With the season well under way, we’re now a matter of weeks from the release of the latest edition of FIFA.
While the youngsters of today will be excitedly preparing to spend much of the year ahead fine-tuning their ultimate teams, for those of us that have grown up playing the very early editions of the games, this is a time to nostalgically look back at just how good we thought we had it.
With that in mind, here are five classic memories from our FIFA-playing past.
1. Running away from the referee
Unfortunately, as is the case in real life football, FIFA has always been spoiled a little bit by including referees. However, when you committed a cynical foul on the 1994 edition, you could at least prolong being given a stern talking to by the ref.
Perfectly accompanied by the Benny Hill theme tune, the footage below demonstrates how you could make your player flee the referee for as long as you wished. Although it was ultimately pointless, as a seven year old that was still confined to the rules of parents and primary school, nothing felt more rebellious.
2. Controlling the sound effects when you’d scored a goal on FIFA ’95
There wasn’t much in the way of improvements for FIFA ’95. As the video below shows, the flight of the ball was as predictable as one of those 50p fly-away Champions balls.
If you managed to get the hang of it and knew how to score, there was the added bonus of selecting sound effects to accompany your goal celebrations. What better way of thoroughly p*ssing off whoever you were playing against?
3. FIFA 97’s Indoor mode
As shown by the video below, FIFA 97’s graphics had moved on so far from those of its predecessors that this was like watching a real game… only real games didn’t take place inside.
Nobody is entirely sure why EA sports decided to introduce an indoor mode but, at the time, there was something incredible about selecting your favourite team and making them take part in what looked like a kick about in your school sports hall.
4. The soul-stirring intro video for FIFA 98
There are endless reasons why FIFA 98 was one of the best football games ever created, but one thing that stands out to pretty much everyone that played it was the intro video.
Improved graphics and glimpses of some of the world’s most famous stadia were exciting enough, but the fusion of Blur’s Song 2 and John Motson’s almost inaudible commentary was a masterstroke.
5. Changing Ronaldo from ‘A. Calcio’ on FIFA 99
Ronaldo (the old one, not Cristiano) was football’s biggest name in the late 90s. His inclusion in Brazil’s starting line up in the ’98 World Cup final might well have been seen as controversial by many, but his omission from FIFA ’99 was even more so.
For reasons unknown, Ronaldo was nowhere to be seen on the game – replaced in the Brazil and Inter Milan teams by some bloke called ‘A. Calcio’ who looked more like Kryten off Red Dwarf. Although a massive inconvenience to everyone, player editing mode made it possible to change.
