15) Emlyn Hughes International Soccer (1988, C64)
A spiritual successor to Andrew Spencer’s International Soccer, Emlyn Hughes International Soccer was the last great side-on football game of the 1980s. It was brimming with options. Advanced players could utilise techniques such as ‘5-direction’ passing, sliding tackles and backheels. And all that from a joystick with only a single fire button.
The result was the first truly fluid football game, where you could string together some genuinely breathtaking moves. The goalies were still rubbish, though.
14) Retro Goal (2021, Android/iOS)
Retro Goal was by the New Star Soccer folks – and was a similar fusion of management and action. But rather than veering towards management, it mostly took place on the pitch. Instead of full games, you played out highlights, using gestural controls (with the aid of Matrix-style slo-mo) to bury the ball in the back of the net.
There were grumbles that the game was play to win. However, it wasn’t really the video game equivalent of Manchester City. All you needed was a bit of patience. And also the nous to seriously power up a couple of strikers so they had some serious welly.
13) FIFA Street (2005, PS2)
There’s something beautifully nostalgic about FIFA Street. If you played the 4-a-side street football game in 2005, the game may conjure up memories of committing devastating flicks and tricks in favelas and English football pitches. It also came with a soundtrack that has seldom been beaten since. This brought the local sounds of soca, grime, jungle and more to global players.
FIFA Street’s most recent form, the Rush mode in FC 26, hasn’t managed to live up to the heights of the original. But that’s a tough ask. Because even when playing today, FIFA Street still impresses. Few things beat the feeling of nutmegging Ronaldinho before firing a screamer into the top bins, after all.
12) Virtua Striker (1994, Arcade)
Sega’s legendary AM2 team (also responsible for Daytona USA and Virtua Fighter) developed this groundbreaking title – the first football video game in history to use 3D player models. Being available only in arcades, Virtua Striker was designed for fast and furious action over serious simulation. But for those of us who crammed countless coins into the cabinet, it was the most realistic digital appropriation of the beautiful game we’d ever seen.
11) Super Arcade Football (2021, PC, Switch, iOS, Android)
Watch the tiny players scooting about the pitch, doinking the ball about in what appears to be a mash-up of football and pinball and your Sensible Soccer alarm might start blaring. Which is fair, because this game does look and play an awful lot like that stone-cold classic.
Of course, it isn’t Sensi, much in the same way Reading FC isn’t Manchester City. But especially on mobile, Super Arcade Football puts in a strong performance, and is arguably the most playable and entertaining football game you’ll find on a phone. That it’s packed with features and not in-app purchases seals its bid for promotion.
