With the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa upon us, eu.playstation.com looks back on the long line of PlayStation football games.
If you own a PlayStation 3 then and are a football fan then, chances are, you will have played a FIFA or a Pro Evolution Soccer game at some stage. However, in the 15 years of PlayStation there have been dozens of titles each offering their own style of the beautiful game.
On your own
LiberoGrande and its sequel, Liberogrande International, on the first PlayStation console were oddities in that you controlled a single player for the entire match. Those games placed you in the boots of the star player of each country, be it Zenon Zadkine or Antonio Del Pacino, through tournaments and training ground exercises.
A few years later, Soccer Life and Soccer Life 2 on PlayStation 2 had a different slant on this idea. While you didn't have complete control of your character on the pitch, you did control his life off of it, including how hard he trained, who he dated and married and whether he had kids or not - you could even buy a race horse to make money on the side.
The idea of controlling a single player on the pitch has made a comeback recently with FIFA 08 and PES 2009's Be a Pro and Become a Legend modes respectively and similar features in subsequent titles. These provide sophisticated performance ratings based on your positioning and success with the ball, and even the opportunity to team up with other players via PlayStation Network.
From the dugout
Management simulators have had a steady following throughout the history of PlayStation and the most prominent series have been Championship Manager, LMA Manager and Football Manager. Traditionally, the player would have control over the transfers, training and tactics of their chosen club and could only observe matches.
However, some titles tried to capture the best of both worlds, giving you complete control over your team's affairs in the dressing room, in the boardroom and on the pitch, such as Complete Onside Soccer.
In recent years the FIFA and Pro Evolution Soccer series have included compelling single player modes that offer much of the freedom of a management simulator. Meanwhile, the genre has thrived on the PSP, with several instalments of the Football Manager series available on the system and This is Football Management and Championship Manager available from the minis category on PlayStation Store.
The best of the rest
All of the titles mentioned so far have been fairly sensible and there have been a few wackier football games over the years, starting with Sensible Soccer 2006 on the PS2. The name is synonymous with intuitive arcade action and this reboot had a cartoon-like visual style in which the players had enormous heads.
RedCard is another unique entry in the PS2 catalogue; even though there was a referee on the pitch, he never did anything. You could karate kick your opponents, slide tackle the goalkeeper and unleash outrageous bicycle kicks that made for frantic and funny multiplayer matches.
The FIFA Street series also deserves special mention for its light-hearted approach to the serious business of football. Those games rewarded circus tricks as much as they did goals as the world's best players competed in four against four matches in urban environments around the world.
Whatever your game, enjoy the FIFA World Cup with PlayStation.
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