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Sega Worldwide Soccer '98
Sega Worldwide Soccer '98
Developer(s)	Sega
Publisher(s)	Sega
Series	Sega Worldwide Soccer
Platform(s)	Sega Saturn, Windows
Release	EU: October 16, 1997; NA: November 18, 1997; JP: March 5, 1998;
Genre(s)	Sports video game
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Sega Worldwide Soccer '98^[3], known in North America as simply Worldwide Soccer '98 and in Europe as Sega Worldwide Soccer '98 Club Edition, is a video game developed and published by Sega for the Sega Saturn in 1997 and Windows in 1998 only in Japan and in 1999 in North America as Worldwide Soccer Championship . It is the third game in its series, following Victory Goal and Sega Worldwide Soccer 97.

Development

Sega Worldwide Soccer '98 used the same game engine as its predecessor, Sega Worldwide Soccer '97.^[4] Cobi Jones played an advisory role in the game's development and served as its spokesperson.^[5]

English commentary was provided by Gary Bloom (known for his appearances on Football Italia) and Jack Charlton.^[4] The English commentary had longer sentences than the Japanese commentary, so more memory needed to be allocated to buffering on the sound chip for the English version. The developers were aware of this issue but did not get around to addressing it due to the game being rushed to release; as a result, playback of the commentary stops and starts again in a manner similar to stuttering.^[6]

Reception

Review scores
Publication	Score
Computer Games Strategy Plus	(PC)^[7]
Electronic Gaming Monthly	5.5/10 (SAT)^[8]^[a]
Famitsu	29/40 (SAT)^[9]
Game Informer	9/10 (SAT)^[10]
GameFan	95% (SAT)^[11]^[b]
GameRevolution	B (PC)^[12]
GameSpot	6.2/10 (PC)^[13]
Next Generation	(SAT)^[14]
PC Gamer (US)	79% (PC)^[15]
Sega Saturn Magazine	94% (SAT)^[16]

The game received mixed reviews; most critics wrote that the game was too unchanged from its predecessor.^[8]^[16]^[17] The four reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly particularly complained at the inability to change the position of players during breaks in the play, and John Ricciardi summarized that "The addition of Club teams is nice, and the engine seems to have been polished up a bit, but otherwise this is pretty much the same game as last year with some annoying faults."^[8] Sega Saturn Magazine similarly judged that "there's little to justify purchasing this game if you already own the '97 edition. Sure, it has all the current Premiership sides and players, but at the end of the day, it plays virtually identically ..."^[16] GamePro similarly held that there weren't enough changes, and recommended holding out for the Saturn port of FIFA: Road to World Cup 98 instead.^[17]^[c] Next Generation was an exception, arguing that "Sega has made a wise decision to leave well enough alone with the third game in the series. Rather than making sweeping changes in gameplay, the designers have tweaked things a bit and stuffed enough little features into the game to make it a worthy update."^[14]

Some reviewers particularly criticized the lack of improvement in the goalie AI,^[8]^[16] though the greater racial accuracy of the player models as compared to Sega Worldwide Soccer '97 was praised.^[14]^[16] Also, despite the general criticism of the lack of improvements, critics for both Sega Saturn Magazine and GamePro felt that the graphics were good enough that no improvement was needed.^[16]^[17]

Notes

^ Two critics of Electronic Gaming Monthly gave the Saturn version each a score of 5.5/10, and the rest gave it 7.0/10 and 4.0/10.
^ In GameFan's viewpoint of the Saturn version, one critic gave it 96, and another 94.
^ GamePro gave the Saturn version 4.0/5 for graphics, 4.0/5 for fun factor, 3.0/5 for sound, and 3.5/5 for control.

References

^ "SEGA GOES GLOBAL WITH'"WORLDWIDE SOCCER '98' FOR SEGA SATURN AND PC". Sega Central. Sega of America. November 18, 1997. Archived from the original on February 2, 1998. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
^ Ocampo, Jason (1997). "Worldwide Soccer launched". Computer Games Strategy Plus. Strategy Plus, Inc. Archived from the original on January 30, 2003. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
^ セガワールドワイドサッカー'98, Sega Wārudowaido Sakkā '98
^ ^a ^b "Preview: Worldwide Soccer '98". Sega Saturn Magazine. No. 24. EMAP. October 1997. pp. 30–31. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
^ "E3 Unleashed!". GamePro. No. 106. IDG. July 1997. p. 67.
^ "Virtua Writer: Sega of Europe Speak to SSM!". Sega Saturn Magazine. No. 27. Emap International Limited. January 1998. p. 41.
^ Lackey, Jeff (1997). "Worldwide Soccer". Computer Games Strategy Plus. Strategy Plus, Inc. Archived from the original on January 30, 2003. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Hsu, Dan; Ricciardi, John; Kujawa, Kraig; Rickards, Kelly (February 1998). "Worldwide Soccer '98". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 103. Ziff Davis. p. 110. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
^ "セガワールドワイドサッカー'98 [セガサターン]". Famitsu (in Japanese). Enterbrain. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
^ "Worldwide Soccer '98 - Sega Saturn". Game Informer. No. 57. FuncoLand. January 1998. Archived from the original on September 30, 1999. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
^ Jacques Strap; Mylonas, Eric "ECM" (December 1997). "World Wide Soccer [sic] (Saturn)". GameFan. Vol. 5, no. 12. Metropolis Media. p. 114. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
^ Anderson, Tom (January 1998). "Worldwide Soccer Review (PC)". GameRevolution. CraveOnline. Archived from the original on February 19, 2004. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
^ Foster, Hugo (November 13, 1997). "Worldwide Soccer Review [date mislabeled as "May 2, 2000"]". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Worldwide Soccer 98 (Saturn)". Next Generation. No. 38. Imagine Media. February 1998. p. 117. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
^ "World Wide Soccer [sic]". PC Gamer. Imagine Media. 1998.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Nutter, Lee (November 1997). "Worldwide Soccer '98". Sega Saturn Magazine. No. 25. EMAP. pp. 72–75. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
^ ^a ^b ^c Air Hendrix (February 1998). "Worldwide Soccer '98". GamePro. No. 113. IDG. p. 106.