Super Soccer

by Gregory Moffett

This is the game that started it all!

I honestly can’t remember what I received from Santa for Christmas in 1993 because my big brother had asked for a Super Nintendo and it completely stole the show from the moment the present was unwrapped.

The box was MASSIVE! Not only was the console inside, as well as 2 controllers, but also the Nintendo Scope, Super Scope 6 and probably most notably, Super Soccer.

As the first console and games we owned, the moment the power was turned on and the powerful intro music and pictures were displayed on the TV was amazing.

Grabbing the controller felt exciting. It was new. It was magical.

So, too, was Super Soccer.

Taking to the pitch with one of the 16 international teams, each with their own ridiculously awesome music which played during each half, depending on who was attacking up the screen, was always filled with drama and excitement when playing with my brother, even to this day. I say 16 teams, but I’ll never forget my dad somehow discovering the secret Nintendo team by holding start while selecting your team with B on controller 2. Goodness only knows how that even happened, but we were forever grateful!

For me, there are things that Super Soccer does better than most modern football games! Firstly, the penalty shootouts are actually simple and FUN, unlike the unsatisfactory equivalents in the latest FIFA and Pro Evolution Soccer games that overcomplicate things. Secondly, there’s the option for manual goalkeepers and you’ll have to trust me when I say that this is the ONLY way to play Super Soccer!

I will forever love this game as my introduction to gaming and for genuinely still being an extremely fun game to play with my brother, a rivalry that is just as strong in 2015 as it was some 22 years ago.

With Human Interactive sadly no longer in business, there doesn’t appear to be any possibility of this ever appearing on the Virtual Console at any point, but we'll always have Christmas '93!