FIFA Road to World Cup 98 PS1 Review

When we talk about football or soccer games on the PS1 while there is a multitude of titles that are available there's only a handful that really come to mind in terms of the popularity and bringing franchises to a whole new audience of Gamers and FIFA Road to World Cup 98 is one of those titles. 

In my own personal opinion it is my favorite FIFA game of all time and for me it's also I consider to be the best FIFA game to ever be released on the PlayStation 1. While there was future iterations, it was FIFA 98 that put the FIFA franchise pretty much on the global map on a worldwide scale. 

The game was released by Electronic Arts in late 1997 and would also be the second game in the series to fully utilize 3D graphics and visuals that effectively found a home during the fifth generation of video game consoles because it wasn't just released on the PlayStation it was also released on the Nintendo 64, Windows PC, Sega Saturn, it even got versions on the likes of the Nintendo Game boy, Super Nintendo, Sega Mega Drive or Genesis also. 

The game was just a commercial success for EA in terms of its selling potential but it was also the first FIFA game to really put football games essentially on the map in terms of popularity because when we look back over previous versions of soccer games even with likes of FIFA 96 and even 97 on the original PlayStation, they were okay games for the most part. FIFA 97 was the first 3D soccer game in the series but it wasn't as well refined, it was very sluggish, it just didn't play overly well which led to it not receiving great reviews at the time but then fast forward to late 97 when FIFA 98's Road to World Cup came out and that completely blew everything out of the water. 

This is just a fantastic game as the crazy thing about this game is that not only did it have to popularize soccer games in general to a whole different audience of players but at modernized the soccer genre at that time because everything felt really fluent and unique and it just felt like everything was just live right in front of you to a point that even down to the gameplay sounds, aesthetics, the visuals, the commentary, everything felt like as if it was life-like. 

You genuinely felt that every time you went to play a game in FIFA 98 that you were actually watching and listening to a live game on the TV on a Saturday afternoon which in its own right was truly incredible. 

No other soccer game had really achieved that level of success before that which is quite crazy even when you do look back at even previous entries in the series yes they had good graphics and there was good features and mostly it was 2D graphics but they had updated player rosters and so forth but it really was FIFA 98 that just took everything to the next level. 

And I know myself I'm not the only one that considers this to be among some of the greatest soccer games of all time and definitely one of the best soccer games on the PS1 as many people that I even grew up playing will always reference FIFA 98 alongside of many other soccer games that would be released on the PlayStation. 

Now I know myself I loved playing this years ago, it was a friend of mine that had it and remember he took it around and we were completely all blown away by how good it was. 

Now I will admit, it was tough to get into at the time getting used to the controls having the bash the triangle button to get you the sprint on top of trying to learn all the other button combinations between passing and it definitely took a while to get familiar with but once you got into it you had a hell of an experience. 

There was a presence about the game that just was so surreal that never felt like anything that had been seen before it. It really brought not just soccer but games into the future, into the modern era at that time. It really just was a level above everything else that was seen before then, now I know on a personal note I love football, I grew up with football and I do love the FIFA games but I did spend a lot more time in later years playing likes of ISS Pro 98 and more like the Pro Evo series. 

If I was to pick between the two, my favorite would be my more likely to align with the PES series only because I found that I was able to adapt to it a lot easier even though it technically is a harder game probably to pick up and play but I just found I got into it so much easier compared to the FIFA games. 

But I will admit FIFA 98 really set the standard and set the bar really high for everything that was yet to come after it and even when we look back when we talk about games or when I'm talking about games with my brothers or my friends or even people that I know, FIFA 98 generally does come up in the conversation very regularly because it was a game that really changed the whole emphasis on the way we played football games at that time. 

And it's not that this is the game in any way because I think it's just as good as any football game I've ever played, it's just for me just the controls I would all still struggle with them but then I was never really that good at soccer games anyway. 

The one thing I will say about this here is the fact is that it had a massive array of teams, character rosters, players, you name it it had it all across the globe and it was a really good entry point into the World Cup that was up and coming around summer of 98. 

So this was a good way to get the hype and build up the hype towards that and it's funny to see why future FIFA games never really use that aesthetic or that idea. 

This game really set the tone leading up to a massive tournament and it got you excited to watch the World Cup as well. 

This game had so much influence on the sports genre in general which was kind of crazy. 

It's a great use of visuals, dynamics, player movement, it really was ahead of its time and was one of the first few games to really replicate and influence proper motion capture aesthetics that allowed you to get a real feel for different player dynamics, how they would move, how they would use tricks and abilities to maneuver the ball around, how to pass, how to kick, it was very fluent and it was very lifelike which had never really been seen in a soccer game before. 

Even apart from all of the impressive stats and all of the features the game had to offer which it had a tone like the replay ability alone in the game is just crazy, even by today's standards, there's still so much in the game that just it warrants wanting to go back and play it every so often in my opinion not just for the standard games even like with the exhibitions, playing in tournaments and so forth but it also has the addition like in FIFA 97 of the indoor soccer mode which definitely for me was one of the highlights of the game. I absolutely love the indoor soccer feature of FIFA 98. 

I just found this for myself personally wee bit easier to get more involved with the game in general, mind you I still very rarely ever won games but at the same time I just enjoyed the whole experience even more so. 

It was just one of those games that realistically just stood out among its peers like I always say that the PlayStation is my favorite console and quite rightly so because it was producing games like this to a point that it just completely blew your mind to see what was possible.

We were still in that era during the fifth generation of consoles where we were still relatively new to the concept of 3D gaming and different ideas and concepts and the fact is that more and more ideas were being utilized but were also being perfected usually on the first attempt and this is one of those games that's fully utilized all of those elements. Now I know that there's later games in the series I played FIFA 99, I played FIFA 2000 and I really like those games as well but for me FIFA 98 solely alongside of ISS Pro 98 they're my two favorite soccer games pretty much of all time if I would be totally honest. 

I do like PES or Pro Evolution Soccer two, four and six on the PS2 but really if I was to pick favorites it would definitely be FIFA 98 and ISS Pro 98 on the PS1 probably ISS Pro because it was the game that I actually did win more games again against my mates whereas with FIFA I would get trounced so that's just the reality of it I was just never as good a FIFA like I really enjoyed playing it but it was just I was terrible at it I was always better at the ISS Pro games. 

But that doesn't take away from FIFA 98, I think it's a phenomenal game and my own personal opinion I'm sure you'll agree I think it is the best FIFA game on the PlayStation hands down, I know like later entries obviously refine certain techniques and features and stuff but for me FIFA 98 is where it's all at. 

It's the one game the people reference, I myself reference all the time and people just genuinely go back to time and again for influence, character, playability and all of the features everything above, it just is a phenomenal phenomenal game and experience and I highly recommend that if you have not played this game you really do need to go back and check it out to see what it's all about or even if you have not played in a while get back in there and just start playing it again because it is just as good today as it's ever been. 

There's just something unique and just charming about the game and the fact is it was one of the earlier games especially, it was the first football game that I actually witnessed that It had a genuine awesome soundtrack. 

You had the likes of Song 2 from Blur, you had the The Crystal Method among other great artists, like the soundtrack in the game was phenomenal for a soccer game was just it was beyond anything I'd ever seen personally, it opened up so many doors to so many different variations and it's easy to see why it got so many releases and ports onto different consoles because the game was just phenomenal success all round. 

It was and is still a fan favorite even to this day I would highly recommend anyone check it out regardless of what format it's on whether it's the PlayStation one whether it's on the Sega Saturn, Nintendo 64 whatever version you have just go back and play it, it's just phenomenal. 

Even with regards to reviews the game at the time may not have gotten as high of reviews compared to different types of soccer games even with the likes of International Superstar Soccer 64 which is another phenomenal game because I used to play that as well but that doesn't take away from the popularity of FIFA 98. 

It just added so much more to the whole dynamic and it just felt more life-like to the whole style and vibe and the aura that was around soccer in the world at the time. Now I know a lot has changed in the last 20 years like I still love football but things have changed probably not for the best if I'll be totally honest now that's just my personal opinion but I still love to watch a good game of football and if there's plenty of goals and there's good skills and there's just good play involved I'm all in but it's always good to go back and to revisit some of these nostalgic memories from Iconic games such as this. 

For me it's definitely one of the best football games in my opinion of all time. It definitely helped to inspire a lot of the future games that we now see today and those games probably would not have been possible if it wasn't for the likes of FIFA 98 so I highly recommend you go and check it out for sure. 

It is a masterpiece in its own right and it is just a downright excellent classic hands down and I would love to know your thoughts on FIFA Road to World Cup 98 if you have played it yourself and if so what memories do you have of the game. 

Is it your favourite FIFA game that you've ever played? 

Is it your favorite football game on the PlayStation? I'd love to hear whatever thoughts you have of this fantastic game so be sure to share it in the comments below and be sure to keep watching to see more content on other games similar to FIFA 98, you can check out the blog where we will be diving into the iconic elements of these classic video games and as always keep those gaming memories alive...