World Championship Soccer

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World Championship Soccer

Developer(s)	Sega
Publisher(s)	Sega
Platform(s)	Sega Mega Drive/Genesis
Release date	^USA Fall, 1989
Genre(s)	Sports
Mode(s)	Practice Tournament Two Player
Rating(s)	ESRB: Everyone
Media	cartridge
Input methods	Game controller

World Championship Soccer (ワールドカップサッカー) was one of the first games released for the Sega Genesis system. It is a soccer game based on the 1990 FIFA World Cup tournament, featuring 24 different playable countries. The game was released at a low price of US$19.99 in 1989. Because the game was created before the fall of communism in the Soviet Union, USSR and West Germany are two selectable countries that no longer exist.

[edit] Game Play

World Championship Soccer Main Title Screen

The game presents a top-down view of a simple version of soccer (there are no fouls, substitutions, or strategies). Players must dribble and pass the ball towards one end of the field and try to score a goal by forcing the ball into the opposing team's net. When the player's team has the ball, he or she can either dribble the ball across the field, kick the ball towards the goal, pass the ball in the air to another team member, or kick the ball forward in the direction that the player is currently facing. When the opposing team has the ball, the player can switch between different team members on the field, or slide kick their opponent to dislodge the ball from their control.

When the ball goes out of bounds, the game will switch to a full-screen graphical view for a corner kick or a goal kick. If the game ends in a tie and is not an elimination round match during the championship mode, the game will switch to a graphical penalty kick view.

To start a game, the player must first select which country they would like to be. Teams are rated on a scale from 1 to 5 (5 being the best) based on four different attributes (Speed, Skill, Defense, and Keeper). The best team in the game is Brazil, while the worst two teams are the USA and Japan. Games run for 90 minutes, where each minute in the game is actually 6 seconds. There are three audio tracks during game play, chosen based on the teams in the match.