Fifa 99 gpemu files for download

You could count the number of man-hours lost through playing World Cup 98 lasl summer at the office on one hand - but you'd need the help of the entire population of Canada to hold out both hands before you came anywhere near an accurate estimation. Finally, after what seemed like years of trying, EA Sports had managed to marry an almost perfect blend of graphics, control and gameplay and produce a football game that played as good as it looked. It was by no means perfect, however.

Despite the introduction of a variable speed feature, it still wasn't as smooth as Gremlin's Actua Soccer. The hundreds of motion-captured moves meant the players' actions might have been more realistic, but uninterruptible animations meant you didn't always feel in total control. The AI - the weak point of so many football games - was still often questionable, especially where the goalkeepers were concerned. Why the hell did the ball fly off the pitch when you tried to retrieve it from close to the sideline?

It may be only a few months since World Cup 98 was released, but the developers have been beavering away on FIFA 99 since the end of last year. They've looked long and hard at their best-selling World Cup game and listened to the feedback and criticisms that were levelled at WC The result is a faster, smoother and even more playable game than before. All the above niggles have been addressed to varying degrees and. Okay, it may not look that different, but it's certainly a lot smoother, with a odd per cent increase in the frame rate.

As well as a whole host of new moves, there are now interruptible animations, so you no longer have to wait for your players to complete their animation cycles before attempting a new action.

The AI is still a little suspect at times, but the CPU-controlled players now get into better positions and there's a panic button you can press that causes your keeper to come screaming off his line and retrieve the ball. New 'binding logic' means you can run up to and retrieve the ball from the touch line without it flying into orbit and, perhaps most significantly, you can now chest the ball down to other players and turn a lot quicker, which speeds the game up no end.

There's a whole host of tournaments, leagues and custom competitions to take part in, as well as EA Sports' own European Super League. The presentation is up to the usual high standard and the commentary, sound effects and music are in a different league ahem from the competition. You can even edit and transfer players and play almost instantly with just two clicks of the mouse, thanks to a handy new 'Quick Start' option. So what's wrong with it?

Well, the keepers tend to parry the ball into their own net a bit too often, and the AI is still questionable at times, though this is an area that, arguably, no developer has been able to perfect. It's also still way too easy to win the ball from an opponent and make successful tackles.

When you have possession, you really should be able to shield the ball from the opposition before playing the next pass or taking a shot. Because the tackles come flying in so quickly, you're often forced to pass the ball almost immediately or almost certainly lose it. Keeping possession against an opponent who's got the hang of tackling is very difficult indeed, which means it can become a bit of a slog in the middle of the pitch.

That said, once you've mastered a couple of the special 'skill' moves, retaining possession does become a lot easier. Not only do you Keep the ball more, but the look on your opponent's face when you skip past him after pulling off a couple of Rocastles for the first time is a moment to cherish forever.

We've also discovered two 'score almost every time' moves which the play-testers obviously missed - which makes the whole thing a bit predictable unless you both agree to ignore such tactics. If you bought WC 98 a few months ago, you'll probably feel a bit narked at having to shell out another 40 quid for what is in many ways an upgrade, and who can blame you? But if you want the best football game available for the PC, you'll have to just put aside your qualms and buy FIFA Look on the bright side: you'll probably get around 15 for World Cup 98 at your local swap shop.

If you dismiss FIFA '99 as jusc another boring soccer game, you'll miss out on one of the best sports games of the year. Awesome refinements to the graphics. Land controls push this game to the pinnacle of its sport.

The only bummer is that EA didn't land the MLS license, but most hardcore American soccer fens devote themselves to European soccer anyway.

Other hot features include the European Dream League, customizable cups and leagues, national teams, trades, and exhaustive strategy options. Keepers perform more intelligently, the defense covers you more tightly, and the offense slips slick passes through any available openings. As for controls, everything just works better and more intuitively. The crisp passings a breeze, players are armed with more jukes and moves, and when the balls in the air, headers, chesting,and so on are much more lifelike.

FIFA looks sharp, coo, sporting a sweet new player model, cool new animations, and a quick, clean frame rate. As for sounds, those stuffy announcers return with that familiar, humdrum two-man commentary, but the music and onfield sound effects totally rock.

With such impressive across-the-board innovations and refinements, FIFA '99's a must-buy for sports gamers. Now that the World Cup's just a memory, the leading soccer game has turned its attention to the gritty action of club soccer.

If that's not enough variety, you can create your own leagues and tournaments. EA also reports that it's focused on tuning up the A. With all that headed for the pitch. FIFA '99 looks like another star in the making. OK, we all know that FIFA has improved dramatically in recent releases, but a number of things spring to mind when looking at this. And finally, what's new? The answers are surprisingly as follows; yes, no and Enhanced semi-auto goalies.

Over teams from 12 territories including the United States. A European "Dream League" with all the best "real" soccer teams let's face it, U. Fakes and jukes, ISS style. A new chest trapping feature that is cool, but the animation for which pops up FAR too often. Greater control in the air; bicycle kicks, volleys, better headers although it's so subtle you only notice it if you've played a lot of console soccer.

Also the graphics are a bit better, with nice lighting, etc. Oh yeah, and the players aren't all the same height any more. Subtle, but sort of important I guess. So is it better than ISS98? Urn, well, you know--it might be. I particularly enjoyed this year's edition because it plays much more realistic than the older FIFAs. The biggest thorn in EA's side, however, is the same thing that bugged me about the last few FIFAs: the choppy frame-rate.

The game moves and plays just fine, but I'd sacrifice a few of the stadium and player details for more frames of animation. I'm finally happy with the graphics the frame-rate in World Cup 98 was a tittle questionable, but not here , and the control is better than it's ever been. The new moves like the jukes are actually quite useful, and the Al on Professional level and above is excellent. I just hope we don't get a repeat of last year, with another "sequel" three months from now.

We'll see With the huge amount of licensed teams, options, players, etc. Of course it's the solid gameplay that holds it all together. It's still easy to get away with slide-tackles but strangely, it makes the game more intense. New juke moves are useful as well for faking out opponents. I'll take this one over ISS Pro 98 anytime. It governs the most popular sport in the world enjoyed by over million people. The opening scene of the player triumphantly climbing the steps like Rocky really captures the joy of the game.

This is a very impressive game. It's refreshingly simple yet it flows so well that it is extremely enjoyable to play. The players on the field are so well synchronized that it looks like the programmers actually planned for every step and body movement that the players demonstrate. Especially when you take the time to pause and watch the replay, it looks like it could have been a video of a real human game.

Like many EA sports games, there is a quick start option that gets you right into a basic game. This is a great deffault option but when you are ready for more involved games or seasons, you will want to try out other options. Friendly match allows you to select the two teams that will play and choose a stadium to play the match in.

Also all penalties only matter in the match you are currently playing. Golden Goal Mode is a first to X game where X is a number of goals, this can be a great option in a heated rivalry where time flys but nobody can break through for that elusive goal.

Season mode has four different primary options League, Cup, Custom League, and Custom Cup leading to 15 different league and cup competitions. Cup mode allows you to choose from three European Cups. You can set up a custom league with the Custom League Creator. This is very useful if you have an odd number of friends over and you want to play an organized approach to seeing whose the greatest.

Finally, Custom Cup lets you build your own tournament and choose teams. European Dream League is the big show. You get to choose one of the 20 most prestigious football clubs and try and prove that your team is the best. If you don't want to choose which opponent you'll play you can get a random assortment. In addition to the play options, you also have some game options. The options button allows you to move to three subsections: match options allow you to change the time length for the half, the clock, and weather options you gotta love those snow games ; Gameplay options allow you to set difficulty level and choose which optional calls will be available to the referees.

Team management lets you choose which players you do or don't want on your team. Then you can play with the formations trying out different approaches to the game's strategies. Whenever you save, the game will also save your strategies. Player Edit and Team Edit are great options which even allow you to pick uniform colors.

That aspect is a blast other sports games should take notice. Training allows you to choose some drills to help build your teams skills.

The commentary is appropriately timed, brief, and interesting. In fact, you can receive some satisfaction as he marvels at a great offensive or defensive play. The basic moves are as would be expected.

On offense or defense, you move around with the directional buttons and turbo sprint with triangle. On offense, you can pass with X and shoot with Circle. On defense, you can switch players with X, tackle with circle, and Slide Tackle with square. After you've mastered the basic moves, you'll be ready for the intermediate controls. To pass through press R1. To intentionally foul and draw a penalty card press L1. To jump a slide tackle press L1. To juke left or right a great way to throw off defenders press L2 or R2 respectively.

You can also do full spins to the left or right by double tapping those buttons. Yes, there are even advanced moves for plenty of game depth. If you hold the L2 or R2 buttons and use the directional buttons, you can fake different moves.

If you hold L2 or R2 and press square you will do a rainbow kick or a flick-over respectively. The same holds with the addition of R1 will do a step-over nutmeg or Double Step-over. Finally hold L2 or R2 and press L1 to dive. What would be a great soccer game without the ability to use your head? To do a header on goal just press Circle.

To head the ball into your teammates chest, press square and to do so to their feet press X. Also you've got to use the directional buttons to aim at a target player to head to. The Goalie can be tricky. To charge press R1. To pick up the ball press L1 and triangle to drop it. X is for throwing and circle for punting. You'll want to choose the option that will get the ball to the player of your choice around problematic defenders.

After you've driven in for a shot on goal or made that sweet pass for a great shot you'll want to aim the ball. You now get players following the ball when it's flying above their heads, mouth movements in close-ups, much more accuracy and fluidity in player movements, and so many other small but significant improvements that I could spend the whole review just talking about them.

I will take care to mention only three: close-ups now happen not only after goals or during a foul, but also after really big misses when the player who messed up may grab his head in frustration; the ref is much more animated now, and the full effect during fouls is so good that it is tempting to make harsh fouls just to see what would happen; and EA took care to remove those stupid animations during deadballs. Also, the free kick arrows are much easier to understand now, and players are scaled better although the ball is ever so slightly too big.

As far as sound effects go, it seems like crowd chants now happen during more realistic moments in play, but otherwise, the game keeps the very high standard of its predecessor. More typically British humor has been added to the generally superb commentary Motson and Lynham lead the commentator team again, and that's all we need to know as well. One last important issue is that of player heights, which are now reflected graphically and have an actual effect on their game. The above really only scratches the surface as far as how beautiful FIFA 99 truly is.

If any sports game can be called a work of art, then this is the one. The next step would be I guess I will simply have to wait and see. Presentation values aside, the most important bit in any title is gameplay. Remember FIFA 97? A treat for the senses, at the time, but impossible to play. FIFA 99 gave me mixed feelings. On the one hand, it is the best soccer game I have ever played apart from on a real pitch.

No doubt about it. It is highly enjoyable, extremely well balanced, and I have yet to find such faults with it that will allow one to score sure goals. There was such a problem in FIFA 98 -- one could run towards the corner of the five-meter box, and when the keeper would just begin to come out you could shoot for a certain goal. No such thing here. I have seen only one goal that was slightly suspect in terms of engine faults. That is, even though some goals are obviously the result of problems with the game engine, such as poor defense AI, they never feel that way.

In short, all goals I saw scored in FIFA 99 up to this point and I've watched few hundred of them already could have been scored in a real soccer match.

This is a highly important issue for any sports game, because 'artificial' goals would easily ruin the illusion of playing the real sport. On the other hand, this game is less of a simulation than its prequel. Not that the latter was anything more than a slowed down arcade game, but it still felt more like real soccer. FIFA 99 's arcade nature, however, is more evident.

The game is quick -- not as quick as, say, the lightning-like Actua Soccer series, but fast enough to keep you constantly on the edge. Relaxed dribbles, are few and far between. Tackles are more effective now, and unless you use the various special maneuvers and time them correctly, they are impossible to avoid. In fact, dribbles are no longer a viable choice. You now have to master the pass, in all its varieties, in order to succeed. Short and long lobs and whatever else, must be learned.

What's more, you have to get them off in rapid succession. This of course requires good reflexes, a good eye, and an ability to understand the finer points of the engine so as to anticipate the placement of players outside the view area. Headers are overall much easier to control and therefore much more effective, and chest traps have been improved considerably. In fact, the control system has been tweaked, and the players are now considerably easier to handle once you remember all the different combinations.

The visual interface is also improved, with white crosshairs pointing to the player who will receive the next pass I would like to know what a dark brown marker means, though, as it is not explained in the manual. The ball may still go through the net sometimes, although this happens more rarely than before, and free kicks are easier to control since the kick arrow can now be moved after the shot button is already being held.

Two major improvements in gameplay are both related to the fact that after-touch is far more effective now. Most importantly, you can direct your shots much more easily and, contrary to FIFA 98 , apply some serious curve can to some balls. Another major improvement is the fact that you can now interrupt a move while it is being performed, eliminating one of the most annoying aspect of FIFA 98 and allowing far better control over your player.

Oh, and you can actually stop a ball near the sidelines too. The most interesting conclusion I've made about FIFA 99 is this: the game is now better in multiplayer mode but slightly worse in single-player mode. In multiplayer, everything works perfectly, with the human touch adding that extra bit to game balance. The teams are affected by the player's decisions, and the engine is good enough that it never feels intrusive.

Whoever plays the best wins. Single player, however, is different. Amateur mode is useless, as always. Professional is now a good middle ground, since it is challenging but not too much so, and I personally prefer this level to the other two. The problem is with world-class level play. It is here where FIFA 99 becomes more a game of pinball than anything else.

It is practically impossible to hold a ball for more than a second, or two at best, and once you are in the computer's half, even this is too much. The short pass button is constantly employed, and after a while this gets a little boring.

The reason for all this is that the engine is now good enough to nullify the human factor by having the advantage of split-second decisions. Add to that the over-effectiveness of tackles, needed for improved game balance, and you will get into a "get rid of the ball" frenzy pretty quickly. I'm not sure if anything could be done about this, but the overall result is that playing world-class sends the game back into the arcade realm, and becomes less enjoyable after a while.

In any case, professional level is now a very good choice, since it is now harder and yet, in many senses, restrained. This should be the choice of FIFA 98 veterans. One last note is that the computer almost never uses the long ball or lob, preferring the short pass instead. One last issue I would like to mention is keeper control and the AI. You can now control your keeper, even to the point of initiating a goalie rush during play.

But, more importantly, keeper AI is greatly improved. They are now much more aggressive and can finally be termed effective -- and realistic. They will close down your shooting angle, charge when they should, and tip the ball much more often than before. They will even go away from the goal line to catch high balls, something so sorely missing in FIFA As far as gameplay goes, this area is improved the most, and keepers are finally up to par with the rest of the game. EA Sports promised us 20 stadiums to play in, and a superficial look will confirm this, as game intros are different for each stadium present.

The games themselves, however, take place in a smaller number of actual stadiums -- 11, to be exact although some people in the newsgroups claim to have seen only five or six. A lot of people complained about this, and on the face of it, it seems like EA may have screwed up. Personally, I couldn't care less. There is enough variety in the game as it is, and a few more stadiums would add nothing to the experience. As it is, the FIFA line isn't that hot on stadium details anyway -- no crowd animations disregarding the two pixel rows of FIFA 98 , which were a laugh at best , no changing banners or flags or Mexican waves or whatever.

In fact, the games are so demanding when it comes to gameplay, that I cannot see where one would have time to appreciate the finer points of stadium architecture. So as far as I'm concerned, this detracts nothing from the game. However, be warned. You won't have 20 stadiums to play in. And yes, I still think that EA should issue a formal apology regarding this. There is no denying it. FIFA 99 is the best computer soccer game on the planet.

I cannot see where it could be seriously improved for next year, but I also did not foresee how this one would improve over FIFA If you like soccer, then you must have this game, and even if you only have a remote interest, you should seriously consider buying it.

FIFA 99 is beautiful, sounds amazing, plays perfectly, is highly addictive and extremely well balanced. It is truly in a league of its own. Note: As you've probably noticed, this review used the term "soccer" throughout. Using "football" would have made things awkward for American readers, whereas "soccer" is understood everywhere. Screenshots from MobyGames.

Atsot -2 points.