World Trophy Soccer

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs

GAME DESIGNER:Laszlo Szenttornyai & Peter Balla
GAME DEVELOPER:Novotrade
GAME PUBLISHER:Novotrade
Copyright 1989, Novotrade

Official soccer game of the 1990 World Cup at Italy, World Trophy Soccer is a graphically advanced game that is unfortunately bogged down by frustrating controls and unrealistic ball mechanics. The best thing about the game is the great graphics: the players move realistically, and their excellent animations are a far cry from blocky stick men graphics of earlier soccer games.

Similar to Cinemawares TV Sports series, World Trophy Soccer features many cinematic elements that enhance the you are there feeling, including an animated referee who would appear in the lower right of the screen, with a speech balloon announcing his calls. During penalty kicks, the perspective shifts from top-down view to behind-the-goalie view, and the results are dramatic. There are also two different perspectives that automatically change according to the attacker’s position in the playfield.

Despite excellent bells and whistles, World Trophy Soccer comes down as a lackluster game as far as actual gameplay is concerned. Controlling the players is nowhere near as intuitive as, say, Sensibles Sensible Soccer, and the almost complete lack of coaching options of any kind is disappointing, especially considering that this is the tournaments official game. Overall, if you are a die-hard soccer fan, World Trophy Soccer will likely disappoint after the wow effect from seeing excellent EGA graphics wears off. Arcade fans who play soccer games just for a few minutes of adrenaline rush may find it fun for as long (actually, short) as it lasts.