[Throughout this project, I will be handing over to the viewpoints of others for guest posts. This one is by CreakyGamer, who previously wrote about Tekken]
When you do the research on these games you unearth some absolute gems. Depending on your age the name ‘Gremlin Interactive’ will remind you of some absolute belters of games ranging from Gauntlet, Monty on the Run, the Lotus series (oh my, how good were they!) to the god-awful Zool. Please don’t pick me to write a piece on Zool, it’s the most turgid bag of… wait, I digress.
Gremlin also took the helm for the ‘Actua’ sports series. With a gentle nod toward Sega’s ‘Virtua’ series (Fighter, Racing, Striker) the guys at Gremlin churned out Soccer, Golf, Ice Hockey & Tennis.
I’m pretty sure I could call out a Gremlin game from a line up; something about the colour palette and the soundtracks made them feel a cut above. I always had a hankering for sports games, still do, and Actua Soccer was no different. A Friday night curry, mates on the bean bag and full fest of football whilst my parents banged the roof with a broom handle telling us to keep it down.
Actua Soccer first dropped in 1995 claiming the title of first full 3D graphics soccer game on a home console. It made the switch from 2D sprites to pointy Cyber-Truck-like polygonal players. Full motion capture was from the legend that is Chris Waddle along with slightly less legendy Andy Sinton and the downright-not-a-legend Graham Hyde. Some will disagree but the Sheffield Wednesday link really wasn’t a pull for me, a well-heeled southerner.
In replaying for the sake of ahem… journalistic integrity, the game actually runs pretty quickly with the animations of chest control standing up to some of today’s games and it really was ahead of it’s time. The ball pings around frantically with tackles not making much sense other than a big bundle and someone runs off with the ball. There are glitches, it’s patently obvious VAR was a twinkle in someone’s eye as the keepers save goals behind the nets at times, but take it at face value and there’s some good fun to be had here.
It’s only now I replay it that I noticed the slight pause just before every pass, show and action and the ball that bounces like kangaroo in a trampoline factory. Had I known at the time being able to predict the move would have seen me win a few more grudge matches on those Friday night sessions. Whilst it is possible to pass and spread the play, the true champ sprints headlong up the field in a standard sniper evading zig-zag. A trick my son figured out pretty quickly whilst he proceeded to beat me. Again.
Much like recent incarnations of the all-conquering Fifa you can take your player all the way from back to front and if anything Actua feels quicker, but it’s missing the crunch of a tackle as players often ghost through each other like a footballing Mr Claypole. That said, looking at the alternatives of the time this was a leap forward. Licensed international teams added to the allure and If Fifa hadn’t come along and dominated I’m sure the series would still be going strong. Maybe they should reform and find a niche sport. Actua Irish Dancing anyone?
