''International Soccer'', also known as ''International Football'' is a sports

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 feedba ...

written by Andrew Spencer for the

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness W ...

and published by

Commodore International Commodore International (other names include Commodore International Limited) was an American home computer and electronics manufacturer founded by Jack Tramiel. Commodore International (CI), along with its subsidiary Commodore Business Mac ...

in 1983. Originally only available on cartridge, CRL re-released the game on cassette and disc in 1988.

Gameplay

''International Soccer'' can be played by two players or one player against an AI opponent. Each team can select one of a number of colored shirts, and the AI opponent is graded into 9 different difficulty levels. The game itself is a relatively simple game of

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 ...

- there is no offside rule and no possibility to foul opponents. Each game is divided into two 200-second halves. There are no overtimes or shootouts. There are also six colors a person can choose from for play: red, yellow, blue, grey, white, and orange. The winning team is presented a gold trophy after the game by a dark-haired woman. The game includes a gray-scale mode that is more suited for black-and-white television sets.

Reception

''International Soccer'' was well received, gaining a Certificate of Merit in the category of "1984 Best Computer Sports Game" at the 5th annual

Arkie Awards An electronic game is a game that uses electronics to create an interactive system with which a player can play. Video games are the most common form today, and for this reason the two terms are often used interchangeably. There are other common ...

. ''InfoWorld'' described ''International Soccer'' as Commodore's best competitor to the very successful

Atarisoft Atarisoft was a brand name used by Atari, Inc. in 1983 and 1984 to market video games the company published for home systems made by competitors. Each platform had a specific color attributed by Atarisoft for its game packages. For example, video ...

games. The magazine wrote that the "" was "surprisingly good, considering it's published by Commodore" (because "the normal standard for Commodore software is mediocrity"), praising gameplay and especially animation. ''

Ahoy! ''Ahoy!'' was a computer magazine published between January 1984 and January 1989 in the US, focusing on all Commodore color computers, but especially the Commodore 64 and Amiga. History The first issue of ''Ahoy!'' was published in January 198 ...

'' wrote that ''International Soccer'' "is a pure action game, but, oh, what action!", praising the graphics and game-play. In the UK, the game reached the number one position in the Commodore 64 charts early in 1984 and returned to the top of the charts again later in the same year.

Legacy

''International Soccer'' was the inspiration for '' Match Day'' on 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 ...

. Andrew Spencer followed up ''International Soccer'' with ''International Basketball'' which was based on the same code. It reached number 2 in the UK Commodore 64 charts in April 1985 but was not released in the US. Spencer would later work with Epyx, adapting his sprite coding technique for use on their 1987 game '' Street Sports Basketball''.

References

External links

*{{lemon64 game, id=2987, name=International Soccer
International Soccer
at homepages.tesco.net/~parsonsp
Gameplay video
1983 video games Commodore 64 games Commodore 64-only games Association football video games Video games developed in the United States