Fever Pitch Soccer

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This soccer game is a kick
by Brett J. Daly

April 2, 1997

Fever Pitch Soccer was one of the latter releases by Atari for the Jaguar, and due to that fact it was overlooked by many. It was the second soccer game to make an appearance on the Jaguar and the first to do so published by Atari since the first was a Telegames release.

Fever Pitch Soccer opens with an upbeat track and as you progress through the options screens you are given a wealth of options as Fever Pitch Soccer consists of 50 teams and it also allows you to play in either a tournament or an exhibition. The tournaments are very extensive as you begin playing against small nations such as Iran and Iraq and progress to face large soccer nations like Brazil and Italy.

Another interesting feature in this game is the fact your players can gain star status. As you progress through the tournament you are given the option to enhance your players skills by giving them a star status and for example with an attacker if he is given star status his shots speed is increased immensely. This can add a bit of spice to the games.

The in-game graphics are of an overhead variety and the players are fairly small, but not a small as in some soccer games that are out. The players have a very respectable amount of detail for their size and the other fixtures in the game such as the field (the field type changes from game to game), goal and fans are done as you would expect. Fever Pitch also includes short full animation sequences after each goal and after a card that are done fairly well. The overall graphical package is decent, but certainly does not take advantage of the Jaguar's capabilities.

The music in Fever Pitch is sparse, basically just taking place away from the game, as during the game you get crowd noise and the other noise fixtures in a soccer game. The noises are done pretty well for the most part and overall have a positive effect on the game, though there is nothing groundbreaking here either.

The gameplay in Fever Pitch is this games high point. The play is very fast and easy to catch on to, and is what in my opinion makes this game a success. You are allowed to block, steal, slide tackle along with all the other things you would expect to be able to do in a soccer game and are easily executable. Also passing is quite easy and when you shoot you can adjust the speed by the time you hold the button down along with being able to curve the ball after the shot.

Fever Pitch offers nothing groundbreaking regarding it's graphics and sound but the gameplay is very good and I found this game to be a lot of fun with it's fast play and easy controls. If you are in the market for a good, fun soccer game and do not mind not seeing anything top line graphically I would consider giving Fever Pitch Soccer a good look.