Review by: J.M. Vargas

"'VIRTUAL STADIUM SOCCER'? YEAH RIGHT!"

I was born in a country (El Salvador) and region of the world (Latin America) where soccer is king and all the other American sports (professional baseball, NBA, NFL, etc.) are reduced to cult-like status followed only by those of us who need to pick up English as a second language (got to love that Madden!). People watch, talk, eat, breath and live for all kinds of soccer, professional and/or just a few guys playing it barefeet around a corner street. Not just in my homeland, but all over the world EXCEPT the all-mighty United States, where the trend has consistently attracted a following (particularly in suburban areas) that doesn't even come close to rivaling the big three.

Soccer videogames were available in the U.S. before the 3DO title "FIFA Soccer 95" made it to shelfs in 1994, but they emphasized arcade-style thrills over the simulation aspect of other sports games (I'll admit that some titles from U.S. Gold and Konami on 16-bit machines were a blast to play against another player); even the "FIFA" games on Genesis and SNES, available since 1994 (to coincide with the World Cup hosted by this nation in 1994; or have you forgotten already?) were geared toward younger players. But for once in their 3DO life-cycle, Electronic Arts just got everything right and threw the kitchen sink into the project: the most convincing, life-like presentation of soccer available at the time, "FIFA Soccer 95" was, and to date still is, the best multiplayer (up to six at once) game the 3DO ever saw.

But times change, and so do business cycles. "FIFA 96" for the Saturn is, for all practical purposes, the same game 3DO saw two years before. Instead of six simultaneous players, the Saturn version supports up to four players that can cooperate and lead a team to victory (in a single, customizable match or an entire season), or be pitted two-against-two (one-on-one is also available...duh!) in competing teams. Instead of the dozens of random teams from the original 3DO, we get leagues organized by regions of the world (makes sense, why would the USSR share a league with the province of Argentina?). No more playing in a single stadium (ala "Slam & Jam 96") without an announcer, since "FIFA 96" for Saturn has added an announcer and multiple stadiums.

So, what do the above improvements have done to the once-unbeatable 3DO sports champ? Sadly, it just added a slight new coat of pain to a genre that could only be improved if rebuilt from the ground up; "FIFA 96" for Saturn is a playable sports title that, sadly, started a downward spiral that ended up with the mockery of a game that the N64 version of "FIFA 97" is now known for. Not the game's fault, but a careless mistake of EA to let this franchise deteriorate to the degree that it has.

GRAPHICS / VISUALS: B+

Not improved from the 3DO code at all, and when you consider the Saturn's superiority in either polygons or sprite manipulation (the machine's forte'), a waste of two good Hitachi processors. The stadiums and 3D environments are solid-looking polygon buildings, but the players are all sprites that bear colorful uniforms and animate as smoothly on Sega's court as they did on 3DO. The players, however, don't have their names and jersey numbers visible on the back of their shirts (they do appear as on-screen captions, similar to televised matches!). I can't comment on the sprites' resemblance to their real-life counterparts since I can't really tell them apart, but considering the expense EA went through in order to acquire the lucrative FIFA endorsement, I'll bet the house they're on the money.

"FIFA 96" was meant to convey to the player the feel of controlling a TV game of soccer, which is how most people in the U.S. can relate to the game (I can't think of too many people running up and down a sports field for 90 uninterrupted minutes and live to tell about it!). Therefore, seven camera angles are at your disposal (some of which you can manually manipulate), an although some are better than others they all offer a playable view with dramatic pans and tilts (much better than the ones in the original "Worldwide Soccer" from Sega Sports). It is a darn shame that the frame-rate is a tad choppy and that the game moves slower than it did on 3DO (15-20 frames-per-second).

MUSIC / SOUND EFFECTS: A-

No 3DO game Electronic Arts ported to Saturn failed to include Dolby Surround support, and in some cases it enhanced the experience tremendously ("The Need for Speed" anyone?). "FIFA 96" has crowd chants from the heavens, and with your system hooked up to some good speakers it feels like you're surrounded by fanatics; it is the safest way to experience a championship match in the good ol' U.K. without getting your head split-open by a hooligan! Depending on your team's actions on the field, the crowd will cheer your triumphs and mock your opponents; screw up enough times, though, and they will start cheering the away team (just like in every New Jersey Nets game I've ever seen, but I digress!). The players making contact with the ball sound barely OK and are nothing special, as is their heavy grunts as they chase the ball and fight for control of the ball.

The TV-style presentation, like that other 3DO multimedia port ("Shockwave..." who?), had cash thrown into it to give players some slick and cool cinematics. Music during the menu screens is serviceable, but the in-game announcer (a feature not on 3DO) just plain sucks. The guy's speech samples are obviously random samples strung together with awkward pauses (like your local AT&T operators); at least EA doesn't do this anymore ("Triple Play 98" anyone?).

GAMEPLAY / FUN FACTOR: B+

Just like many of you remember it on 3DO (or Genesis or SNES or PSX or PC or...), with some wasted potential in the lack of support for the Saturn controller's six buttons. Since the game was programmed to use the three buttons (kick, header, speed burst) of the 3DO controller, some functions like the bicycle kick are activated depending on the proximity of the ball. Why not just put those moves on the X-Y-Z or L-F Shift buttons? At least an option would have been nice. The feel of control is solid but not entirely convincing, and making your player rotate 360 degrees is a real bitch (you might as well switch to another player...much easier!); maybe I'm just spoiled by analog controls and Sega's own "Worldwide Soccer 2".

OVERALL: B

Four/Two-player contests can be heated, and the game fills the minimum requirements a multiplayer game requires (provided both players like videogame soccer, which is an unlikely prospect for many). Saturn newbies can look through the bargain bins and find cheap copies, while those of us holding to our 3DO's will happily keep our three-year old game happily spinning.

If you think really hard about it, the "FIFA Soccer" 32-bit gaming saga closely mirrors that of the recent Batman movies. The 3DO version is like the 1989 movie: fresh, new, exciting, and with plenty of room for improvements. The Saturn & PSX version, "FIFA 96", mirrors the shortcomings of "Batman Returns": more of the same (which was good the first time, but...), less joy in performing essentially the same thing all over, and a lack of imaginative spark. When polygons were introduced to the series (along with thousands of players, more fields, more options and more licenses), "FIFA 97" went to the same metamorphosis "Batman Forever" experienced when Joel Schumacher took over Tim Burton: flashy visuals and all the money in the world couldn't disguise the complete lack of originality and fun. "FIFA 97" is to Electronic Arts what "Batman & Robin" was to Warner Brothers this past summer: the wake up call that audiences were getting restless and ain't gonna swallow the same bait next time. Will Electronic Arts listen to the public and improve the next (and possibly last) "FIFA" game for Saturn and other platforms? Let me put it this way: Schumaher has been hired by Warner B. to helm another "Batman" movie. Viscous cycle, anyone?