Sacré bleu! Cheaper than a ticket to France, and no need to put up with surly gendarmes -- that's World Cup 98. EA Sports' third FIFA Pak for the N64 has the looks, the moves and the options to dazzle casual fans and full-bore fanatics alike.

The same development team at EA Canada has worked on all FIFA games for the N64. For this go-round, they've demonstrated their growing expertise with the world's most powerful console by building in a host of enhancements. Smarter artificial intelligence makes for savvier goalies and on-the-fly play-calling. Fakes, tackles and spectacular plays have been added, including players leaping over other players to avoid collisions. A handicapping system helps level the playing field between otherwise mismatched teams.

EA Canada has taken pains to max out the authenticity factor. For starters, you have all 32 World Cup contenders and their full rosters, which have been updated from last winter's FIFA: Road to the World Cup 98. Cup trivia pops up at halftime. EA has also thrown in eight national teams that didn't make it to the World Cup, but dumped 132 teams representing minor Cup contenders and 11 national leagues. Unless you're dying for a Sweden Orgryte vs. Malaysia Terrengganu showdown, though, this new Pak should kick more than enough thrills your way.

The action takes place in France's 10 World Cup stadiums. Win the World Cup and you'll be able to replay eight classic Cup finals dating back to 1930, with commentary by renowned European announcer Kenneth Wostenholme. On a lighter note, the Pak offers plenty of glimpses of this year's Cup mascot, a Woody Woodpecker-lookalike named Footix. And it wouldn't be an official product without plenty of dasher boards plugging the Cup's corporate sponsors.

Each team has 22 players, plus 18 reserves. You can edit a player's name, number, appearance and position. Players are graded for 13 attributes: speed, acceleration, fitness, agility, reaction, awareness, creativity, ball control, shot power, shot accuracy, pass accuracy, head accuracy and tackle. You can edit a player's attributes, but you can't build a perfect player. Instead, if you boost one attribute, you'll have to lower another.

You can customize a team's default formation and strategy, assign defenders to specific opposing players and ratchet up your team's aggressiveness. A new feature allows you to activate four miniplays, such as offside trap and through ball run, at any time during a match. While AI handles most management chores at the Amateur difficulty level, success at the Professional and World Class levels requires advanced knowledge of the sport.

For high-adrenalin thrills, World Cup 98 offers four speed levels (Fastest is really fast!) and an option for Exaggerated moves. However, arcade freaks might wish they had the indoor stadium from Road to the World Cup.

World Cup 98 offers eight camera views, with matches taking place in clear, hot, rainy, snowy or sleeting weather and during the day, dusk or night. The new Compression Touch technology noticeably improves play control, although you'll still encounter delays in passing and shooting. Practice, practice, practice if you want master subtle moves, like putting a spin or an arc on the ball. Fortunately, World Cup 98 features a highly configureable Training mode.

Source:

www.nintendo.com – Nintendo 64

Win the World - For Your Country!

All 32 World Cup France 98 Qualifying Teams: Take your team, with all your favorite players, to the World Cup Final and win it all.

NEW! World Cup Classics: Play 8 of the All-Time most thrilling World Cup Final Matches.

NEW! On-The-Fly In-Game Management: Alter attacking strategy and formation at the press of a button.

NEW! On-The-Fly In-Game Tactics: Run preset plays at critical points in the game.

Exclusive Soccer Game of FIFA World Cup France '98

(Image captions) * BRAZILIAN BALL SKILLS * MEXICAN MAGIC * ITALIAN PRESSURE * AMERICAN ATTACK

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Back of Box - N64 (US)