Paterson combined the lessons learned from PES with his own instincts, which had landed him a promotion from Fifa manager. “I don’t think there was another sports game that created such varied, emergent, emotive gameplay back then. “PES was a massive influence in the beginning,” says Gary Paterson, who became Fifa lead designer in October 2005. I wasn’t involved in the planning, but with hindsight it was either ballsy or flukey! Let’s say the former.”Įven EA’s employees were wowed by their rivals’ excellence. “Collina was well known, it was an iconic image and different from the familiar white EA covers with a stock picture of Michael Owen or David Ginola. “We could do anything at that point,” says Merrett. Konami grew so confident it plonked referee Pierluigi Collina on the cover of PES 3. Pierluigi Collina on the cover of Pro Evolution Soccer 3. “From PES 2 to PES 5, you knew you’d succeeded when you’d demo the game to a magazine, and a few days later the journo would gripe that they couldn’t go back to the old version,” says Merrett. The cliche of EA focusing on licences while Konami aped real football was born.Īided by its magnificent Master League career mode – creating unlikely icons of fictional nobodies Valery, Ximenes and Castello – the early 00s remain Pro Evo’s golden era. While that game scored 9/10, Fifa 2002 picked up 8/10, bolstered by 400 teams with correct strips and badges. “The best football game on any console – ever,” insisted Eurogamer in 2001 as Pro Evolution Soccer landed on PlayStation 2. With the engine in place, each entry became a matter of refinement.” The Gazza in Konami’s English team had his peroxide hair. “Even those earliest Tokyo-developed titles focused on control, with the blocky characters perhaps lacking the finesse of the EA game but offering a more flowing experience. “The series was always about gameplay,” says Steve Merrett, Konami’s PR mastermind from 2001 to 2018. Konami’s titles rewarded patience, and the genuine pace – such as that demonstrated by France forward Hanry – felt scintillating. The key was the intricacy with which they did so. During this time, PES became legendary for its made-up names: Roberto Larcos, Naldorinho, Batustita, but it didn’t matter that England lined up with Bekham and Skoles supplying Owenn and Sheerer. Three subsequent PS1 games widened the quality gap. “So smooth you forget this is a video game and actually feel like you’re participating in a real match,” cooed Absolute PlayStation. Plus its side-on visual presentation looked beautiful. The game included nine in-match strategy options such as zone press and overlap, emphasising the idea of simulation over arcade-style action. Where its rival encouraged fast, thrilling goal-fests, ISS slowed things down, rewarding patient approach play and crisp passing, facilitated by a groundbreaking approach to tactical variety. Developed by Konami Tokyo with a new 3D graphics engine, it sought to challenge Fifa by offering an organic, improvisational experience rather than something tightly structured around specific moves and tactics. The game-changer was 1997’s International Superstar Soccer Pro – follow-up to the well-received early PlayStation kickabout, Goal Storm, and namesake of 1994 SNES title International Superstar Soccer. “The word ‘classic’ is used too much,” wrote Mean Machines Sega magazine, awarding it 94%, “but anyone who plays Fifa Soccer must concede that this IS football.” Critics and football fans loved its isometric viewpoint, realistic animations, end-to-end action and spectacular bicycle kicks. But Fifa was a flashy newcomer, designed for the 16-bit console era, and within a month it had sold 500,000 copies. Contemporary hits Kick Off 2 and Sensible Soccer both adopted an overhead view and lacked any kind of big-league sponsorship. When Fifa International Soccer launched on Mega Drive in December 1993, its competitors were already beginning to look old-fashioned. It was the latest shot in a turf war going back 25 years. The reason? Barca are an official PES 2020 partner club – and publisher Konami reportedly wasn’t keen for him to promote its main rival. Yet his first-round match against Eibar’s Edu Expósito never took place. Earlier this year, Barcelona’s Sergi Roberto was due to compete in a charity Fifa 20 tournament, which ultimately raised almost £130,000 towards the fight against coronavirus.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |