The second ever FIFA, and the first to feature the yearly suffix added to the name, FIFA 95 is the game that many gamers feel is the series pinnacle, and the version of the game released for Sega's 16-Bit console, no matter if you call it the Megadrive or the Genesis, being the premier version.

Up until recently, I never actually owned FIFA 95, I just used to play it at a kid who was my friend at the time's house, and boy did we play it a lot. Possibly too much. This was the first FIFA to feature club teams, and while the players in the teams were all fictional, and the kits weren't perfect, the game offered club team play based on the excellent FIFA International Soccer engine.

For those who don't know what a FIFA game is, it's EA Sports annual football/soccer title, in the same vein as it's NBA Live and Madden games. There is no plot or goal or anything, you play tournaments and matches of a videogame representation of the world's favourite sport.

Speaking of options, while it may not be exactly revolutionary, FIFA 95 covers all the bases needed for a solid football experience. League, Cup, Exhibition and gameplay options are all there, and all adequate. As I say, as well as a solid selection of International sides to choose from, this entry marked the debut for club teams in the series. English, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, French, German and Brazilian club sides all appear, although, as I mentioned, the player names are all fake.

Yet all of this would be worth nothing if it was backed by a rubbish engine anyway, and I'm pleased to report that even now, ten years after it's release, FIFA 95 is still a very enjoyable football game. It's viewed from the same, top-corner perspective as the first game, and is once again not exactly life-like in terms of simulation, there can be no denying the game plays smoothly, the scorelines aren't hilariously unrealistic, and it's easily possible, especially on 2-Player, to get involved in a very engrossing and entertaining match. When a friend and I recently played this, you would be surprised how into it we became, as posts were smashed with the ball, glorious goals were scored and brilliant saves pulled off. While this may not have the complex moves of the latest Xbox FIFA, the game still has that one core element that is what makes or breaks a sports game: it's fun. Plain and simple, this game is enjoyable, especially for the football fan who grew up with it.

With only 3 buttons, the game can't really afford to go for complex controls, Pass, Shoot and Lob, as well as step in and slide tackle to add to change player. They all respond well, and are simple to pick up.

Graphically, the game isn't really that much of a step-up on it's predecessor, sure the players are a little clearer and move a little smoother, but on the whole it looks much the same. Not that this is a bad thing mind, the first game actually looked pretty sharp, and nifty for it's time, and I doubt there were any better looking football titles on offer at the time, and even now it still looks pretty good. My only graphical complaint applies to all the games in the series, in it's 2D incarnations. What the hell was up with the kits? all of them are identical, just in different colours. Why aren't teams famous for striped kits wearing them? for god's sake, even Sensible Soccer managed to have various kit styles.

The sound in the game is pretty generic really. Some nice crowd noises, cheesy music for the menus, and that's about it. Actually, one cool thing about the 2D FIFA games, was that when you scored, depending on what buttons you pressed, you could influence the crowd noises, calling up stamping, horns or someone shouting "GOAL". Pointless? yes, cool? definitely.

When all is said and done, FIFA 95 has definitely stood the test of time. Had this been in 1995, I would probably have handed this game full marks easily. Even now it pretty much waltzes it's way to a 4/5 score, on the grounds that it's a rarity, being an old sports game which still holds up very well today. While I wouldn't recommend this over the latest FIFA, I would certainly call it better than many of the series entries on the PlayStation, which are in really quite poor in most cases. Fans of the sport who like retro games will still get a kick out of FIFA 95, it may not be high tech or realistic, but it's still a really entertaining football game, even a decade on.

Other EA Sports Football titles
FIFA International Soccer for Sega Genesis
FIFA 96 for Super Nintendo
FIFA 96 for Sega Saturn
FIFA 97 for Sega Genesis
FIFA: Road to World Cup 98 for Sega Saturn
FIFA 2002 for PlayStation 2
FIFA 2003 for XBox
FIFA 2004 for Gameboy Advance
FIFA 2005 for XBox

Recommended: Yes