Italy 1990 (also known as World Class Soccer in the United States and Italia 1990 in most of Europe) is a soccer video game published by U.S. Gold and programmed by Tiertex Design Studios in 1990. It features the 1990 FIFA World Cup held in Italy but is not part of the official FIFA World Cup series. For the American market it was branded as World Class Soccer. In Europe (except the U.K.) it was released as Italia 1990 by U.S. Gold in association with Erbe Software. It was released for Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum and DOS.
An arcade football/soccer game. The game scrolls horizontally at a slight angle, and recreates the coin-op's close-up zoom effect after a player scores. Only a small area of the pitch is on screen at a time, but there is a scanner to show the whole pitch.
Although the game has a referee, he often loses attention, and these moments give you a chance to foul, punch or side-swipe opposition players. One and two player options are included.
Viewed top-down, the controls involve trapping the ball under your foot, giving you time to prepare passes. Running with the ball is tricky at first, as it doesn't stick to your foot the way it did in contemporary football games. Complex moves such as overhead kicks, back-heels and long-range through-ball passes can be completed with practice.
EHIS gameplay included the basic running, kicking, shooting style but also had advanced technique gameplay which added depth and realism to the game. For example; turning naturally involved changing direction of the joystick, but instead of coming to a halt straight away, the player would slow down, stop and start to run in the direction of the joystick.
EHIS advanced techniques included The '5-direction' option. This meant that you could pass and shoot up to 5 different directions from where your player is facing. This was achieved by holding the fire button and pushing the joystick at an angle from where your player is running and releasing the button. Other techniques include sidestepping, barging, heading, back heels, lobs, diving headers, sliding tackles and many other miscellaneous features.
This first game in the series was originally released in 1990 for DOS computers, 1991 for Sega Genesis, Macintosh, SNES, and Commodore Amiga, and 1993 for Sega Master System and Game Gear. It was developed and published by Electronic Arts for DOS and Macintosh, ported to Genesis, SNES, and Game Gear by Sterling Silver Software, to Amiga by Bluesky Innovations, and to Master System by Polygon Games. The Genesis/Mega Drive version features 6 professional golfers as playable or as CPU opponents; Fred Couples, Mark McCumber, Larry Mize, Joey Sindelar, Craig Stadler, Bruce Lietzke.
Wouldn't you know it, you drew Bruno the Sledge, five time champion and all-around bad guy, as your first opponent in your quest for that elusive Atari Wrestling Federation championship belt. Ever since he lost his title to Eric the Flaxen Saxon, Bruno's been terrorizing the AWF circuit.
Bruno the Sledge glares at you with his one remaining eye. When the bell rings, he charges like a man insane. Just before the impact of his 386-pound body, you step aside and raise your elbow.
Perfect elbow smash! Bruno falls to the mat. You get him in a head lock, but his shaved head slips free. Then you see it. The famous Bruno the Sledge "Eye of Terror," the look of death. You're in trouble now!
Mat Mania Challenge provides all the thrills and spills of professional wrestling. Do you have what it takes to survive brain busters and pile drivers? If you have the skills, the championship belt will be yours!
Ski or Die is a 1990 winter sports game by Electronic Arts for the Amiga, NES, MS-DOS and Commodore 64. It consisted of 5 minigames which could be played individually or in a set sequentially. Up to 6 players could compete against each other via hotseat in 4 of the minigames, and semi-hotseat in 1 of them (up to two players at a time).
The sports and activities depicted in the minigames are halfpipe-snowboarding, inflatable sled racing, aerial skiing, downhill skiing and snowball fights.
The DOS port featured Roland MT-32, AdLib and beeper music and sound effects and ran at 15 FPS.
Game play modes include regular season, playoffs and sudden death. The game features 16 regular teams plus one All-Madden team, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. Play actions include selecting a pass recipient as a play unfolds, block tackles, dives and sackings. Different weather conditions come into play when it's wet, snowy or muddy.
A comedic baseball game in which players kick the incoming ball before running the bases.
Kickball is a comedic sports game developed by Dual and published by Masaya exclusively for the Japanese PC Engine. It resembles baseball, complete with a diamond of bases to around, but the "batting" player is actually kicking the ball. The rest of the game plays like a normal round of baseball.
It features seven characters - each of which represents a team of identical athletes - each with their own special pitch/kick move. These characters also include the two protagonists from the Kaizou Choujin Shubibinman series: Tasuke and Kyapiko (or Arnold and Sonia, as they're known in Shockman). Each team also has an assigned stadium that fits their theme: the seal team, for instance, have a stadium with an ice-like floor.