Some of you may be too young to remember the Commodore 64 computer from the 1980′s, but for soccer fans such as myself who had time to kill, it was the best way to play soccer games on a home computer that sold millions around the world.
The C64 wasn’t a ZX Spectrum, which had plenty of classic soccer games too, but the games were pretty addictive. So, I decided to go back into the archives and to share some of them with you.
Here’s my selection of the top 7 games (all of which are now playable online in your browser):
- International Soccer. This game was a classic and one of the best soccer action games ever released on the C64. The graphics, at the time, were cutting edge (don’t laugh). And after playing the game for some time, players figured out ways to bounce the ball on the player’s head and walk the ball into the goal. This game was so successful that a basketball version was released which had practically the same graphics except you would play with your hands and shoot into a hoop.
- Tracksuit Manager. I never owned this game when it was released in Europe in 1989, but playing it now it seems like one of the best football management games ever released. It’s easy to use and puts you right into managing England during a World Cup tournament.
- Football Manager II. When the game was released in 1988 as a sequel to the first Football Manager programmed by Kevin Toms, Your Sinclair magazine rated it an eight out of 10 and said that watching a match on the game was fascinating. Some newbies may disagree, but there’s no disagreeing that the game definitely pushed the envelope at the time in terms of football management simulations and is worth a trip down memory lane.
- Footballer Of The Year. Any game that features penalty kicks at it’s center is a winner for me because it makes the game so easy to understand and a joy to play. Plus the soundtrack by renowned Commodore 64 musician Ben Daglish is a true pleasure.
- Super Cup Football. This game must have been an early inspiration for the very successful Sensible Soccer, which is quite different than the majority of soccer games because your angle is viewed from directly above the field, looking down on the players.
- The Footballer. It’s such a simple game that it must have been programmed in the BASIC language, but sometimes less is more as this one can become quite addictive after you get a hang of how the game works.
- The Double. This one is particularly sensitive and, to be blunt, a pain in the arse to set up but once you get through the initial few screens and you’ve selected your team, it seems quite realistic and you can watch your own team play a match in a game that features some very retro graphics except they weren’t retro at the time!
Be sure to bookmark this page and when you have some downtime at home or work, go back in time and play these classic soccer games on the Commodore 64. Enjoy.
Tracksuit Manager stole my childhood! Its awesome – I bet if you play it now the names are hilarious – Steven, Hoddle, Waddle, Lineker… !
Emlyn Hughes Internation Football was brilliant as well and has an MLS type championship as its tourny which i loved – crap now as its very slow but I’ll give all of these a bash at some point in the near future!
Footballer of the Year is fun but the music kills you… !
Never had a C64. Went from Kevin Toms’ FM on the Speccie to the fabulous Anco Player-manager on the Amiga. Now that was a game. What a player I was… ;o)
My favorite growing up was Superstar Soccer. I spent(wasted!) innumerable hours playing it. Looks like it was called “Gary Lineker’s…” in the UK.
nice roundup!
My friend had a game he played all the time, I am pretty sure it was Player Manager (someone mentioned it was on the Amiga), he was playing it in the late 80′s or early 90′s, which makes it nearly 20 years old, and I have yet to find another football game where you could manage and play (while actually controlling the player on the pitch).
If I remember correctly the player was nearing the end of his playing career, so made the move into management. What I liked about the game was that you could bring your favourite team from the lower leagues all the way to division 1 (don’t think the Premiership existed back then). I have only played the CM games, and I think the first one was the only one where you could start your team in the lower leagues. I sort of lost interest with the CM game when they took that away.
I would absolutely love the player/manager game to be revamped and released with the same basic concept, or maybe someone here can let me know if one already exists!
This game came out way before its time!
I can’t see how you skipped “MISL Indoor Soccer”. This is is also plain addictive.
The Double. Not everyone’s favourite but I spent years playing it. Released by Scanatron Ltd in 1986. Very addictive once you got into it, and quite a tough game to succeed at since you didn’t have any attribute or skills to look at when judging a players ability. You had to rely on scout reports which actually weren’t very reliable at all. Took quite a few seasons to build a succeful squad. I played the original Football Manager on the spccey (1982), The Boss, and then onto the Amiga with Player Manager and Senisible Soccer, but The Double was always my favourite.
That was a trip down memory lane. I recall playing International Soccer quite a bit. My recollection may be corrupt, but I vaguely recall being able to shoot at goal from a certain angle (basically directly upwards from the bottom of screen) and due to the perspective of the goals that would give you an angled shot at goal that was essentially unstoppable. The trick was therefore to run down the bottom side line and get the timing right.