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Fifa 98 would have been number 1 but November Fifa 99 and Actua Soccer 3 were released.
It's a shame to see Fifa 98 out of the top 2, but there are better football games around now. Fifa 98 took all of the top teams from many leagues around the world and put them into a team select screen which also featured 64 international teams. It was the first Fifa game to support 3D cards, and it used them to greatly enhance graphics, weather conditions could now be seen in all their splendour, players had much better shading and in the goal mouths the pitch could be seen gradually wearing down the more the match went on.
The gameplay improved greatly on Fifa 97, but the keepers were still a bit lame, more special moves could be used and more tournaments were included.
But even with all of these features, multiple stadiums and a Road to World Cup mode, nothing can disguise that it's 1999 now, and 1998 is in the past.
Second and way behind the number 1, Actua Soccer 3 for the third time fails to grab the number 1 slot.
This is by far the best of the three Actua Soccer games, which is the first to include league teams, and many extra custom options. In terms of graphics it measures up well against any football game, and the playability is great, with long range goals being no rare thing. But there is a distinct lack of goal mouth action and premier league professional style football, and that seems to be the downfall of Actua Soccer 3.
There are plenty of options to keep any football fan amused, and custom teams, leagues, tournaments and cups can be creaed.
Actua Soccer 3 is sat firmly in second place and if you're a fan of the series then you'll love this, but otherwise it's a good game but not the best around.
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