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''Match Day'' is a football computer game, published by
Ocean Software Ocean Software Ltd was a British software development company that became one of the biggest European video game developers and publishers of the 1980s and 1990s. The company was founded by David Ward and Jon Woods and was based in Manchester. ...
in 1984 for the
ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer. Referred to during development as the ''ZX81 Colou ...
. It is the first game in the ''Match Day'' series, and was the creation of programmer Jon Ritman and Chris Clarke. Versions were later released for the
Amstrad CPC The Amstrad CPC (short for ''Colour Personal Computer'') is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Si ...
and PCW,
BBC Micro The British Broadcasting Corporation Microcomputer System, or BBC Micro, is a series of microcomputers and associated peripherals designed and built by Acorn Computers in the 1980s for the BBC Computer Literacy Project. Designed with an emphas ...
, Commodore 64 and MSX systems.


Background

Jon Ritman met Chris Clarke, formerly of Crystal Computing, at
Artic Computing Artic Computing was a software development company based in Brandesburton, England from 1980 to 1986. The company's first games were for the Sinclair ZX81 home computer, but they expanded and were also responsible for various ZX Spectrum, Commodo ...
in 1983 where Clarke was marketing '' Bear Bovver'', Ritman's latest game for the company. They decided on going freelance to produce a football game after discovering that distributors wanted to see a ZX Spectrum game comparable to ''
International Soccer ''International Soccer'', also known as ''International Football'' is a sports video game written by Andrew Spencer for the Commodore 64 and published by Commodore International in 1983. Originally only available on cartridge, CRL re-released the ...
'' on the Commodore 64. By chance Ritman met David Ward, co-founder of
Ocean Software Ocean Software Ltd was a British software development company that became one of the biggest European video game developers and publishers of the 1980s and 1990s. The company was founded by David Ward and Jon Woods and was based in Manchester. ...
, at a computer show and told him what he was working on. Several months later Ward called Ritman and offered him a £20,000 advance for the game which he accepted immediately. Ocean licensed the theme tune from ''
Match of the Day ''Match of the Day'' (abbreviated to ''MOTD'') is a football highlights programme, typically broadcast on BBC One on Saturday nights, during the Premier League season. The show's current presenter is former England international striker Gary ...
'' from the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
but not the title, naming it ''Match Day'' instead.


Gameplay

left, ZX Spectrum version This was the first soccer game for the ZX Spectrum where large moving footballers characters could dribble, throw-in, take corners, etc. The game uses modified sprites from a Ritman's previous title '' Bear Bovver'' to create an almost isometric, but still ultimately side-on football title. The game had 8 teams that the player could choose, such as ''Ritman Rovers'', ''Clarke PR'' and ''Ocean United''. Players could rename the teams and redefine the team colours.


Reception

''Match Day'' was released in late 1984 and became a best-seller over the Christmas period reaching number 2 in the charts behind ''
Ghostbusters ''Ghostbusters'' is a 1984 American supernatural comedy film directed and produced by Ivan Reitman, and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. It stars Bill Murray, Aykroyd, and Ramis as Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and Egon Spengler, thr ...
''. The BBC micro version ported by Chris Roberts reached the top of the BBC charts in September 1985. ''Match Day'' sold over 50,000 copies


Legacy

The sequel, ''
Match Day II ''Match Day II'' is a football sports game part of the Match Day series released for the Amstrad CPC, Amstrad PCW, ZX Spectrum, MSX and Commodore 64 platforms. It was created in 1987 by Jon Ritman with graphics by Bernie Drummond and music an ...
'' was much the same but incorporated two features still used today in most football titles - a deflection system, the ball could bounce off players, which meant headers were possible, and a shot power system, although it was as easy to accidentally backheel the ball with this system, as it was to hit a powerful shot. The game is also similar to a previously, not published game by Jon Ritman, ''Soccerama''. Later, in 1995, Jon Ritman tried to release ''Match Day III'', but the name of the game was changed to '' Super Match Soccer'' to avoid any potential legal issues.


References


External links

*{{WoS game, id=0003067
It Really Is All Over
at Eurogamer

at members.lycos.co.uk/Crispin_S 1984 video games ZX Spectrum games BBC Micro and Acorn Electron games Amstrad CPC games Commodore 64 games Association football video games Video games scored by Martin Galway Ocean Software games Video games developed in the United Kingdom Multiplayer and single-player video games