Soccer (NES) Playthrough - NintendoComplete
1,020A playthrough of Nintendo's 1985 sports game for the NES, Soccer.
This video shows two different matches. The first is playing as the USA on level three. The second (8:00) is playing as GBR on level five.
Along the same lines as Baseball, Volleyball, and Golf, Soccer was a member of Nintendo's black box line-up of games. Appearing on shelves on the day of the console launched in the United States, Soccer was one of the most accomplished footy games yet produced.
Each team has six players, and the matches hold with most of the standard rules. Penalty kicks and throw-ins are both here, as are penalty shootouts if a match ends in a tie.
The collision detection for the ball can feel a little awkward and imprecise at times, making Soccer feel not quite as polished as the likes of Baseball and Golf, but it was very well received in its time. Several players could be on-screen without slowdown or flicker, and coordinating a team was much easier than in previous soccer games thanks to the game's (primitive but innovative) interface that transfers control to whoever is nearest the ball.
The two-player head-to-head mode was a fierce bit of fun if you had a buddy that played on your level.
Soccer is one of the less celebrated games in Nintendo's initial NES lineup, but that doesn't take anything away from how fun it can be, even now.
(In all honesty, I'd take this over whatever lootbox-filled FIFA garbage EA has put out in recent years.)
And can I just say? That title screen is one of the best NES title screens ever! It looks like a neon Las Vegas sign done up in hot dog cart colors. I love it. That halftime show is pretty sweet, as well.
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
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