 I was born and raised in the United States, so I know baseball pretty well, basketball too, hockey since I'm from Minnesota which practically makes you an honorary Canadian, and yes I know football, American football, I do not know soccer, or regular football. I only really watch during the World Cup, and even then I only have fleeting knowledge of any kind of strategy or nuance. I do know some players, and I do know certain factoids like how Zlatan is one of the funniest people on earth, Wayne Rooney has the worst hair plugs in human history, and Cristiano Ronaldo only scores gold because it's a convenient excuse to take off his shirt. Regardless, I'm gonna dive into the world of Super Nintendo and Super Famicom's soccer games, so here we go in numerical and then alphabetical order. Starting with 90 minutes European prime goal, this one was only released in Japan and in PAL regions. Off to a good start because this is a pretty decent game with a lot of options including a sort of creative player mode that has you simulate training activities that boost your stats. There's 14 different countries to choose from, but the thing is here, this game is ruthless. The learning curve is pretty steep because even if you're playing a country like Norway, they are aggressive as hell. The gameplay and the balance of speed here is well done, but this game can get pretty difficult. If you like this one, it's actually part of a series that never left Japan, J League Prime Goal, and there are two other games in the series that came before this one with similar gameplay and features. Battle Soccer Field Nohasha takes place in the same universe as the Great Battle series, so it features Gundam, Ultraman and Common Rider, among others as playable characters. The problem is that this game in particular plays very rigidly. It's an early Super Famicom title and it shows. You're better off playing the sequel simply titled Battle Soccer 2. This one still isn't all that great, but it looks, sounds and plays a lot like a more palatable version of Mega Man Soccer, so if you like that game, you'll like this one. Capcom's Soccer Shootout is a little odd. You don't have any indicators showing which player you're playing as, instead you move everyone around all at once, kind of like how Fielding works in RBI Baseball. And if you don't really know what you're doing, like me, this game can be really hard. You can play full seasons of up to 44 games in this one, but it's a password system instead of a battery save. This one isn't bad, but you can find better. If you enjoy this one, it's actually the first game in the J League Super Soccer series, with two sequels that never left Japan, as well as the J League Excite Stage games, spanning 94, 95 and 96. And these play exactly like Capcom's Soccer Shootout, except with cutesy Mattscots. If you think Madden nowadays is the king of churning out the exact same thing with different players, games like this have been doing it 20 years previous, so there you go. Next we get into the Captain Tsubasa series, which spans five games on the Super Famicom. It started as a Shonen manga in the 80s before being turned into multiple anime TV series. So each of these games are heavy on story, and there's no English translation for any of them. Sure they're playable, but there's all sorts of cutscenes and dialogue to the point that each game even features character portraits and one-liners every time you do anything. I can't comment much on games like this because I don't even know what I'm doing or what I'm supposed to do, but I do have to mention these games. I should point out that the second game in this series, on NES, does have a finished English translation. Champion's World Class Soccer got various player and team endorsements across PAL regions, like featuring Sepmeyer or Ryan Giggs, or even featuring Paris Saint-Germain. But in North America it was just plain old Champion's World Class Soccer. I don't think I'd recommend this one. It played very choppily, and while there may be 32 different countries you can play as, there aren't very many other game modes here that other games on this list may have. Dino, Dini's Soccer. Sounds like it would star a cute little dinosaur or something, but it's actually the name of a British developer. So yes, this game originated on the Amiga and was ported to the Mega Drive and eventually found its way to the SNES, only released in PAL regions. There is a whopping 99 teams and countries to choose from here. So hey, if you're from North Korea, finally you're in luck. This is your game. It's four player compatible, which is about the only thing this game has going for it. According to the original dev team, this game is much different than the original version, and it plays... okay-ish. It's not bad, but it doesn't stand out like some of the other games on this list. Dolecchi's A League Soccer does star cute little animals, and this game is the same sort of deal as the Dolecchi baseball game. Each team features a different character, and again, it's like a better version of Mega Man Soccer, with each character having their own special ability. You can play as cats, dogs, bears, and rabbits. This game is a fun time. It's got sort of a Looney Tunes B-Ball kind of vibe to it, and it's one of the better games on this list. Elite Soccer was known as World Cup Striker in Japan and in Pal regions, and this game is awful. It plays like someone is holding down a fast forward button. Everything is so unnaturally fast. Things happen so quickly that I almost get nauseous. I'd avoid this game. Next, we get into the FIFA series made by EA. There's four games here running from 1994 to 1997. With the last game, FIFA Road to World Cup 1998, only being released in Pal regions. These games are as good of an example as you can find of a series that's way better on the Sega Genesis. On Super Nintendo, the framerate sucks, so the game plays very chopply and rigidly. On Genesis, the framerate isn't an issue, plus you have the wider screen resolution, so you can see more of the field. What's also unusual is that the series just gets worse and worse on the Super Nintendo, with FIFA 97 being a complete mess of a game. If you insist on playing a FIFA game on Super Nintendo, your best bet is the first game, FIFA International Soccer. Otherwise, just play these games on Genesis instead. Goal, known as Super Goal in Pal regions, is an early Super Nintendo title released in April 1992, and it shows. This game plays like crap. The framerate causes some problems, and the music and presentation just has that rushed early SNES feel to them. There's also a weird delay in the controls. So this is an easy call. Stay away from this one. There is a sequel Super Goal 2, and it's completely different, with a new viewing angle and better sprite animation. It's definitely better than the first game, but it's still not all that great, mostly because the ball physics just seem off. The ball hangs in the air seemingly forever. I swear, like half the time you're playing this, you're waiting for the ball to come down. So yeah, I'd avoid this one. Head-on Soccer was known as Fever Pitch Soccer in Pal regions, and as Mario Baszler, Gizet gets Los in Germany. This one is actually pretty good. It's a really fast-paced game with a good framerate. It almost plays like a FIFA game, except, you know, not half-assed. There's 51 countries to pick from, and the difficulty curve on this one isn't too bad either. This is a good player-friendly game, and one of the better games on this list. It's paced quickly, but not too quickly, as you'll see with some other games on this video. I'd recommend this one. Next, we have a couple of the best games on this list, International Superstar Soccer and International Superstar Soccer Deluxe, both made by Konami. Of all the Super Nintendo Soccer games that take this viewing angle, these are the most well done. There's a good balance of speed here, and it makes great use of the Super Nintendo controller. Regardless if your player has the ball or not, you're able to perform a variety of actions. Both games have scenario modes and penalty kick modes, which is a nice bonus, and there's tons of tactics available to deploy as well. The best way to describe the International Superstar Soccer games is polished. But I have to say, if you're a beginner, these games can get very tough very quickly. If you need to pick between one of these two, the obvious pick is Deluxe, since it's compatible with up to four players. It's got more countries to choose from, and the play-by-play voice is a bit better. This series continued onto a gazillion other platforms, but even the Super Nintendo editions of International Superstar Soccer are well worth playing today, and easily some of the best soccer games on the system. Here's something a little different. Kevin Keegan's Player Manager, which was released as KH Rumeneg's Player Manager in Germany. This game has more of a simulation aspect to it, featuring training, scouting, and even newspaper reports. You play as a 28-year-old player coach, but after seven seasons, the game forces you to retire, and you're stuck purely in simulation mode. It's definitely an interesting idea, but games like this are a little tough to look at now, because modern games take similar ideas, and are implemented so much better. Same with stuff like SimCity or Civilization. Still, this is a pretty interesting game with some unique ideas. The kickoff series started out on the Amiga Anatari ST made by Dino, Dini, before heading to the Super Nintendo. Kickoff was released in PAL regions and Japan, where it went by the title Super Kickoff, while Kickoff 3 stayed in PAL territory. This was one of the first franchises to really do soccer gameplay the right way, but unfortunately the Super Nintendo port isn't very good. The gameplay here is fast as hell. I mean, it's practically Twitch controls. Everything happens so quickly. Maybe it's just me. I thought this game was just a little too fast, a case where it felt more like the game was playing me rather than the other way around. The top-down angle here is well done and reminiscent of Sensible Soccer, which I'll get to later, but the difficulty here can be pretty tough. It's just not a very good port. Kickoff 3 European Challenge has a side angle view, and the game plays completely differently, dialing back the speed and difficulty a bit. This one's got English Premier League teams, which is kind of cool, and I have to say this one is just okay. Not great, not terrible, there's good pacing, but it's just okay-ish. Manchester United Championship Soccer was Lothar Mathaus, Super Soccer in Germany, and in this one you have the option of a top-down angle or an isometric view. This game also has English Premier League teams, as you might expect, with the addition of 50 other teams across other leagues in Europe, like Real Madrid or AC Milan, including all-star teams and all-time greats. There's real players here too with lots of different game modes, including custom leagues, so there's a lot to like here. Unfortunately, the gameplay is a little weird. The players are absolutely tiny, and the balance of speed just feels off. It feels like you're playing this game on fast forward. This game isn't bad, but it's one of those where it takes a little while to get used to how it controls. Next we have Mega Man Soccer. On paper this game should be great, but it's made very clear that the development was rushed, to the point that they didn't even create an ending for this game. There's some great ideas here, like using special abilities, concocting a team full of Mega Man villains. It's pretty cool, but the gameplay itself is sluggish. The viewing area is too small. You can't see enough of the field to set anything up or even advance the ball. It doesn't help that the computer AI here is idiotic as well. This is one of those games where I don't blame you if you want to try it out out of curiosity, but I have a feeling you'll end up playing this one for like five minutes before putting it down. Great ideas, but bad execution. Pele was a game that was finished, but never released. Well, it did get a release on Sega Genesis. I guess the novelty here is that Pele himself had a hand in the design of the game, but I'm unable to find a working ROM of this one. I just thought it should be pointed out. Sensible Soccer was another series that originated on the Amiga and made its way to the Super Nintendo, starting with Sensible Soccer International Edition, which was only released in PAL regions. Now, this game may not look like much. The graphics are a little lacking to say the least, and the players are so small, but make no mistake, these games are fantastic. What really stands out about Sensible Soccer compared to the rest is the way the ball physics are handled. You can put all kinds of different spin on the ball which introduces a totally different dynamic to the gameplay. It kind of reminds me of Super Tennis in that way. The action is quickly paced, but not too fast. There's a certain arcade style simplicity to the gameplay which I appreciate, while having subtle touches here and there. Another thing that makes this one stand out is that they got the proportions between the players, pitch size, and the speed of everything down perfectly. It reminds me of the EA NHL games in that sense. There's also a ton of game modes here, plus extra stuff like creating teams, kits, and editing player stats. A sequel was released in the US as Championship Soccer 94, entitled Sensible Soccer European Champions in PAL regions. These games are right up there with international superstar soccer as some of the best soccer games on the system. Shiju Sakyu League Serie A, Ace Striker, is a weird one. It's a Japan-only release that was exclusively licensed by an Italian football league, so it's all Italian teams and players drawn in an anime style. As a game, it's okay at best. The viewing area is really small and the computer AI is ruthless. I was losing every game like six to nothing, so you can do much better than this one. Super Soccer is developed by Human Entertainment, and they have a pretty good track record with games like the Fireman Clock Tower and the Fire Pro Wrestling Series, and this is another solid title. The game is paced well and controls well enough. It's one of those games where you control your entire formation at once rather than just one player at a time. It's just that there aren't many game modes here and there's only 16 countries to choose from, so this game is just okay at best. But if you like Super Soccer, you'll be happy to know that the series continued in Japan under the title Super Formation Soccer with another four titles, with the 96th edition in particular being the most polished of the bunch. Super Soccer Champ was released as Euro Football Champ in PAL regions and Hattrick Hero in Japan, and is an arcade port made by Taito. However, this is an early release on the Super Nintendo and its shows, since there's only nine countries to choose from and barely any other game modes. That's a real shame because this game is pretty good. It's an accessible pickup and play style without a lot of nuance, but it's pretty fun for what it is. It was scheduled for a sequel in the US, but it stayed in Japan as Hattrick Hero 2. This game is very similar, but it has some of the weirdest sounding crowd noise I've ever heard. Is the kitchen sink running? Tactical Soccer was made by EA, but it never left Japan, and I can see why, because this is a really weird one. As you might expect with a game like Tactical Soccer, the gameplay is tactic-centric. You take a bird's-eye view of the action and see the players as dots and formations, while the actual action takes place on a small window above. You really have to be hardcore into Soccer to get into this one, and I'm not qualified to give much of an opinion, but from what I can tell, this seems like one of those games that's probably outdated to play now, because the number of strategies and formations and such are too limited. Moving on with Tony Miola's Sidekick Soccer. Hey, remember that guy? This game was released in PAL regions as World Soccer, as Ramos Rui known worldwide soccer in Japan, and as Super Copa in South America. Finally, we have our first Mode 7 game similar to NCAA Basketball and NHL Stanley Cup, where the camera focuses entirely on the ball and rotates around depending on which team has it. The gameplay here is pretty good depending on how disorienting the camera is for you. I didn't think it was too bad, but the annoying thing about this one is all the weird icons for each option on the menu. Ugh, plus most of the teams are unlicensed. Otherwise, the gameplay is pretty well done with lots of strategy available to implement, so this game is alright. Ultra League Morero, Soccer Daikessen, is a Japan-only soccer game that's centered around the Ultraman universe. This one plays a bit like the Dolucky game I talked about earlier, you know, the one with all the animals, only this one has a much more distant feel to it, and the controls are a bit sluggish. It's a decent game, and there's a bit of customization here, which is interesting, but I'd only recommend this game if you're really hardcore into Ultraman. Virtual Soccer is a PAL-only release, and this is yet another case of an early SNES soccer title with a bad frame rate, so the gameplay is kinda slow and choppy, which ruins an otherwise decent game. It features 25 countries, all with real players, which is pretty cool, but otherwise, this is pretty mediocre. Yeah, as if I'm not making it obvious enough, I'm reaching the point of the video where I don't even know what to say about these mediocre games where there's a seemingly endless number of them, so this one just blends right into the pack. World Cup USA 94 is officially licensed by the World Cup, and it's just a sensible soccer clone, taking the same perspective and the same proportions, but something about this one just feels off. While there's a certain arcade-like immediacy to sensible soccer, World Cup USA 94 just feels kinda wonky, the controls aren't quite right. Also, you can't be tackled if you're running diagonally, so it's easy to abuse the heck out of that flaw. I would much rather play sensible soccer than this, or if you want to stick to carts released in North America, stick to Championship Soccer 94. World League Soccer, titled Pro Soccer in Japan, is a really bad port of kickoff too, which I talked about earlier, and this game just flat out sucks. The grass pattern here seriously makes me nauseous as the ball moves. Ugh, just don't even waste your time with this one. Remember earlier in the video when I talked about elite soccer? Yeah, it seems like three hours ago, but that game was actually made as a follow-up to this title. World Soccer 94 Road to Glory, titled Striker in PAL regions, but Eric Cantona football challenged specifically in France. Now, elite soccer played like crap because it was way too fast, but this game uses the same format and visuals, and it's actually pretty good, because it's a little slowed down and better paced. There's five different game modes, including Indoor Soccer, and 128 international teams, but unfortunately no real players. So yeah, it's like someone complained this game was too slow, so they sped up the follow-up to the point that it felt out of control. But World Soccer 94 is actually a pretty solid title. The Zenkoku Koko Series spanned three games in Japan, and it's meant to be a Japanese high school soccer tournament where you can represent a specific area of Japan. The gameplay itself is really slow and plodding, so I'm not sure why anyone would want to go out of their way to play these games, especially since there's no English patches, so yeah, I just thought I'd mention these real quick. And finally, to finish this endless list, we have Ziko Soccer, named after former Brazilian midfielder Ziko. This is another simulation-style game that has you taking the role of head coach in mapping out strategies and such, and it's also made by EA, who made Tactical Soccer, which I talked about earlier. And you're much better off with that game since it's a more polished version of what this game set out to be, plus this one is so slow, as you can see. So go ahead and avoid Ziko Soccer. Whew, alright, that's all of them. To sum up this gargantuan soccer video, I just want to point out again that the obvious best games on this list are International Superstar Soccer and Sensible Soccer, but if you're looking for something a little under the radar, there's Head On Soccer, as well as Dolucky's A-League Soccer for Super Famicom if you want something different. And I want to thank you for watching and I hope you have a great rest of your day.