FIFA Soccer 96

aka: FIFA 96: Virtual Stadium Soccer
Moby ID: 468
DOS Specs
Buy on Genesis
$13.98 used, $60.00 new on Amazon
Buy on PlayStation
$12.38 used on eBay
Buy on SEGA Saturn
$19.99 used on eBay
Note: We may earn an affiliate commission on purchases made via eBay or Amazon links (prices updated 3/18 4:29 PM )
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Description official descriptions

FIFA Soccer 96 is a football (soccer) simulation. The game includes eleven leagues from all around the world, ranging from the unknown players of the Malaysian league to the celebrated stars of the English and Italian leagues. 59 International teams are also featured, and it's possible to match the teams you want to against each other through friendlies, or you can also choose to play domestic tournaments or International ones such as the World Cup. If you're not satisfied with the composition of the various teams, you can create your own dream team through the custom team creator.

British commentator John Motson comments all the incidents and happenings on the pitch in real-time. The ambient commentary is varied, and systems with more than the minimum memory level get extra commentary phrases. The Virtual Stadium technology has numerous pre-defined camera angles.

Spellings

  • FIFAサッカー96 - Japanese spelling

Groups +

Screenshots

Promos

Credits (DOS version)

102 People (92 developers, 10 thanks) · View all

Producer
Co-Producer
Production Assistant
Programming Director
Lead Programmer
Programmers
Additional Programmer
Lead Artist
Graphics / Artwork
Additional Graphics / Artwork
Animations
SGI
Art Director
Senior Development Director
Sound Director
Sound- / Video-Editing
Music
Sound Editing
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 83% (based on 43 ratings)

Players

Average score: 2.9 out of 5 (based on 30 ratings with 3 reviews)

Addictive, playable and realistic -- FIFA'96 is a true classic.

The Good
The graphics are spot-on, the audio is magnificent, it plays like a dream -- in brief, it's the ultimate football simulation.

The Bad
Nothing. Zip. Nada.

The Bottom Line
If you're into football, you'll LOVE this. If not, find another game.

DOS · by Ola Nymo Trulsen (67) · 1999

A good conversion of a horrible game.

The Good
The software engine is excellent - I'll give them that. But other than this, I truly dislike this game. The music is also quite good, and the AI is decent.

The Bad
I really hate the sport, and I think a computerized conversion is even worse than the real thing. The controls are horrible and the players look disgusting.

The Bottom Line
It's a great game if you like the genre and the sport, but personally I'd stay away from it.

DOS · by Tomer Gabel (4539) · 1999

A Truly Good Game

The Good
The first thing that excited me was that the player names were authentic. It was possible to select your own star team and play with them. In addition the gameplay was good, i still lost the odd game after playing it for months.

The Bad
There were times when players would suddenly vanish while playing a game followed by a crash at the end of the game. What was worse was that in those games you would be able to score 7 or 8 goals.

The Bottom Line
If you havent played it yet, don't because you wont enjoy it, i played it in 96 and remember it being one of the most addictive games around. If you get it try it out just to see how far the series has progressed since then.

DOS · by Andrew Hartnett (2205) · 2000

Trivia

Referee

It's actually possible to run straight through the ref in FIFA 96. Although a good referee should try to avoid being too dominant and visible, making him invulnerable is probably a bit drastic...

References

The Mega Drive/Genesis is the only console to have player creation and trading. However, as teams are limited to 16 players and trades are done by swapping players between a team and the reserves, there are some free players. And who are those? Amongst the top rated (skill 89 or above), there's some unknown players such as B. Plank, S. Taras, N. Wlodyka , T. Sylka and R. Kaill. While unknown in the footballing world, they are no less than some of the game developers!

SEGA 32X version

A North American 32X version was planned, but ultimately cancelled. At the end of 1995, support for the 32X was dropping rapidly and Electronic Arts decided only to release it in Europe, where soccer is much more popular. This makes it one of the two unique European 32X releases. The other one is DarXide.

Stadium

For the first time in the series (and one of the first in the genre to do so), the game used a 3D stadium, and EA quickly hyped this naming the Saturn version FIFA 96: Virtual Stadium Soccer in-game. Players, however, are still sprites. Anyone who played both 32 and 16-bit versions will find that most movements use the same sprites, although obviously they take a hit on quality in the Mega Drive and the SNES.

Awards

  • GameStar (Germany)
    • Issue 01/2007 - One of the "Ten Most Influential PC-Games" ( It is one of the first games which used aggressive and exclusive licensing without neglecting the quality of the game. It is the start for Electronic Art's monopoly of yearly updated sports games which suppress almost all other sport series.)
  • Power Play
    • Issue 02/1996 – Best Sports Game in 1995

Information also contributed by Luis Silva and Sciere

Analytics

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Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 468
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Contribute

Are you familiar with this game? Help document and preserve this entry in video game history! If your contribution is approved, you will earn points and be credited as a contributor.

Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Ola Nymo Trulsen.

SEGA Saturn added by Kohler 86. PlayStation added by Terok Nor. SEGA 32X added by Kevin Loh. Genesis, SNES added by Unicorn Lynx.

Additional contributors: Luis Silva, ケヴィン, Patrick Bregger.

Game added November 25, 1999. Last modified February 7, 2024.