''Striker'' is a

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

series first released by

Rage Software Rage Games (formerly Rage Software) was a British video game developer. Formed in Liverpool in 1992, its video games were marked by an emphasis on graphical effects with arcade gameplay. Rage's first title '' Striker'' sold more than one mil ...

in 1992. Later also for the Commodore Amiga, Amiga CD32,

Atari ST The Atari ST is a line of personal computers from Atari Corporation and the successor to the Atari 8-bit family. The initial model, the Atari 520ST, had limited release in April–June 1985 and was widely available in July. It was the first pers ...

, PC,

Mega Drive/Genesis The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master Syst ...

, 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 I, or i, is the ninth letter and the third vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''i'' (pronounced ), plural ...

''. In 1993 it was released in Japan by Coconuts Japan for the Super Famicom as , while the French Super NES version of ''Striker'' is known as ''Eric Cantona Football Challenge'', playing on the popularity of French forward

Eric Cantona Eric Daniel Pierre Cantona (; ; born 24 May 1966) is a French actor, director, producer, and former professional footballer. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation, Cantona is credited as having made Manchester United a d ...

, 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.

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 ''Commodore User'', known to the readers as the abbreviated ''CU'', was one of the oldest British Commodore magazines. With a publishing history spanning over 15 years, it mixed content with technical and video game features. Incorporating ''Vic ...

awarded the game 94% in its June 1992 issue along with the CU Amiga Screenstar award while German magazine Amiga Joker awards the game 64% in the September 1992 edition. By 1995, Striker sold 700,000 copies.

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

and in Japan by Coconot. The game lets the player choose from five different modes, including

indoor soccer Indoor soccer or arena soccer (known internationally as indoor football, fast football, or showball) is five-a-side version of minifootball, derived from association football and adapted to be played in walled hardcourt indoor arena. Indoor socc ...

, 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 Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

(Europe) CAF (Africa)

CONCACAF The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football,, ; french: Confédération de football d'Amérique du Nord, d'Amérique centrale et des Caraïbes, . Dutch uses the English name. abbreviated as CONCACAF ( ; typese ...

(North America Central America The & Caribbean) AFC (Asia) OFC (Oceania) team of that time appears in the game except for

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

, 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 An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

; wet surfaces are slower than drier ones. Wind Strength can affect the flight of the ball, new

FIFA Rules The Laws of the Game are the codified rules of association football. The laws mention the number of players a team should have, the game length, the size of the field and ball, the type and nature of fouls that referees may penalize, the offside ...

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 In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

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

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 In political and sociological theory, the elite (french: élite, from la, eligere, to select or to sort out) are a small group of powerful people who hold a disproportionate amount of wealth, privilege, political power, or skill in a group. D ...

. A Game Boy game developed by

Denton Designs Denton Designs was a British video game developer based in Liverpool. The company was founded in 1984 and initially specialised in developing software for the ZX Spectrum home computer. Amongst the founders were developers who had worked on the ...

was also released at the same time, in Europe it was released as ''Soccer'', in North America as ''Elite Soccer'' (both published by

GameTek GameTek was an American video game publisher based in North Miami Beach, Florida known for publishing video game adaptations of game shows in the late 1980s and early 1990s. GameTek was a trade name for IJE, the owner of electronic publishing rig ...

), and in Japan as ''World Cup Striker'' (published by Coconuts Japan and endorsed by

Yasutaro Matsuki is a former Japanese football player and manager. He played for Japan national team. He also worked as a football commentator. Club career Matsuki was born in Chuo, Tokyo on November 28, 1957. He joined Japan Soccer League Division 2 club Y ...

). Also, ''Striker Pro'' was released in Europe and North America for the

CD-i The Compact Disc-Interactive (CD-I, later CD-i) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage device, data storage format that was mostly developed and marketed by Dutch company Philips. It was created as an extension of Compact Disc Di ...

. 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. An entry in the ''Striker'' franchise was in the works for the

Panasonic M2 The Panasonic M2 is a video game console platform developed by 3DO and then sold to Matsushita, a company known outside Japan by the brand Panasonic. Initially announced as a peripheral chip for the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer, it was later un ...

but it never happened due to the system's cancellation. A year later ''

Striker '96 ''Striker'' is a 1996 association football video game developed by Rage Software and published by Acclaim Entertainment for the Saturn. It was also released for the PlayStation and DOS. Gameplay ''Striker'' was the only soccer video game at the ...

'' (known in Japan as ''Striker: World Cup Premiere Stage'') was released for the

PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...

Sega Saturn The is a home video game console developed by Sega and released on November 22, 1994, in Japan, May 11, 1995, in North America, and July 8, 1995, in Europe. Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles, it was the successor to the succ ...

and

MS-DOS MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few ope ...

. Striker '96 is known for being the first soccer game on the original PlayStation. In 1999 ''

UEFA Striker ''UEFA Striker'', known in North America as ''Striker Pro 2000'', is a sports video game developed by Rage Software and published by Infogrames in 1999-2000. It is the final game in the '' Striker'' series following the cancellation of its sequel, ...

'', 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.''Official Dreamcast Magazine'' , October 2000, page 29

References

External links

*
''Striker'' (SNES)
at

GameFAQs GameFAQs is a website that hosts FAQs and walkthroughs for video games. It was created in November 1995 by Jeff Veasey and was bought by CNET Networks in May 2003. It is currently owned by Fandom, Inc. since October 2022. The site has a databa ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Striker (Video Game) 1992 video games 1993 video games Amiga games Atari ST games Cancelled Atari Jaguar games Cancelled Panasonic M2 games Amiga CD32 games DOS games Association football video games Sega Genesis games Coconuts Japan games Super Nintendo Entertainment System games Video games scored by Allister Brimble Video games scored by Mark Cooksey Video games developed in the United Kingdom Rage Games games