| International Soccer | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Andrew Spencer |
| Publisher(s) | Commodore |
| Platform(s) | Commodore 64 |
| Release | 1983 |
| Genre(s) | Sports |
| Mode(s) | One or two players |
International Soccer, also known as International Football, [1] is a sports video game written by Andrew Spencer [2] for the Commodore 64 and published by Commodore International in 1983. Originally only available on cartridge, CRL re-released the game on cassette and disc in 1988. [3] [4]
International Soccer can be played by two players or one player against an AI opponent. Each team can select one of a number of colored shirts, and the AI opponent is graded into 9 different difficulty levels. The game itself is a relatively simple game of soccer; there is no offside rule and no possibility to foul opponents.
Each game is divided into two 200-second halves. There are no overtimes or shootouts. There are also six colors a person can choose from for play: red, yellow, blue, grey, white, and orange. The winning team is presented a gold trophy after the game by a dark-haired woman.
The game includes a gray-scale mode that is more suited for black-and-white television sets.
International Soccer was well received, gaining a Certificate of Merit in the category of "1984 Best Computer Sports Game" at the 5th annual Arkie Awards. [5] : 28 InfoWorld described International Soccer as Commodore's best competitor to the very successful Atarisoft games. The magazine wrote that the "minimasterpiece" was "surprisingly good, considering it's published by Commodore" (because "the normal standard for Commodore software is mediocrity"), praising gameplay and especially animation. [6] Ahoy! wrote that International Soccer "is a pure action game, but, oh, what action!", praising the graphics and game-play. [7]
In the UK, the game reached the number one position in the Commodore 64 charts early in 1984 [8] and returned to the top of the charts again later in the same year. [9]
International Soccer was the inspiration for Match Day on the ZX Spectrum. [10]
Andrew Spencer followed up International Soccer with International Basketball which was based on the same code. [2] It reached number 2 in the UK Commodore 64 charts in April 1985 [11] but was not released in the US. [2] Spencer would later work with Epyx, adapting his sprite coding technique for use on their 1987 game Street Sports Basketball . [2]
Rick Dangerous is a platform game developed by Core Design for the Acorn Archimedes, Amiga, Atari ST, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, and MS-DOS. The game was released in 1989 and published by MicroProse on the Firebird Software label in the UK, and on the MicroPlay label in America. It was also published in Spain by Erbe Software. Later, it was released with two other games, Stunt Car Racer and MicroProse Soccer, on the Commodore 64 Powerplay 64 cartridge. The game was followed by a sequel, Rick Dangerous 2, in 1990. Loosely based on the Indiana Jones film franchise, the game received mixed reviews from critics.
Moon Patrol is a 1982 arcade video game developed and released by Irem. It was licensed to Williams for distribution in North America. The player controls a Moon buggy which can jump over and shoot obstacles on a horizontally scrolling landscape as well as shoot aerial attackers. Designed by Takashi Nishiyama, Moon Patrol is often credited with the introduction of full parallax scrolling in side-scrolling games. Cabinet art for the Williams version was done by Larry Day. Most of the home ports were from Atari, Inc., sometimes under the Atarisoft label.
Little Computer People, also called House-on-a-Disk, is a social simulation game released in 1985 by Activision for the Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST and Apple II. An Amiga version was released in 1987. Two Japanese versions were also released in 1987, a Family Computer Disk System version, published in Japan by DOG, and a PC-8801 version.
Newsfield Publications Ltd was a British magazine publisher during the 1980s and early 1990s.
One on One: Dr. J vs. Larry Bird, commonly known as One on One, is a basketball video game written by Eric Hammond for the Apple II and published by Electronic Arts in 1983. It was initially ported to the Atari 8-bit family, ColecoVision, Commodore 64, and IBM PC. Versions followed for the TRS-80 Color Computer, Macintosh, Amiga, and ZX Spectrum. In Europe, the publisher was Ariolasoft. Atari Corporation released an Atari 7800 port in 1987.
CRL Group plc was a British video game development and publishing company. Originally CRL stood for "Computer Rentals Limited". It was based in King's Yard, London and run by Clem Chambers.
Cisco Heat: All American Police Car Race is a 1990 racing video game developed and published in arcades by Jaleco. Players control a police squad car racing against computer-controlled vehicles. The goal is to finish each race in first place. Players can take different routes to bypass certain portions of the course. Three cabinet types were created, a standard upright, a sit-down, and a motion-based "deluxe" machine; both of these could be connected, or "linked", together to enable multiplayer.
Beach Head II: The Dictator Strikes Back is a 1985 video game for the Commodore 64, a sequel to Beach Head, developed and published by Access Software. It was designed by Bruce Carver and his brother, Roger, and was released for the Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Atari 8-bit family, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum.
Beach-Head is a video game developed and published in 1983 by Access Software for the Atari 8-bit family and Commodore 64 home computers in the US. Versions for the ZX Spectrum, BBC Micro, and Acorn Electron were published in Europe by U.S. Gold in 1984, followed by versions for the Amstrad CPC, Commodore 16 and Plus/4 in 1985.
Computer Baseball is a simulation game published by Strategic Simulations in 1981. It was released for the Apple II, Atari 8-bit family, and later for the Commodore 64, Macintosh, DOS, and Amiga.
Highlander is a video game tie-in to the Highlander franchise released in 1986, the same year as the film, published by Ocean Software for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64 and Amstrad CPC home computers. Highlander was panned by reviewers.
Piranha Software was a short-lived video game publishing label created by Macmillan Publishers in 1986 and closed eighteen months later. In that time it gained a reputation for its unusual output from well known developers such as Don Priestley, Design Design and Delta 4. The majority of their games featured licensed properties including the first video game based on the Discworld novels and two games based on the animated television series The Trap Door.
On-Court Tennis is a computer game developed by Activision's Gamestar division and published in 1984 for the Commodore 64.
Blue Max 2001 is a diagonally-scrolling shooter written by Bob Polin for the Atari 8-bit family and published by Synapse Software in 1984. A Commodore 64 version was released the same year. Blue Max 2001 is the sequel to 1983's Blue Max, also by Polin, with the player piloting a futuristic hovercraft instead of a World War I biplane. Critics found the game disappointing compared with the original, citing the indistinct graphics and confusing documentation.
Friday the 13th: The Computer Game is the first game adaptation based on the films of the same name. It was released in 1986 by Domark for the Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum. The game was released on floppy diskette and cassette tape. The player's goal is to find and kill Jason, while making sure their friends or they themselves are not killed by Jason.
Joe Blade is the first game in the Joe Blade series. It reached the top of the UK game charts, replacing Renegade. In Germany, the game peaked at number 7.
Search for the Titanic is a graphic adventure developed by Codesmiths and IntraCorp and published by its subsidiary Capstone Software in 1989. It was released for MS-DOS compatible operating systems, then ported to the Commodore 64. Versions for the Apple II and Amiga were planned, but never reached development. Accolade, Inc. helped to distribute the game. Much of the gameplay is based on Robert Ballard's expedition to locate the wreck of the RMS Titanic.
Echelon is a video game originally published in 1987 by Access Software.
Pro Tennis Tour is a 1989 sports video game developed by Blue Byte and published by Ubi Soft for the Amiga, Atari ST and MS-DOS. 8-bit ports for the Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum were released later. Electronic Arts distributed the game in North America. A sequel, Pro Tennis Tour 2, was released in 1991.
SkyChase is a combat flight simulator designed by Ralph Russell in 1988. It is the first game developed by Maxis.