World Cup USA 94

STORY / GAMEPLAY:
All World Cup '94 teams participated to that event are available, though the names of the players are not the real ones (although its official license!). The game does have a good range of options (such as, weather conditions, speed, and features to customize the World Cup) but having them depicted with rather confusing icons of the World Cup's mascot, a dog named Striker (which are nicely drawn though). One different option is to change the "Glue Factor", which offers the choice of how close the ball stays to your feet when tackling, which works well. There is even the option to change the color of the team’s socks! Set pieces are taken using a method of setting an arc of dots to direct the ball in the required directions. Unfortunately this isn't very effective and is fiddly to do too. Goalkeepers are too easy to beat and the player simply takes his shot and stands there, without offering the chance for a rebound. Controlling the ball though is nice and responsive.
Disk loading time was a killer, but fortunately the game could be installed on a hard drive too.
Overall, World Cup USA 94 is a mediocre footie, especially due to its poor gameplay, although the cute visuals and sound.

GRAPHICS / SOUND:
On the Amiga version, sprites are well done in detail and move nicely and fast around the pitch, but free players moved like they were zipping on a pre-determined tracks! Animated sequences have been used to show the referee and crowd cheering after a goal, but they don't look particularly effective and slow the proceedings down to a snail's pace.
Sound offers a nice main menu tune, while during the match there are several sampled sound effects (crowd cheering, ball kicking, referee whistles etc), but honestly speaking, it doesn't seem to create much atmosphere, as after a while all sounds (especially the crowd cheering) sounds annoying and particularly flat.