FIFA Soccer 95

FIFA Soccer 95
European box art, featuring Erik Thorstvedt
Developer(s)	Extended Play Productions
Publisher(s)	Electronic Arts
Series	FIFA
Platforms	Sega Genesis
Release date(s)
Genre(s)	Sports video game
Mode(s)	Single player, multiplayer

FIFA Soccer 95 is a 1994 sports video game developed by EA Canada's Extended Play Productions team and published by Electronic Arts. Based on the sport of association football, the game tasks the player with controlling a football team. The game was released for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive console in November 1994. It is a sequel to FIFA International Soccer and the second game in the FIFA series.

Gameplay

FIFA Soccer 95 is a video game that simulates association football. The game utilizes an isometric viewpoint. The player controls one of the eleven footballers on their team, with the ability to switch to control another footballer. The game allows up to four players at the same time, each controlling a different footballer. The players can choose to control a footballer on the same team or on opposing teams. The remaining footballers are controlled by the computer.

Club sides are included for the first time in the series, with clubs from six leagues across Europe; the Premier League in England, Ligue 1 in France, the Bundesliga in Germany, Serie A in Italy, the Eredivisie in the Netherlands and La Liga in Spain. Several clubs from the Campeonato Brasileiro leagues in Brazil and clubs named for cities in the American Professional Soccer League in the USA are also included. The licenses did not cover the player names, so fictional names are used instead.

Other new features compared to the previous game include the implementation of the penalty shootout to resolve games that finish in a draw after extra time (FIFA International Soccer had instead used next-goal-wins at the end of extra time).

Reception

In their review, Mega Machines Sega noted the improvements made to three elements of the gameplay that they considered weak points of the previous game - passing, set-pieces and goalkeeping. Also drawing praise was that the developers had "improved that which didn't seem to need improving". They concluded by describing it as an "excellent update" and the best football game available. GamePro was similarly approving; though they were disappointed that there was less chanting and singing than the previous game, they rated FIFA '95 to be "the best soccer game yet." They particularly praised the removal of one-touch passing, saying this makes the game play more realistically, and the retention of most of the elements that made the previous game great.