World Trophy Soccer

The Good
First of all, it is hard to start talking about the game without mentioning the incredible number of teams from the giants in Italy and England (and er... Rotherham) to . Around 170 teams from all UEFA countries (still with Czechoslovakia, USSR and Yugoslavia united) are present, and all countries have at least two teams. From a time where most games focused only on international teams, this is surely nothing to be underestimated. There's also a kit editor, if you want to give your players a better look.

Graphically, the game is among the best in the genre. Players are well sized (although they seem to drag their feet rather than run), the grass is quite a looker (compare with the light green grass in FIFA96, for instance) and the crowds are very well designed (a shame they had to cut down animations from the amiga versions). There are some nice details such as players warming up and removing their tracksuit as soon as they're about to get into the game.

The music is also quite enjoyable - a thing that it's not that common with the console. Each region has it's own tune played during the match, events (half-time, final whistle, goals) and menus are all packed up with some tunes worthy of be listened outside the game. Worthy of mention, the penalty shootout tune will certainly be an option for a SMS ringtone if I'm to get such a mobile. The sound, however, is pretty much non-existent. From the typical white noise as crowd, there isn't much more than sounds for kicking the ball, sliding, heading and that metallic "cling" of hitting the crossbar. Still, they are appropriate.

Finally, where it all comes down - gameplay. The game is well known for being cheap at times - the first way to score everyone is bound to found is to chip the ball from roughly ahead of the center spot, and then head the ball past a goalkeeper that leaped blindly to the front of the area, but there are many variations possible. score using a tackle? Yes. Turn your backside to the goal and heel-flip it? Yes. Cross from the flanks and hit a one time shot? Yes. Carry the ball and go around the goalkeeper? Yes. Blast it from outside the box? Yes. Goals will be cheap only if you want to score them - there are plenty of ways to get yet another goal.

The Bad
While the competitions were pretty much similar before the Champions League was born, I'd welcome a UEFA-Cup mode, with one more round and more than one team for country. The whole "European Champions and Intercontinental Cups" thing gets a bit dull after winning with a fair number of teams. Graphically, kits lack stripes, which is a problem with some teams that use them - Juventus has a silver kit, for instance. There are also many animations lacking when compared to the Amiga versions. There are no celebrations, for instance. How hard it would be even to add simple animations of the player running to the corner flag with arms up ? Finally, the AI fails a little too often. Goalkeeping is generally poor, and computer attackers, capable of awesome shots well outside the area often go around the goalkeeper, or find open space just to blast the ball wide.

The Bottom Line
Going back to the start, this is easily one of the best games of the genre in the platform. While it does lack the license and polish of other titles, it's not hard to see why it was one of the featured titles in the Mega Drive II box. The gameplay allows for a number of plays to be perfected, there are a lot of teams to choose from and the game manages to sound good in all occasions.

If you are looking for a football game for the console, this might do the trick.