FIFA 97
| FIFA 97 | |
|---|---|
European PC cover featuring Newcastle United's David Ginola | |
| Developer(s) | Extended Play Productions Perfect Entertainment (Saturn) Rage Software (SNES) XYZ Productions (Genesis) Tiertex Design Studios (Game Boy) |
| Publisher(s) | EA Sports Black Pearl Software (Game Boy) |
| Composer(s) | Graeme Coleman (Windows) Michael J. Sokyrka Joel Simmons |
| Series | FIFA |
| Engine | Virtual Stadium |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows DOS Game Boy Mega Drive SNES PlayStation Saturn |
| Release | DOS/WindowsPlayStationGenesisSNESSaturn |
| Genre(s) | Sports |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer, multiplayer online |
FIFA 97 (also known as FIFA Soccer 97) is a football simulation video game published by EA Sports. It was released for PC, PlayStation, SNES, and Mega Drive, in 1996, with the Saturn version to follow in 1997.
FIFA 97 is the fourth game in the FIFA series and the second to use the Virtual Stadium engine. Unlike the first game to use the engine, FIFA 97 features polygonal players as opposed to the 2D sprites used in FIFA Soccer 96. The engine however received complaints for being sluggish in the PC and PlayStation versions.
Frenchman David Ginola (then a Newcastle United player) was pictured on the cover of the game in the European market. He was also used for motion capture for the polygonal models in the game, while Brazilian Bebeto was featured on the cover for the Americas and Asia-Pacific markets.