On the Ball - World Cup Edition was launched in 1994 by a company called Ascaron. This game is one of the most underrated soccer simulations ever made. Very few people even know of this game, but it proved to be very interesting for the lovers of sport simulations.
But now let's talk about the game. You need to run the crack before getting it started. After you launch the game, the first menu gives you the choice to edit your team and players. If you can't be bothered doing that, you can go straight to the game. This game gives you a chance to play with up to four players. After the initial choices, you have to decide if you want to play the qualifications for the World Cup or enter the tournament directly. In my opinion, selecting my own country and playing the qualifications is more fun. This game offers a good deal of variety as you have five levels of difficulty to choose from, and there are different play modes at your disposal as well. On the Ball even has a newspaper to inform you of the latest football related news around the globe.
After all these choices are made, you're ready to begin. You start in your office were you can do several things with your team, such as the selecting days when your country will play, the statistics where you can see the players with the most goals scored, results of other matches, etc... You can also check what the others think of your performance, and you have four groups that you need to keep satisfied - media, fans, players and associations. If your values are too low, you can get fired. There are more things that you can do in your office, but I'll let you discover that yourself.
Now we are in the pit ready to go to field. You can compare your team with the team you will be up against, and you can give some general directions regarding how defensive or offensive they should play. After that you can choose your tactic and formation, which is followed by the actual match.
If you like these types of managerial games, you will love On the Ball - World Cup Edition as it is one of the first in the genre. The graphics are good enough, and it is lots of fun to watch your players trying and scoring.
I give these game 4 stars for its originality, and for the good in-game atmosphere.
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