Hi-Res Soccer
Name: Hi-Res Soccer
Programmer(s): Ken Williams and Jay Sullivan
Publisher: On-Line
Year: 1981
Description:
Not really much to say about this game. It was a very very early sports game to "emulate" soccer/futbol. Game play is a little rough as there is almost no player input to the game. If the character with the soccer ball kicks it there's really no way to see which way it's going. One player can play against the computer or if you have two players and are able to share a keyboard two players can play against one another. While playing against the computer there's almost no AI to the game other than the computer team moves towards the ball and if in possession of the ball try to move it to the opposing goal. This leads to what I like to call the "bees chasing a soccer ball" that I see at my (currently) 4 year old daughters soccer games. This is where ALL players on the field including the goalie run and chase after the ball en-mass and get caught up in one of the corners where they can't kick the ball anyway but out of play.
This game has popped up on Ebay a few times and has sold for over $500.
Hi-Res Soccer was a sports game released for the Apple II computer in 1983 by London Software. This early soccer simulation attempted to bring the world's most popular sport to home computers during a time when sports games were still finding their footing.
The game used the Apple II's high-resolution graphics mode to display a top-down view of a soccer field. Players controlled one team while the computer controlled the opposition. The field appeared in green with white lines marking the boundaries and goal areas. Small stick-figure players moved around the screen, with the ball appearing as a tiny white square.
Players used the joystick or keyboard to control their team members. The game automatically switched control to whichever player was closest to the ball. Movement felt slow compared to real soccer, and players had to plan their passes carefully. Shooting required good timing and positioning. The goalkeeper moved automatically but often failed to block well-aimed shots.
Hi-Res Soccer included basic soccer rules like throw-ins, goal kicks, and corner kicks. Matches lasted for a set time period, though this was much shorter than real soccer games. Players could choose from different difficulty levels, which mainly affected how fast the computer team moved and how accurately they passed.
The game's graphics pushed the Apple II's capabilities for 1983. While simple by later standards, the clear field layout and recognizable player formations helped players understand the action. Sound effects were minimal, limited to beeps when players kicked the ball or scored goals.
Hi-Res Soccer faced competition from other early soccer games like International Soccer and MicroLeague Soccer. While it lacked the features of later sports games, it provided Apple II owners with one of their first chances to play soccer on their computers. The game sold modestly and received mixed reviews from gaming magazines of the time.
Programming limitations meant the game couldn't handle complex strategies or realistic ball physics. Players often complained about the slow pace and limited control options. Despite these problems, Hi-Res Soccer helped establish templates for future soccer games, particularly in its use of automatic player switching and simplified controls.
Today, Hi-Res Soccer remains a historical curiosity, representing the early days of sports gaming on personal computers. While primitive compared to modern soccer games, it showed developers that sports simulations could work on home computers, paving the way for the sophisticated sports games that followed.