Sega Worldwide Soccer 97

Sega Worldwide Soccer 97
Developer(s) Team Aquila
Publisher(s) Sega
Director(s) Toshinori Asai
Producer(s) Akira Kozu
Composer(s) Jun Senoue
Seirou Okamoto
Series Sega Worldwide Soccer
Platform(s) Sega Saturn, Windows
Release Saturn
  • NA: October 31, 1996
  • JP: November 29, 1996
Windows
  • NA: September 30, 1997
Genre(s) Sport

Sega Worldwide Soccer 97 (known as Sega Worldwide Soccer PC for the PC and Victory Goal Worldwide Edition in Japan) is a football video game by Sega released for the Sega Saturn in 1996. It was followed by three more titles: Sega Worldwide Soccer '98 still on the 32-bit console and two editions of Sega Worldwide Soccer 2000, the second being Sega Worldwide Soccer 2000 Euro Edition for the Dreamcast.

Sega Worldwide Soccer 97, produced by Sega themselves, was one of the killer apps in the peak of popularity for the console.[1] It was the sequel to Victory Goal, one of the debut titles of the console, which had a poor performance critically and commercially.[2] However, there was little overlap in the development staff of the two games.[2]

The game featured international teams and league, play-off and tournament modes. Although it used fictional player names (due to the lack of a license), the non-volatile memory of the Saturn allowed editing of names. The team kits were as close to the official 1996 kits as possible. The gameplay was also highly praised, and was the top-rated football game until ISS 64 was released one year later. Sega Worldwide Soccer 97 was later ported to the PC, under the title of Sega Worldwide Soccer PC.

Gameplay

In exhibition mode, the player(s) compete in a single match. In tournament mode, they go through an entire tournament, and in championship mode, they battle for the title of league champions.[2]

The game includes a create-a-player feature.[3]

Reception

Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
GameSpot7.6/10 (SAT)[1]
Next Generation (SAT)[4]
Sega Saturn Magazine94% (SAT)[5]

The original release on the Saturn was met with critical acclaim. Tom Hall of GameSpot said it "may be the best soccer game ever released";[1] GamePro's The Weekend Warrior called it "a completely fresh, must-play gaming experience";[6] Rob Alsetter wrote in Sega Saturn Magazine that it was "perhaps the best soccer sim yet";[5] and Next Generation's review concluded that "Quite simply, WWS '97 is the best recreation of any sport, ever."[4] Common subjects of praise were the smoothness of the player animations,[1][4][6] the easy-to-learn controls,[4][6] the realistic soccer elements,[1][4][5] and the way the game encourages players to be spontaneous and creative.[1][4][5][6]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Tom Ham (1 December 1996). "Sega Worldwide Soccer 97". GameSpot. Retrieved 18 April 2008.
  2. 1 2 3 Bright, Rob (September 1996). "Escape to Victory!". Sega Saturn Magazine. No. 11. Emap International Limited. pp. 42–45.
  3. ↑ "Sega Worldwide Soccer '97". GamePro. No. 98. IDG. November 1996. p. 147.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Kicking Ass". Next Generation. No. 25. Imagine Media. January 1997. p. 178.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Allsetter, Rob (October 1996). "Review: Sega Worldwide Soccer 97". Sega Saturn Magazine. No. 12. Emap International Limited. pp. 64–65.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Sega Worldwide Soccer '97". GamePro. No. 100. IDG. January 1997. p. 136.
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