Striker (video game)

Striker is a soccer video game series first released by Rage Software in 1992.

Striker
Amiga box art
Developer(s)Rage Software
Publisher(s)Rage Software
Programmer(s)George Christophorou
Artist(s)Andy Rixon and Karen Davies
Composer(s)Allister Brimble (SNES)
Platform(s)Amiga, Atari ST, Amiga CD32, Mega Drive/Genesis, MS-DOS, Super NES
Release1992
Genre(s)Traditional soccer simulation
Mode(s)Single-player
Multiplayer (up to two players)

Later also for the Commodore Amiga, Amiga CD32, Atari ST, PC, Mega Drive/Genesis, and Super NES. It was bundled in one of the Amiga 1200 launch packs. It was one of the first soccer games to feature a 3D viewpoint, after Simulmondo's I Play 3D Soccer.

In 1993 it was released in Japan by Coconuts Japan for the Super Famicom as World Soccer (ワールドサッカー, Wārudo Sakkā), while the French Super NES version of Striker is known as Eric Cantona Football Challenge, playing on the popularity of French forward Eric Cantona, while the North American Super NES release of Striker was known as World Soccer '94: Road to Glory. The Mega Drive and Game Gear versions were branded as Sega Sports Striker. They were published by SEGA and developed by Rage Software in 1994 and released in 1995.[1]

Critical reaction

The game received a mixed reaction from the gaming press, with some condemning and others praising its extreme speed. For example, CU Amiga Magazine awarded the game 94% in its June 1992 issue along with the CU Amiga Screenstar award[2] while German magazine Amiga Joker awards the game 64% in the September 1992 edition.

By 1995, Striker sold 700,000 copies.[3]

Ports/Sequels

Ports

Striker was ported to several consoles between 1992 and 1999.

World Soccer '94: Road to Glory (SNES)

The Super NES port World Soccer '94: Road to Glory, known as Striker in Europe, Eric Cantona Football Challenge in France and World Soccer in Japan) was released in North America by Atlus Software, in Europe directly by Rage Software and in Japan by Coconot.

The game lets the player choose from five different modes, including indoor soccer, and then pick from 128 different international teams, all with different strengths and weaknesses. Unlike in the original game where the strongest or the most well-known teams had real names, in World Soccer '94: Road to Glory all the footballers' names are fictitious. Every UEFA (Europe) CAF (Africa) CONCACAF (North America Central America The & Caribbean) AFC (Asia) OFC (Oceania) team of that time appears in the game except for Yugoslavia, which was banned from international competition from 1992 to 1994 for being at war with itself. World Soccer '94: Road to Glory doesn't have a language-select prompt at the opening screen.

There are many options and features, for example, the pitch surface changes field conditions in outdoor friendlies; wet surfaces are slower than drier ones. Wind Strength can affect the flight of the ball, new FIFA Rules affects whether or not extra time will use the "Golden Goal" (sudden death) rules - since abolished. Auto Keeper will, when turned on, make the goalkeeper kick the ball upfield automatically after saved shots on target. After saves, the goalkeeper takes control automatically unless "Auto Keeper" is turned OFF.

List of ports
YearTitleSystemDeveloperPublisher Region
1992 Striker Amiga Rage Software Rage Software PAL
1992 Striker Atari ST Rage Software Rage Software PAL
1992 Striker Super NES Rage Software Elite System PAL
1993 Ultimate Soccer Game Gear Rage Software Sega PAL, Japan
1993 World Soccer '94: Road to Glory Super NES Rage Software Atlus NTSC
1993 World Soccer Super Famicom Rage Software Coconot Japan
1993 Ultimate Soccer Master System Rage Software Sega PAL
1993 Ultimate Soccer Mega Drive Rage Software Sega PAL
1993StrikerDOSRage SoftwareRage Software PAL
1993 Eric Cantona Football Challenge Super NES Rage Software Rage Software PAL (France only)
1994 Striker Amiga CD32 Rage Software GBH Gold PAL
1995 Striker Game Gear Rage Software SEGA PAL
1995 Striker Mega Drive Rage Software SEGA PAL
1995 Striker '95 DOS Rage Software Time Warner Interactive PAL
1996Striker '96 Sega Saturn / PlayStation / MS-DOSRage SoftwareAcclaim PAL
1999 UEFA Striker/Striker Pro 2000 PlayStation, Dreamcast Rage Software Infogrames North America (NA)
Infogrames Multimedia (PAL)		 NTSC, PAL

Sequels

A sequel, World Cup Striker (known in North America as Elite Soccer), was released for the Super NES in 1994. It was basically a repackaged version of Striker, but slightly better. It was published in Japan by Coconuts Japan and in Europe by Elite.

A Game Boy game developed by Denton Designs was also released at the same time, in Europe it was released as Soccer, in North America as Elite Soccer (both published by GameTek), and in Japan as World Cup Striker (published by Coconuts Japan and endorsed by Yasutaro Matsuki).

Also, Striker Pro was released in Europe and North America for the CD-i. In 1995, Striker: World Cup Special was released for the 3DO. A version of Striker '95 was in development for the Atari Jaguar but never released.[4][5] An entry in the Striker franchise was in the works for the Panasonic M2 but it never happened due to the system's cancellation.[6]

A year later Striker '96 (known in Japan as Striker: World Cup Premiere Stage) was released for the PlayStation, Sega Saturn and MS-DOS.[7] Striker '96 is known for being the first soccer game on the original PlayStation.[7]

In 1999 UEFA Striker, known in North America as Striker Pro 2000, was released for the Dreamcast and PlayStation.

A follow-up, UEFA 2001, was announced for the Dreamcast in 2000, but was cancelled in October 2000 when Infogrames was re-evaluating their Dreamcast support, and the game was never released on any platform.[8]

References
  1. "Striker". Sega Retro. Archived from the original on 2016-03-06. Retrieved 2016-03-05.
  2. Merret, Steve (June 1992). "Striker CU Amiga Review". CU Amiga. EMAP. pp. 57–60.
  3. Bowen, David (April 18, 1995). "The gold in games". The Age. p. 28. Retrieved December 3, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. Lethaus, Martin (March 31, 1995). "rec.games.video.atari › LIST OF GAMES AND DATES?". Google Groups. Archived from the original on 2011-01-22. Retrieved 2018-10-13.
  5. Battison, Jamie (September 30, 2018). "RVG Interviews – Jim Bagley". retrovideogamer.co.uk. Retro Video Gamer. Archived from the original on 2018-09-30. Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  6. "News - E3 '96: 3DO? - M2 Dream List". 3DO Magazine. No. 12. Paragon Publishing. July 1996. p. 4.
  7. "Striker '96 for SEGA Saturn (1996) - MobyGames". MobyGames. Archived from the original on 2017-01-12. Retrieved 2016-03-05.
  8. Official Dreamcast Magazine , October 2000, page 29
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