Recap of How FIFA Evolves
The graphics and gameplay brief summaries
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FIFA International Soccer
Also known as FIFA ’94, the original game that puts the series up into the gaming world introduces stunning graphics, well, it must be very easy for people to be impressed back then. Straight in the beginning the emphasis was placed on style over simulation. Although it has the word “FIFA” written all over, the game only includes national teams, and real player names aren’t even used!
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FIFA Soccer 95
Slight changes in graphics from using a new engine, but only just minor retouches, the first sequel added unlicensed club teams to the series from eight national leagues: Fußball-Bundesliga, Italy's Serie A, Spain's La Liga, England's Premier League, France's Ligue 1, Netherlands' Eredivisie and USA. Rephrasing the term “unlicensed”, although recognisable, all the players are still fictional.
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FIFA Soccer 96
This is the first in the series to finally use real player names, something that was awkwardly missing from previous titles, but only now did it obtained the full FIFPro license. The game also went 3D with its “Virtual Stadium” technology, despite this, the players were still 2D sprites, making high views look like the players were running on their sides. There was also a full commentary team, with John Motson, Des Lynham and Andy Gray.
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FIFA 97
The players went polygonal, with motion capture provided by David Ginola. The game features a much higher number of playable leagues from England, Spain, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany and Malaysia. The same commentary team from last year’s title is still present. A laughable addition was the 6-a-side indoor soccer mode, with tiny goals and everything. It was ridiculous.
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FIFA – Road to World Cup 98
Boasted by a refined graphics engine, 16 stadiums, improved AIs, team and player customisation, a “Road to World Cup” mode with all FIFA-registered national teams, and a licensed soundtrack featuring popular musical artists of the time. The game features many accurate team squads for national call up when playing in the round robin qualification modes. Another new feature was the ability to manually change the referee's strictness, allowing some fouls to go un-noticed or without punishment.
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FIFA 99
A wise decision to drop the indoor mode, (which no one ever played anyway), the game added basic facial animation and different players’ heights as well as improving kits and emblems, but yet to be licensed. The Malaysian league was removed and is replaced by the Belgian First Division and the Portuguese Liga. Gamers can now create their own custom cups and leagues and select the teams they wish to participate.
This title also features an elite league known as the “European Dream League” in which 20 top teams from across Europe compete against each other in a league format. A “Rest of Europe” team selection block features big teams which did not pertain to any of the main leagues (it was called “Rest of Europe” back then since all the teams were European).
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FIFA 2000
A Madden NFL -style button command system was used for precise set-piece control and a colored passing indicator was added to let the player know whether a pass was likely to be intercepted or not.
This version of the FIFA series contained over 40 “classic” teams, so now gamers could play as retired football legends.
The game features over 40 national sides, fully integrated seasons, increased physical contact, new facial animations, shielding ability and tougher tackling.
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FIFA 2001
A very impressive debut on the PS2, with circular mowed patterns on pitches and mostly, mostly recognizable players. FIFA 2001, for the first time, includes official club emblems, although certain leagues. This game also includes the entire Austrian Bundesliga, but removing the Portuguese Liga and the Turkish Premier League in the process. This title was the first game of the series with a power bar for shooting. But lacking realism in the extremely arcade-oriented gameplay, who could forget the crosses from the wing, near-guaranteed to be slammed home with an overhead kick? There was little finesse to its play and the path was clear for Pro Evolution Soccer to take the lead.
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FIFA 2002
Power bars for passing was introduced, and dribbling reduced in order to attain a higher challenge level. The game also includes club emblems for many more European clubs. This game also features, for the first time, the Swiss Super League, at the cost of excluding the Greek League. A card reward system licensed from Panini was also introduced where, after winning a particular competition, a star player card is unlocked. There is also a bonus game with the nations that had automatically qualified for the 2002 World Cup (France, Japan and South Korea), in which the player tries to improve the FIFA ranking of their chosen team by participating in international friendlies. Through balls were now an integral part of the game, thanks to the "new passing model." Hard to believe, but FIFA had been that far behind.
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FIFA 2003
New graphics featuring more detailed stadiums, players and kits is the main improvement in this title. Club Championship Mode was introduced with the feature of playing against 17 of Europe's top clubs in their own stadiums and the fans singing their unique chants and songs. A TV-style broadcast package gave highlights at half-time and full-time, as well as comprehensive analysis. One of the most anticipated new features was EA Sport's "Freestyle Control" which allows the user to flick the ball on and lay it off to team mates. Other additions include greater likenesses of players such as Thierry Henry and Ronaldinho, as well as realistic player responses. FIFA Football 2003 was also the first game in the series to use the EA Trax. Very nice. Not so nice was the right stick being used for skill moves. Oh, and don't forget the new free kick method - "Find the angle, find the sweet-spot and find the top corner." Every. Single. Time.
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FIFA 2004
Not much has been added in term of the graphics, the biggest new inclusion however, is secondary divisions, which allows the player to take lower ranked teams into the top leagues and competitions, although promotion/relegation system was present since the 2000 edition, but only now had the title features second-tier leagues. The twelfth man idea was taken a stage further, allowing the player to control two team members at once. Another main addition is the five Mexican teams and two Argentinians teams, placed in “Rest of World” team selection block. The online mode is introduced, strangely, the PS2 version can go online but Xbox can’t.
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FIFA 2005
FIFA 2005 was released much earlier than the usual late October date to obtain a head start over Pro Evolution Soccer 4 and avoid clashing with EA Sports' own FIFA Street. The game features the return of the create-a-player mode, as well as an improved Career mode. This iteration introduced "first touch" technology. Some people hated it, but we quite liked it. Flicking the right stick as you received the ball would knock the ball a few feet in that direction, allowing you to turn defenders to create a chance out of nothing. It is also the first version to feature the full Mexican League. The game also features authentic crowd chants
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FIFA 06
A significantly more involved Career mode and the introduction of "team chemistry" which determines how well team members play together were introduced. This installment breaks with the long tradition of commentary from John Motson and Ally McCoist, who are replaced by Clive Tyldesley and Andy Gray, who had already worked in the series as guest commentator.
This tile also let the gamers have a chance to play the first ever game in the FIFA series which was titled as “FIFA 94”. The game also features for the first time a Classic XI team consisting of great football legends and a World XI team consisting of current great superstars.
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FIFA 07
The main differences from the previous game are a new "Interactive Leagues" function, new stadiums and the ability to create custom teams. The Turkcell Super Lig is also brought back into the game. The graphic remains the same although the Xbox 360 version uses a completely new game engine which was created from scratch for the system.
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FIFA 08
“Be a Pro” mode was introduced, in this mode, the gamer controls only a single player on the pitch. Leagues such as League of Ireland, and the Hyundai A-League of Australia were added into the game. The debut version of the Wii used motion controls for shooting.
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FIFA 09
FIFA 09 features a revamped collision system and an option for 10 versus 10 "Be a Pro" online matches, and the new "Adidas Live Season" feature, which updates all the players' stats in a particular league are based on the player's form in real life. For the first time, users can also purchase extra commentator voices in different languages from the PlayStation Store and Xbox Live Marketplace.
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FIFA 10
FIFA 10 has an extended Manager Mode which includes a new Assistant Manager that can be used to take care of the team's line-up and to rotate the squad based on importance of the upcoming match and improved finances. The "Player Experience and Growth System" has changed. Player growth will now be determined by in-game performance, demands placed on the player, and achievements based on the player's particular position. The game also features 50 stadiums and 31 leagues, among which the Russian Premier League is introduced to the series. It also includes 360 degrees player control instead of the 8-direction control in previous games.
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FIFA 11
Replacing the usual Manager Mode is the Career Mode; the player is able to play a career as a Manager, Player or a new feature as a Player Manager. Other new features include an improved passing system, improved player likenesses, the ability to fully play as a Goalkeeper for the first time, and other various other tweaks and additions.
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So there you have it, all the past titles in the main FIFA game series, what could the next FIFA have installed for us gamers, I wonder...
