| Neo Geo Cup '98: The Road to the Victory | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | SNK |
| Publisher(s) | SNK |
| Platform(s) | Neo Geo, Neo Geo Pocket |
| Release date(s) | NA March 3, 1998 |
| Genre(s) | Soccer |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Neo Geo Cup '98: The Road to the Victory is a soccer video game based on the FIFA World Cup 1998, despite being released after the 1998 FIFA World Cup. It features 73 teams countries. Each team enters a "Regional Qualifying Round Final" where it plays a team it actually played in the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification. For example: Spain would face Yugoslavia, an opponent it actually faced in its qualifying group. Or Italy would face Russia, an opponent Italy faced in the UEFA play-offs. If the player wins the opponent, it goes to a group much like the real life World Cup. In fact, the team faces opponents that were actually in its group. For Example: Mexico would face the Netherlands, Belgium and South Korea. It is a re-make of Super Sidekicks 3. However, animations and designs were exactly the same. The only difference is teams to reflect the World Cup, Kits again to reflect the World Cup, and players to resemble squads from the World Cup (Teams that did not qualify use line-ups from friendly games and qualifiers). It's slogan is "We got the kick".
Unlike its arcade counter-part, the Neo Geo version tries to be more of a soccer simulation game. Differences include the Neo Geo version more slowed down, and more realism added in shooting, passing, etc.
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Due to failure of getting any official FIFA license (EA Sports held the license) the tournaments are all unlicensed. Also, due to lack of FIFPro license player names are fake. For Example: Ronaldo is known as Rosa, Raúl is known as Roul, Luis Hernández is known as Hernardo, Eric Wynalda is known as Wyoming and Martin Dahlin is known as Dahlgren. However, most players appearance in this game resembles their real-life appearance. Easily identical players are: Colin Hendry (blonde hair), Luis Hernández (blonde hair and caucasian skin), and Jorge Campos (goalkeeper kit) and others appear in the game. However, others appearance are inaccurate. Like Ronaldo is dark-skinned.
There are also inconsistencies with the some of the teams qualifier opponents. For example, England would face Scotland (although the player can also be paired against Italy, a team England faced in the 1998 qualifiers). Brazil would also play a qualifier against Uruguay. Brazil qualified automatically due to the rule that the winner of the last FIFA World Cup would qualify automatically.
Also, some players have incorrect numbers. For example: Hernán Crespo (Cresko in the game) has the number 11. But in reality he wore number 19, number 11 was worn by Juan Sebastián Verón.
A popular internet meme is that if the game is set in French, the goal would be "BUT!". (The word "goal" is translated in French as "but") This has gotten popular due to "butt jokes" on the internet.
Another popular meme is that players "hug" each other after a goal and then the frame freezes. This has been often made fun of and called as gay.
There are some regional differences between versions of the game. In the North American version, the player can play a exhibition match, tournament mode, and change the options. However, in the European release, the player can only play tournament mode.