Fansided

A history of FIFA Soccer: Ranking the best games from FIFA 94 to FIFA 17

By Peter Johnstone

TOKYO, JAPAN - JULY 06: Shinji Kagawa of Borussia Dortmund during a press conference for the new FIFA 16 game from EA Sports Japan on July 6, 2015 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Alexandre Simoes/Borussia Dortmund/Getty Images)
TOKYO, JAPAN - JULY 06: Shinji Kagawa of Borussia Dortmund during a press conference for the new FIFA 16 game from EA Sports Japan on July 6, 2015 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Alexandre Simoes/Borussia Dortmund/Getty Images) /
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21. FIFA 97

If you were to go back and play the FIFA games from the beginning, then you might be disappointed with the first two editions but FIFA 96 would have left you wanting more. The impressive gameplay and realness of 96 meant that EA Sports had a big task on their hands trying to match and improve upon that for FIFA 97.

Gameplay

There game once again looked more real with a minor improvement in the graphics clear to see. Players looked better but their kits were still lacking attention to detail. However, the biggest downfall with FIFA 97 is actually the way the game plays itself. Despite looking good, it left players frustrated as it didn’t run as smoothly as FIFA 96.

New Features

FIFA 97 was the first game in the series to give players the option to play indoor soccer. While this was an interesting new feature it couldn’t make up for the rest of the game’s shortcomings. The indoor game is a little bit faster paced, which makes it harder to get use to. However, it was a popular enough feature to make an appearance in future releases.

Verdict – Fighting relegation

FIFA 97 had a lot to live up to after the success of FIFA 96, and quite frankly it didn’t make the cut.