Reader Reviews

Nintendo World Cup (NES)

by Jonathan Pritchard

Pro Evolution Soccer 3 ladies and gents, the master and commander of modern day sport simulation is the latest in a huge back catalogue of computer football games. It is as close to playing the real game in the way Zidane does as we mere mortals will ever get, at least until Pro Evolution Soccer 4 is released anyway. It recreates the game so impeccably you only have to squint your eyes and you would be forgiven for thinking that you were watching a real football match on your television. Football games have come a long way since the days of Nintendo World Cup on the NES in 1990.

As the title suggests the game follows the players' road to World Cup glory. You can choose to compete as any of the major football nations, 13 in total, and play against teams from Cameroon in the first round to West Germany in the final. The level of computer ability obviously increases in each round but it shouldn't take you too long to lift the coveted prize.

Unlike football games of today, Nintendo World Cup only allows the player to control one member of his team. At first this feels rather strange, yet oddly satisfying. I found myself initially trying to stay in position and not to confuse the rest of my team, but after an hour or so of this I felt that the game was not liberating enough, so I decided to run around the pitch like Ryan Giggs playing against eight year-olds on a school lunch break. The game plays in a fashion whereby your controlled player can actually lose the ball in possession in the opposition penalty box, only to have him run the full length of the pitch to make the important sliding tackle to prevent your opposition from scoring the winning goal. It is definitely an arcade take on football, and should not be bought by anyone hoping for a simulation of the real thing.

What really sets this game apart from any other is the strictness of its referee, or rather the total lack of it. There isn't a referee on pitch and Nintendo's programmers obviously thought it hilarious not to include any type of rulebook. You can literally kill the opposition players. No, honestly! If you shoulder barge or kung-fu chop an opposition player to the extent where they can no longer continue, they will lie on the pitch until the final whistle is blown as if they were having forty winks. This leaves them completely open to being trampled on later in the game. Only Nintendo knows what was in the coffee the day some programmed that feature.

Another incredible element of the game is the manner in which you can score absurd goals from almost anywhere on the pitch. If you hold down both A and B buttons at the right time your player performs a 'super' shot. Depending on what country you are playing as, the ball will more often than not execute a 90 degree turn mid-air, following that perform a zig-zag dance as it heads towards goal. [Italy's overhead kick always struck me as the most effective, and don't forget the funky sound effect! -Ed] If the unlucky goalkeeper whose job it is to stop the oncoming ball actually manages to get in the way, then he'll find himself lying flat on his back and out for the count having been battered by a football! Huge FIFA like scores of 20-0 are not uncommon in this game. Perhaps EA Sports modelled their game on Nintendo World Cup?

What this game obviously lacks in seriousness, it more than makes up for in multiplayer enjoyment. The game was released around the same time as the four-way adapter, and it's a safe bet to say that Nintendo intended this game to be played as a multiplayer game. With the addition of a multiplayer mode this game really does play more like a Boxing sim and provides hours of fun with friends. It's very rare you'll be left with your entire team intact come final whistle, and the pitch will look more like a World War II battleground.