ponder after I saw former SBS and ESPN journalist and current FIFPRO executive Andrew Orsatti post a tweet recently about buying Pro Evolution Soccer 5 and Sensible Soccer 2006 in Amsterdam.
I should kick-start the discussion by pointing out I don’t personally play any modern video games.
There’s a reason for that.
Remember Championship Manager? I fell for it in the same way you’d expect any obsessive, slightly nerdy kid from the suburbs to fall for one of the most detail-oriented football games of all time.
I played Championship Manager 99/00 for years, and there was nothing I enjoyed more than firing up the laptop to start wheeling and dealing in the transfer market and transforming a team like Brentford into a genuine powerhouse of the European game.
Evidently, I enjoyed it a little too much, as one day my girlfriend at the time politely informed me that unless I started spending more time with her and less time trying to sign Francis Jeffers, she’d be taking her managerial services elsewhere.
Lesson learned. I watch enough football as it is without being sucked down the vortex of a 20-year Championship Manager save.
And there’s another simple reason I don’t play modern video games.
Having grown up in the 90s during the 16-bit era of home consoles, I loved both the Super Nintendo and Sega Mega Drive.
Remember the first-ever FIFA International Soccer? My friends and I would play soccer in the morning, then spend all afternoon pinging home 30-yard piledrivers as Ken Thurston and Ivan Brankovic for Australia.
The 16-bit era not only coincided with my youth, but I also just prefer the colourful, almost cartoonish way the games were presented, compared to the hyper-realistic video games of today.
So when Nintendo released both the Nintendo Classic Mini and Super Nintendo Classic Mini for modern TVs over the past few years, I bought them both.
And then, during one of those long COVID lockdowns that kept us all stuck at home in 2020, I did something I’ve never done before. I learned how to mod a gaming device.
I felt like I had to because Nintendo, in their infinite wisdom, failed to include Super Soccer on the Australian version of the Classic Mini.
And so, bored out of my mind and realising there’s a YouTube video to teach you how to do literally anything, I set about figuring out how to add dozens of extra games to my console.
And without getting into too much detail – since it wasn’t, shall we say, technically the most legal of strategies – my Nintendo Classic is now home to not only Super Soccer, but FIFA International Soccer, International Superstar Soccer Deluxe and even Championship Soccer ’94 – or, as we all knew it, the legendary Sensible Soccer.
But which one is the best? I still enjoy the gravity-defying optics of the original FIFA game, but Sensible Soccer offers the better gameplay. I play versions of all three of those titles on my Gameboy Advance as well.
I want to know, though, what your favourite football video game is and why?
Be specific. Support your answers. Tell us exactly what it is about the game that makes it your favourite – even if it involves a 20-year save on Championship Manager.
Doran Smith
Roar Guru
Excellent article Mike. Fifa 21; gameplay, commentary and everything was in sync.
Rellum
Roar Guru
Pro Evo 5 easily
Nick
Roar Guru
Lol. Well they certainly didn't decide to make them with any humility about their national team then. Hahaha.
MegaA
Guest
Best soccer game would be Sensible Soccer on the Amiga, followed be World Cup 98 on the PS1 then probably, Tekken World Cup (overhead soccer game), Microprose Soxxer C64 and Kick off Amiga. All classics and all playable today (well maybe not today coz I have work damnit)
MegaA
Guest
Great game Mucroprose soccer, best soccer game on the 64. You my friend have talent, I am after your autograph- I can't get out of the group stage. Can't curl the ball like I used to as a kid but nevertheless I enjoy the occasional play still these days
MegaA
Guest
You would mean International Soxcer, no 3 in the C=64 soccer games.
Joshua Makepeace
Roar Rookie
FIFA 12, simply the best FIFA however it is quite difficult to compare generations and games people have not played before.
Joshua Makepeace
Roar Rookie
Very true, those games bring back so many childhood memories, especially Subbuteo.
Timmuh
Roar Guru
There is no time sink like a Football Manager time sink. There is no rage like Football Manager rage. There is nothing funnier in games than somebody else with Football Manager rage.
Tony Hodges
Roar Rookie
You’re right, it was!
Roberto Bettega
Roar Rookie
Yes, there is a fair bit of truth in that. Football video games are a double edged sword. They have been very good at introducing a whole generation to the world game, they become fans of the game, but the sad reality is that the video game, more often than not, has priority over the real thing. Futhermore, that whole generation has become conditioned into believing that only certain leagues are worthy of their tepid, long-distance support.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
in Australia we seem to have a lot of video players more than actual game watches. A lot of so called Euro snobs think they are experts because they play FIFA. I only watch the premier league really means I play premier league on FIFA, Noticed there are no comments on the Matildas this morning, yet the whole goon squad were there after the Spain match.
Mike Tuckerman
Expert
Tell us what your favourite games are here.
Will
Guest
The PES Series in the mid 2000s was something else especially the 2006 version with Adriano’s rocket right foot, the game play was amazing on that. I’m not the biggest fan of FIFA but I enjoyed playing the game play in the early 2010s until ultimate team took over and ruined it. Football Manager is always a good option for PC, the last one i played was a few years ago but worth a try if you don’t like the game play. I also remember my first football game called This Is Soccer in 1999/2000 as well, it just gives me 1998 World Cup vibes and 90s nostalgia.
Buddy
Roar Rookie
Mike, at some point we need to discuss football games pre video! Subbuteo of course and table soccer but so many more that kept us entertained for hours. Wembley, Soccerama, Chad Valley soccer. I even had a really good game that came through eating enough Kellogg Corn Flakes!
Joshua Makepeace
Roar Rookie
It seems a bit bias that every game mentioned in this article was made in the 90s. I wasn’t born when people were playing these games. (I know, how lucky of me)
Ad-O
Guest
PES, before that Sensible Soccer, before that Kick-Off
Adam
Guest
Played loads of managerial games on the C64 - the reason I support Grimsby Town. But they were eclipsed by Emlyn Hughes Int Soccer - best animation on the C64 and you could edit your player names and print out your results. The goal keeper never moved off his line though. On the Amiga I became addicted to Player Manager. Great way to play a season and the games only took 6 minutes to play. Too easy on the end, even when my player manager hit 50 years old. Loved the simplified transfer market too. Others included Kick Off 2, Microprose Soccer and Sensible World of Soccer, though it played like pinball. My dream game would be the simplicity of Player Manager engine ported to FIFA 2021.
Mike Tuckerman
Expert
Can't believe no one has mentioned running away from the referee yet! I still have the compulsive urge to do it on FIFA International Soccer when he tries to give me a yellow card.
N64boy
Guest
ISS 64, best football game ever, fun fact Konami had 2 development teams working on Football games, in Japan there was Perfect 11 (Nintendo consoles) and Winning 11 (Sony consoles), Winning 11 would morph in to the Pro Evo Series but I always preferred the Perfect series.