Tehkan World Cup

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
"Tecmo Cup" redirects here. For the Nintendo Entertainment System game, see Tecmo Cup Soccer Game. For the 1989 arcade game, see Tecmo World Cup '90. For the Sega Mega Drive game, see Tecmo Cup Football Game.
Tehkan World Cup
Composer(s)
Tsukasa Masuko
Platform(s)Arcade, PlayStation 2, Xbox
Release
Genre(s)Sports (association football)
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Tehkan World Cup,

cocktail cabinet form factor.[4] Its arrival coincided with the buildup to the 1986 FIFA World Cup. It featured the then colors of several of the world's top teams such as West Germany, Argentina and Brazil, although it did not mention any team by name.[4]

The game uses a

home computer game MicroProse Soccer (1988) and provided the basis for later association football games such as the Sensible Soccer series in the early 1990s
.

In 1990, Tehkan World Cup was ported to the Nintendo Entertainment System as Tecmo World Cup Soccer. The original arcade version was also released for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox consoles as Tecmo Cup in the 2000s.

Gameplay

Graphically, it offered a two-dimensional bird's-eye view of the field that was unique for its time.[4][5] It has multi-directional scrolling, with only a portion of the field visible on screen at any time.[6]

Its trackball control system contributed significantly to its gameplay which was relatively speedy and exhibited a fluidity something akin to ice hockey, with as little as 3 seconds required to score from kick-off. Two-player action could be highly competitive, with players facing each other across the game space while using sweeping arm movements reminiscent of table tennis.[4]

There was a single fire button along with the trackball. The game physics allowed the trackball to control both the direction and the velocity of the shot.[5] There is also a mini-map, displaying the positions of all the players.[6]

Development

Tehkan World Cup was developed by

Tehkan, the former name of Tecmo. It was developed shortly after the American football game Gridiron Fight, released earlier the same year, with several of the same team members working on Tehkan World Cup.[7][8] The game was planned and designed by Shin-ichiro Tomie[9] with Kazutoshi Ueda (who previously worked on titles such as Space Panic, Lady Bug, Mr. Do! and Bomb Jack).[8] It was programmed by Michishito Ishizuka,[8][7] while character design and background graphics were handled by his wife Rie Ishizuka (also known as Rie Yatomi),[7][9] cabinet design by Kohji Okada, and illustrations by Hideyuki Yokoyama.[9]

Tomie, who had previously designed Gridiron Fight, was a big soccer fan, so he wanted to adapt the gameplay format of Gridiron Fight for a soccer game. Gridiron Fight used similar trackball controls, but was more complex. The team decided to simplify the controls, so that the player can run with the trackball and press one button to kick.[8]

Reception

The game was a major arcade hit.

table arcade cabinet of the month.[10] It went on to be Japan's fourth highest-grossing table arcade game for two years in a row, in 1986[11][12] and 1987.[13]

Upon release, David Snook of

Computer Gamer magazine gave Tehkan World Cup a generally favorable review upon release, noting the "very good graphics" and trackball controls.[6]

Legacy

Tecmo released an arcade successor to the game, Tecmo World Cup '90, in 1989.

Shinichiro Tomie, who was a big soccer fan, went on to develop Tecmo's

Mega Drive
console, before the game was cancelled.

Tomie, who later became the scenario writer for

role-playing video games, returned to the association football game genre with the Game Boy Advance spin-off Shiren Monsters: Netsal (2004), a soccer game.[15]

Tehkan World Cup was released in 2004 for the PlayStation 2 and in 2005 for the Xbox, in both cases under the name Tecmo Cup.

Stuff ranked Tehkan World Cup the fourteenth best football game of all time.[16]

Impact

Tehkan World Cup was a landmark title for association football games upon release.

Alpha Denshi's Exciting Soccer (1983), but Tehkan World Cup was responsible for popularizing the format.[16]

Game designer

home computer game MicroProse Soccer (1988).[5][19][18] Hare referred to MicroProse Soccer as an "arcade conversion" of Tehkan World Cup,[20] but said it was not "a carbon copy" as they also added their "own elements" to the gameplay.[5] Design elements from Tehkan World Cup and MicroProse Soccer in turn provided the basis for Sensible Software's successful Sensible Soccer series, created by Jon Hare and Chris Yates in 1992.[5]

Notes

  1. ^ Characters/Backgrounds
  2. ^ Illustrations
  3. ^ Japanese: テーカン ワールド カップ, Hepburn: Tēkan Wārudo Kappu
  4. ^ Japanese: ワールド カップ, Hepburn: Wārudo Kappu

References

  1. ^ a b "Overseas Readers Column: Tecmo (Tehkan) Ship Table Type PCB "World Cup"" (PDF). Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 278. Amusement Press, Inc. 15 February 1986. p. 22.
  2. ^ "The Arcade Flyer Archive".
  3. ^ a b c "ビデオゲームランキング (1985年11月)" [Video Game Rankings (November 1985)]. Beep! (in Japanese). No. 1986–02. Japan: SoftBank Group. 1 February 1986. p. 93.
  4. ^
    Killer List of Videogames
    . Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  5. ^ a b c d e f "The Sensible Game: Jon Hare Reveals the Drive and Inspiration – Direct and Indirect – For the Beautiful Game That Became Sensible Soccer". Retro: The Ultimate Retro Companion from GamesTM. Vol. 3. United Kingdom: Imagine Publishing. 2010. pp. 224-231 (228-9).
  6. ^
    Computer Gamer
    . No. 12. pp. 26–7.
  7. ^ a b c "Interview with a Wonder Boy - Michihito Ishizuka". Game Side: Ultimate Game Life Magazine (in Japanese). 9. Micro Magazine. December 2007.
  8. ^ a b c d e "Talking Game Design with Fukio "MTJ" Mitsuji". Gamest (in Japanese). 1989.
  9. ^ a b c "Tehkan World Cup (set 1)". Mini MAWS. MAME. Archived from the original on 2011-10-07. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
  10. ^ "Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - テーブル型TVゲーム機 (Table Videos)" (PDF). Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 278. Amusement Press, Inc. 15 February 1986. p. 21.
  11. ^ "Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25: '86 上半期" [Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25: First Half '86] (PDF). Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 288. Amusement Press, Inc. 15 July 1986. p. 28.
  12. ^ "Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25: '86 下半期" [Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25: Second Half '86] (PDF). Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 300. Amusement Press, Inc. 15 January 1987. p. 16.
  13. ^ "Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25: '87" (PDF). Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 324. Amusement Press, Inc. 15 January 1988. p. 20.
  14. ^ Snook, David (February 1986). "Corks pop at ATEI". Play Meter. Vol. 12, no. 2. pp. 32–6.
  15. ^ a b "『街』への想いから昨今のインディーゲームまで――チュンソフト30周年のすべてを中村光一氏と振り返るロングインタビュー【後編】" [From feelings for "Town" to recent indie games―A long interview with Mr. Koichi Nakamura looking back on all of Chunsoft's 30th anniversary (Part 2)]. Famitsu. 2014-06-09. Retrieved 12 May 2021. |lang=ja}
  16. ^ a b Grannell, Craig (29 May 2018). "The 25 best football games ever". Stuff. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  17. ^ a b Robertson, John (1 July 2014). "IGN's History of Football Games". IGN. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
  18. ^ a b "Developer Lookback: Being Sensible". Retro Gamer (33): 36–41. January 2007.
  19. ^ "In the chair with... Jon Hare". Retro Gamer. No. 61. United Kingdom: Imagine Publishing. March 2009. pp. 52–69.
  20. ^ Wallström, Andreas (July 2005). "Another Sensible Interview with John Hare". Zzap!64 (108): 19–21.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tehkan_World_Cup&oldid=1199335224"