FIFA Road to World Cup 98 (Saturn)

From Sega Retro

For the Sega Mega Drive game, see FIFA Road to World Cup 98 (Mega Drive).

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FIFA98 Sat Title.png

FIFA Road to World Cup 98
System(s): Sega Saturn
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer:
Peripherals supported: Saturn Backup Memory
Genre: Sports

















Number of players: 1-8
Official in-game languages:
  • English
  • Français
  • Deutsch
  • Italiano
  • Español
  • Svenska
  • Nederlands
  • Release Date RRP Code
    Sega Saturn
    US
    T-5025H
    Sega Saturn
    EU
    T-5025H-50
    Sega Saturn
    BR
    191x60

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    FIFA Road to World Cup 98 is a 1997 football game by Electronic Arts released for the Sega Saturn as a sequel (or update) to FIFA 97.

    FIFA 98s packaging is localised, featuring players from the local country's national football team.

    Gameplay

    Though its predecessors also held the FIFA license, FIFA Road to World Cup 98 goes one step further by tying itself into the 1998 FIFA World Cup, including all 172 FIFA-registered national teams which existed at the time (incidentally it would not be until 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa when EA would include all national teams which took part in qualification). 189 club teams from 11 national leagues are also featured, and teams can also be created and edited by the user.

    Des Lynam returns to introduce matches, as does commentators John Motson and Andy Gray.

    Versions

    FIFA 98 on the Saturn was one of EA's final releases for the system, and is noticeably stripped down when compared to its PlayStation counterpart. All full motion video cutscenes render at a lower resolution (with borders), support for Dolby Surround was dropped and much of the graphical detail is missing, with fewer textures, lower quality shadows and simpler (and sometimes non-existent) animations (the latter seemingly at odds with EA's heavily publicised use of then-cutting edge motion capture technology). It does mean the Saturn game takes less time to load, however (though both are trounced by the cartridge-based Nintendo 64 version whose load times are near-instantaneous).

    Players are much larger than their rival console counterparts, giving the impression that pitches are smaller than they should be. Many of the omissions can curiously be found in the previous year's release of FIFA Soccer 97.

    Localised names

    Also known as
    Language Localised Name English Translation
    English FIFA Road to World Cup 98 FIFA Road to World Cup 98
    English (US) FIFA Road to World Cup 98 FIFA Road to World Cup 98
    French FIFA: En Route pour la Coupe du Monde 98
    German FIFA: Die WM-Qualifikation 98

    Production credits

    Climax Team
    • President-Climax: Karl Jeffery
    • Producer: Scott Sanders
    • Lead Programmer: ZZKJ
    • Senior Programmers: Damian Stones, Damian Hammond, Tom Pinnock
    • Additional Programming: Richard Beavan
    • Lead Artist: Agust Fridriksson
    • Artist: Mike Oakley
    • Audio Conversion: Matt Simmonds
    • Tester: George Buggins
    EAC Team
    • Executive Producer: Bruce McMillan
    • Director, Product Development: Warren Wallssistants
    • Producer: Marc Aubanel
    • Assistant Producer: David McCarthy
    • Development Director: Dylan Miklashek
    • Original 32Bit Version By: Electronic Arts Seattle
    • Programming Architect: Penny Lee
    • Franchise Development Director: Gaivan Chang
    • Art Director: David Adams
    • Franchise Art Lead: Jackie Ritchie
    • Core Production: Andy Abramovici, Brent Disbrow, Robert Kaill, Nick Malaperiman, Heidi Newell, M. James Schulte, Kerry Whalen, Nicholas Wlodyka
    • Core Team Lead Programmers: Desmond Fernando, Brian Plank, Andrew Routledge, Ted Sylka
    • Core Team Programmers: Wyatt Cheng, Hong Chin, Jorge Consuegra, Michael Gordon, Chris Khoo, John Lawrie, Kevin Pickell, Jason Rupert, Bartosz Kijanka
    • Animation Lead: Joe MacDonald
    • Animator: Cory Slavin
    • Additional Animation: David Demorest
    • Additional Art: Terry Chui, Brian Keane, Margaret Livesey, Laura Parr
    • Audio Speciallists: Omar Al-Kafaji, Neil Biggin, Chris Tailor (CT)
    • CG Supervisor: John Rix
    • CG Artist: Craig Hui
    • Additional CG Art: Dimension's Edge
    • Video Lead: Tom Raycove
    • Video Assistant: Dwayne Wudrich
    • Production Assistants: Catherine Williamson, Iris Benbasset, Jeniffer Campbell
    • CO-OP Production Assistant: Renton Leversedge
    • Manager, Motion Capture: Evan Hirsch
    • Motion Capture Shoot Supervision: David Coleman
    • Motion Capture: Demian Gordon, Moses Kaplinsky, Daven Coburn, Andrea Donnely, JJ Gonzales, Vince Ng, Peter Saumur, Susan Skerl-Cote
    • Manager, 3D Tools: Paul Lewis
    • 3D Tools: Bill Craft, Sean Halliday, Frank Henigman, Ian Gilliland, Sallie Melluso, Scott Swan
    • Manager, Libraries: Rick Friesen
    • Libraries: James Fairweather, Dave Mercier, Shane Alfreds, Kurt Kennett, Gerry Shaw, Curtis Patzer
    • Localization Producer: Louise Read
    • European Localisation Manager: Dominique Goy
    • Language Testing Coordinator: Matt Eyre
    • Voice Talent: John Motson, Andy Gray, Desmond Lynam
    • QA Coordinator: John Santamaria
    • QA Lead: Gordon Thornton
    • QA Assistant Leads: Kyle Seller, Mike McCartney
    • QA Testers: Randy Deluna, Patrick Donaghy, Cristian Isac, Rafael Erana, Ali Mehrassa, Octavio Izaurraulde, Fausto Mazzuto, Ryan Yewell, David Weller, Mark Peters, Carvy Spindler, Edward Chiu
    • Common Database: Mark Lawson
    • EAC QA Mastering: Peter Petkov, Jeff Hutchinson, Cary Chao
    • EAC QA Tech: Bill Kim, Colin Cox, Darcy Gog, Chris Wallace, Paul Breland, Jason Feser, Zech Prinz
    • Technical Advisors: Mike Mosher, Sam Iacobellis
    • Product Marketing: Paula Singleton, Margaret Murray, Duncan Magee
    • Public Relations: Keith Dundas
    • Documentation: Andrea Engstrom
    • Documentation Layout: Corinne Mah
    • Package Art and Design: Nancy Waisanen, Oshiro Design, Allsport USA
    • EASM Quality Assurance: Jesse Abney, Richard Beresh
    • Special Thanks: SD Post - UK Studio, Marina Crean, Duncan Backus, Joerg Brand, Bettina Klos, Petrina Wallace, Michael de Plater, Niclas Nordlander, Rob Bailey, Wayne Paugh, Brian Ward, Klly Kooner, Caroline Ancessi, Kiyomi Hisatsugu, Susan Su, Sissel Tangen, Min Choi, Chung Tze Yang, Marni Donnely, Steve Berberet, Tony Garcia, Shannon Manley, Alan Van Slyke, Ron Bolinger, Wes Potter, Tracey Dear
    • Music Consultant: Jonnie Forster at Tuff Break Sports & Entertainment
    Music
    • Blur
    • Song 2
      • Written by: Damon Albarn, Steven Alexander James, Graham Coxon and David Rowntree
      • Performed by: Blur
      • ©1997 EMI Music Publishing Ltd.
      • All Rights For EMI Music Publishing Ltd. in the United States and Canada Controlled by EMI Blackwood Music Inc.
      • Under License from EMI UK
    • The Crystal Method
    • Keep Hope Alive
      • Under License from EMI Music Publishing
      • ©1995 EMI Virgin Songs. Inc. and Drug Money Music
    • More
      • ©The Crystal Method
      • ©1996 EMI Virgin Songs. Inc. and Drug Money Music
    • Now Is The Time (Cloud 9 Remix)
      • Under License from EMI Music Publishing
      • ©1996 EMI Virgin Songs. Inc. and Drug Money Music
    • Busy Child
      • Courtesy of Outpost Records
      • ©1997 EMI Virgin Songs. Inc. and Drug Money Music
      • All Songs Written by: Ken Jordan and Scott Kirkland
      • All Songs Performed by: The Cristal Method
      • All Rights Controlled and Administered by: EMI Virgin Songs. Inc.
    • Electric Skychurch
    • Hugga Bear
      • Written by: James Lumb
      • Performed By: Electric Skychurch
      • Produced by: James Lumb for Skychurch Family Productions
      (P)1997 Skychurch Family Productions
      ©1997 Lumpy Spacetime Music (ASCAP)
    All Rights Reserved Used by Permission
    Flag artwork provided under license by Dream Maker Software.
    © 1996 Dream Maker Software
    All Rights Reserved
    Source:
    In-game credits

    Magazine articles

    Main article: FIFA Road to World Cup 98 (Saturn)/Magazine articles.

    Physical scans

    Sega Retro Average 
    Publication Score Source
    20 №195, p94[1]
    50 №73, p101
    58 №28, p70/71[2]
    Sega Saturn
    43
    Based on
    3 reviews
    Sega Retro Average 
    Publication Version Score
    Ação Games (BR)
    30
    [3]
    Computer & Video Games (UK)
    0
    [1]
    Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U
    66
    [4]
    Fun Generation (DE) PAL
    50
    [5]
    Joypad (FR) PAL
    50
    [6]
    MAN!AC (DE) PAL
    79
    [7]
    Mega Console (IT) NTSC-U
    70
    [8]
    Mega Force (FR) PAL
    95
    [9]
    Mega Fun (DE) PAL
    78
    [10]
    Sega Magazin (DE) PAL
    82
    [11]
    Sega Saturn Magazine (UK) PAL
    58
    [12]
    Sega Saturn
    60
    Based on
    11 reviews

    FIFA Road to World Cup 98 (Saturn)

    Saturn, US
    FIFA98 Saturn US Box Back.jpgFIFA98 Saturn US Box Front.jpg
    Cover
    FIFA98 Saturn US Disc.jpg
    Disc
    Fifasoccer98 sat us manual.pdf
    Manual
    Saturn, UK
    FIFA98 Saturn UK Box.jpg
    Cover
    FIFA98SaturnUKManual.pdf
    Manual
    Saturn, FR
    FIFA98 Saturn FR Box.jpg
    Cover
    FIFA98SaturnFRManual.pdf
    Manual
    Saturn, DE
    FIFA98 Saturn DE Box.jpg
    Cover
    Saturn, ES
    FIFA98 Saturn ES Box.jpg
    Cover
    Saturn, IT
    FIFA98 Saturn IT Box.jpg
    Cover
    Saturn, BR
    FIFA98 Saturn BR Box Front.jpg
    Cover

    Technical information

    ROM dump status

    System Hash Size Build Date Source Comments
    Sega Saturn
     ?
    CRC32
    MD5
    SHA-1
    492,555,840 CD-ROM(DE) T-5025H-50 V1.000
    Sega Saturn
     ?
    CRC32
    MD5
    SHA-1
    456,883,056 CD-ROM(EU) T-5025H-50 V1.000
    Sega Saturn
     ?
    CRC32
    MD5
    SHA-1
    454,608,672 CD-ROM(FR) T-5025H-50 V1.000

    References



    Electronic Arts sports games for Sega systems
    American Football
    John Madden Football (1990) | John Madden Football '92 (1991) | John Madden Football '93 (1992) | John Madden Football: Championship Edition (1992) | Mutant League Football (1993) | Madden NFL '94 (1993) | Bill Walsh College Football (1993) | Bill Walsh College Football '95 (1994) | Madden NFL '95 (1994) | Madden NFL 96 (1995) | College Football USA 96 (1995) | Madden NFL 97 (Mega Drive) (1996) | Madden NFL 97 (Saturn) (1996) | College Football USA 97 (1996) | Madden NFL 98 (Mega Drive) (1997) | Madden NFL 98 (Saturn) (1997)
    Baseball
    Tony La Russa Baseball (1993) | MLBPA Baseball (1994) | La Russa Baseball 95 (1994) | Triple Play 96 (1995) | Triple Play: Gold Edition (1996)
    Basketball
    Lakers versus Celtics and the NBA Playoffs (1990) | Bulls vs Lakers and the NBA Playoffs (1991) | Jordan vs Bird (1992) | Team USA Basketball (1992) | Bulls versus Blazers and the NBA Playoffs (1993) | NBA Showdown '94 (1994) | NBA Live 95 (1994) | NBA Live 96 (1995) | Coach K College Basketball (1995) | NBA Live 97 (Mega Drive) (1996) | NBA Live 97 (Saturn) (1996) | NBA Live 98 (Mega Drive) (1997) | NBA Live 98 (Saturn) (1997)
    Golf
    Zany Golf (1990) | PGA Tour Golf (1990) | PGA Tour Golf II (1992) | PGA Tour Golf III (1994) | PGA European Tour (1994) | PGA Tour Golf II (1995) | PGA Tour 96 (1995) | PGA Tour 97 (1996)
    Ice Hockey
    NHL Hockey (Mega Drive) (1991) | NHLPA Hockey '93 (1992) | NHL Hockey '94 (1993) | Elitserien 95 (1994) | Mutant League Hockey (1994) | NHL 95 (1994) | NHLPA Hockey (1994) | Elitserien 96 (1995) | NHL 96 (1995) | NHL Hockey (Game Gear) (1995) | NHL 97 (Mega Drive) (1996) | NHL 97 (Saturn) (1996) | NHL 98 (Mega Drive) (1997) | NHL 98 (Saturn) (1997)
    Racing
    Mario Andretti Racing (1994) | Andretti Racing (1996) | NASCAR 98 (1997)
    Rugby
    Rugby World Cup 1995 (1994) | Australian Rugby League (1995)
    Soccer
    FIFA International Soccer (8-bit) (1993) | FIFA International Soccer: Championship Edition (1994) | FIFA Soccer 95 (1994) | FIFA Soccer 96 (Mega Drive) (32X | Saturn | Game Gear) (1995) | FIFA Soccer 97 (Gold Edition) (1996) | FIFA Road to World Cup 98 (Mega Drive) (1997) | FIFA Road to World Cup 98 (Saturn) (1997)
    Misc.
    EA Sports Double Header (1992) | IMG International Tour Tennis (1994) | Toughman Contest (1994)