761st played so far
Genre: Sports
Platform: Arcade
Year of Release: 1985
Developer: Tehkan
Publisher: Tecmo
It’s amazing how many football games are in the list and in particular how far they are spread throughout the years – other sports may have had their recent game stay on while FIFA 10 was booted off, but there are plenty more waiting in the wings.
Tehkan World Cup, the effective predecessor of Sensible Soccer, is an early game to go isometric, unlike soccer-like Ballblazer that played with a simple version of the rules but went first person. It feels like that perspective change alone would be revolutionary.
Our Thoughts
Tehkan World Cup is a football (or soccer) game that plays like it. It’s also an arcade game that is, by now, over thirty years old, and it lacks the more complex features of later soccer games – you steal the ball by running into it (a tackle animation sometimes plays), there’s no need for passing and throwing in the ball is very simple. It is a lot more accessible than the new games, but in this case to the point where it lacks the slight complexity from the mid-era games like Sensible Soccer.
Although simple doesn’t necessarily mean easy, the game is simple enough that there were some exploits that made it easier to get through when the game got to the right point – get in the right position and you were guaranteed to score. It made it a bit nicer to get through, as otherwise while this is a nice basic football game, there’s not as much meat on these bones – at least it can give you that endorphin hit.
Final Thoughts
Tehkan World Cup is a straightforward football game, with limitations as you’d expect them from the era. It’s fun if you want that sort of game, but there’s games that just cater to that feeling so much better, even one that don’t go quite as in depth as many others.