Striker is a soccer video game released by Rage Software

Rage Software

Rage Software or Rage Games was a British video game developer. Formed in Liverpool in 1992, its games were marked by an emphasis on graphical effects with arcade gameplay....

 in 1992 for the Commodore Amiga

Amiga

The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...

, Amiga CD32

Amiga CD32

The Amiga CD32, styled "CD32" , was the first 32-bit CD-ROM based video game console released in western Europe, Australia, Canada and Brazil. It was first announced at the Science Museum in London, United Kingdom on 16 July 1993, and was released in September of the same year...

, Atari ST

Atari ST

The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was released by Atari Corporation in 1985 and commercially available from that summer into the early 1990s. The "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals...

, PC

Personal computer

A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...

, Mega Drive/Genesis, and Super Nintendo

Super Nintendo Entertainment System

The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...

. It was bundled in one of the Amiga 1200

Amiga 1200

The Amiga 1200, or A1200 , was Commodore International's third-generation Amiga computer, aimed at the home market...

 launch packs. It was one of the first soccer games to feature a 3D

3D computer graphics

3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...

 viewpoint, after Simulmondo's I Play 3D Soccer.

In 1993 it was released in Japan by Coconuts Japan

Coconuts Japan

-Famicom:* I Love Softball* Pachi-Slot Adventure 3: Bitaoshii 7 Kenzan!* Bakushō! Ai no Gekijō-PC Engine CD:*Pachiokun 3 Pachisuro & Pachinko*Pachiokun Maboroshi No Densetsu*Pachiokun Warau Uchuu-PlayStation:*King of Bowling*King of Bowling 2...

 for the Super Famicom as , while the French Super Nintendo

Super Nintendo Entertainment System

The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...

 version of Striker is known as Eric Cantona Football Challenge, playing on the popularity of French forward Eric Cantona

Eric Cantona

Eric Daniel Pierre Cantona is a French actor and former French international footballer. He played for Auxerre, Martigues, Marseille, Bordeaux, Montpellier, Nîmes and Leeds United before ending his professional footballing career at Manchester United, where he won four Premier League titles in...

, and the North American Super Nintendo

Super Nintendo Entertainment System

The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...

 release of Striker was known as World Soccer '94: Road to Glory

World Soccer '94: Road to Glory

World Soccer '94: Road to Glory is a 1993 soccer video game for the SNES which was released in North America by Atlus.-Summary:...

.

System requirements

The Amiga version of Striker ran on all Amiga systems with a minimum of 512K Chip RAM

Chip RAM

Chip RAM is a commonly used term for the integrated RAM used in Commodore's line of Amiga computers. Chip RAM is shared between the central processing unit and the Amiga's dedicated chipset...

, including the A1200

Amiga 1200

The Amiga 1200, or A1200 , was Commodore International's third-generation Amiga computer, aimed at the home market...

. Playing the game on an A600, A1200, or A500 equipped with a minimum of 512KB Fast RAM

Ram

-Animals:*Ram, an uncastrated male sheep*Ram cichlid, a species of freshwater fish endemic to Colombia and Venezuela-Military:*Battering ram*Ramming, a military tactic in which one vehicle runs into another...

 would provide benefits such as faster loading times. The Atari ST version was subject to similar system requirements.

The DOS version required a minimum 286 processor, 640KB RAM, and VGA

Video Graphics Array

Video Graphics Array refers specifically to the display hardware first introduced with the IBM PS/2 line of computers in 1987, but through its widespread adoption has also come to mean either an analog computer display standard, the 15-pin D-subminiature VGA connector or the 640×480 resolution...

 graphics chipset. It supported both AdLib

AdLib

Ad Lib, Inc. was a manufacturer of sound cards and other computer equipment founded by Martin Prevel, a former professor of music and vice-dean of the music department at the Université Laval...

 and Sound Blaster

Sound Blaster

The Sound Blaster family of sound cards was the de facto standard for consumer audio on the IBM PC compatible system platform, until the widespread transition to Microsoft Windows 95, which standardized the programming interface at application level , and the evolution in PC design led to onboard...

-compatible cards, as well as joysticks.

Critical reaction

The game received a mixed reaction from the gaming press, with some condemning and others praising its extreme speed. For example, CU Amiga Magazine awarded the game 94% in its June 1992 issue along with the CU Amiga Screenstar award while German magazine Amiga Joker awards the game 64% in the September 1992 edition.

Ports/Sequels

A sequel, World Cup Striker (known in North America as Elite Soccer), was released for the Super Nintendo in 1994. It was basically a repackaged version of Striker, but slightly better. It was published in Japan by Coconuts Japan

Coconuts Japan

-Famicom:* I Love Softball* Pachi-Slot Adventure 3: Bitaoshii 7 Kenzan!* Bakushō! Ai no Gekijō-PC Engine CD:*Pachiokun 3 Pachisuro & Pachinko*Pachiokun Maboroshi No Densetsu*Pachiokun Warau Uchuu-PlayStation:*King of Bowling*King of Bowling 2...

 and in Europe by Elite

Elite Systems

Elite Systems is a UK video game developer and publisher established in 1984 as Richard Wilcox Software. They are best known for producing home computer conversions of popular arcade games...

.
A Game Boy game developed by Denton Designs

Denton Designs

Denton Designs was a British video games developer based in Liverpool. The company was founded in 1984 and initially specialised in developing software for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum home computer...

 was also released at the same time, in Europe it was released as Soccer, in North America as Elite Soccer (both published by GameTek

GameTek

GameTek was a video game publisher based in North Miami Beach, Florida well known for publishing video game adaptations of game shows in the early 1990s. GameTek was a trade name for IJE, the owner of electronic publishing rights to Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune...

), and in Japan as World Cup Striker (published by Coconuts Japan). Also, Striker Pro was released in Europe and North America for the CD-i

CD-i

CD-i, or Compact Disc Interactive, is the name of an interactive multimedia CD player developed and marketed by Royal Philips Electronics N.V. CD-i also refers to the multimedia Compact Disc standard used by the CD-i console, also known as Green Book, which was developed by Philips and Sony...

. In 1995, Striker: World Cup Special was released for the 3DO

3DO Interactive Multiplayer

The 3DO Interactive Multiplayer is a video game console originally produced by Panasonic in 1993. Further renditions of the hardware were released in 1994 by Sanyo and Goldstar. The consoles were manufactured according to specifications created by The 3DO Company, and were originally designed by...

, and a year later Striker: World Cup Premiere Stage was released for the PlayStation

PlayStation

The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...

. In 2000 Striker Pro 2000 (known in Europe as UEFA Striker) was released for the Dreamcast and PlayStation.

External links

• Striker (SNES) at GameFAQs
  GameFAQs
  GameFAQs is a website that hosts FAQs and walkthroughs for video games. It was created in November 1995 by Jeff "CJayC" Veasey and was bought by CNET Networks in May 2003. It is currently owned by CBS Interactive. The site has a database of video game information, cheat codes, reviews, game saves,...