Ranking the 10 Best Versions of FIFA Through the Years
Ranking the 10 Best Versions of FIFA Through the Years
There is not one thing better at wasting your free time than video games, and there is one game that does that better than any of the rest – FIFA.
Whether you have work in the morning, an exam the next day or even a paper deadline coming up, you might find yourself playing this game into the wee hours of the morning. People who hate soccer find themselves playing FIFA. It’s just one of those games that people young and old find themselves playing.
There also isn’t another sports related video game that can cause you to switch emotions as quickly as FIFA does. Whenever you’re playing a friend, somehow crazy things always seem to happen, like defenders scoring from 40 yards out and goalkeepers watching the ball roll into the net. If you’re like me and enjoy the finer points of taking a lower division team and trying to make it to the top, you’ve almost broken the TV when one of your players missed a wide open goal.
FIFA wasn’t always the world renowned game that we’ve come to know and love; it started from the very bottom and made its way here. Unlike franchise games like Madden and NBA2K, it didn’t start with the rights to player and team names and had to make them up. The first versions of the game had literally fake teams, fake names, fake players and fake jerseys.
Now, FIFA is the largest-grossing sports video game franchise in the world. Here is a look back at the top 10 versions of the FIFA franchise throughout the years:
Note: If the picture is of a person, it’s the person who was on the cover.
Taylor Sturm is an SEC Basketball Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @TSturmRS or add him to your network on Google.
10. FIFA 95
Okay, it’s nothing spectacular and it didn’t even use real player names, but it was the first edition to have real leagues like La Liga, the Bundesliga and the English Premier League.
9. FIFA 96
FIFA 96 was the first FIFA game with 3-D graphics and player names.
8. FIFA 04
This version added secondary divisions that let you try and take a team from a lower league to a higher one. It helps once you’ve played the game so much that you always win.
7. FIFA 03
This added club championship mode, where you could compete for major trophies.
6. FIFA 06
This was the first game that Andy Gray commented on. Nothing says FIFA like Andy Gray.
5. FIFA 08
This was the first game where you could “Be a Pro,” and play as one player.
4. FIFA 11
This was the first year you could play as a goalkeeper. I mean, I never did it, but it was still a nice option to have.
3. FIFA 13
Good game, classic game play. What more could you want?
2. FIFA 2000
This was the first year that the game included the MLS instead of a made-up American league.
1. FIFA 14
FIFA titles continuously get better and rarely disappoint. FIFA 14 will continue that trend.
