5. Super Soccer - SNES
First released during the early 90s, Super Soccer for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System represented a huge advance in terms of what the first entry -just called “Soccer”- had to offer. Known in Japan as Super Formation Soccer, the game lets you play both exhibition and tournament games, and while it doesn’t hold up to today’s most popular football simulators, it is definitely a greatly important piece of videogame history.
4. ACA NEOGEO Soccer Brawl - NEOGEO / Nintendo Switch
This super stylish football game was originally released as an exclusive for the NEOGEO system back in the day; fortunately, it is available for all Nintendo Switch users to buy in the Nintendo eShop for a small price. Soccer Brawl finds its uniqueness in the fact that as a football player you’re using armor to protect yourself from the expected violence a soccer match always brings. As it is a 90s NEOGEO game, you should expect an experience very similar to those on the arcade while still having a great time.
3. Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions - Nintendo Switch
While it isn’t necessarily a Nintendo exclusive, we can totally be sure that a big part of this game’s success in the west comes from the Nintendo Switch version offered on both Amazon and the Nintendo eShop. Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions, based on the 80s manga and the 2018 anime adaptation of the same, is a hugely popular franchise in Japan that lets players create their own characters and level them up as you wish; while this might sound quite similar to other football videogames like EA’s FIFA, Captain Tsubasa followed by the impact the original franchise has had over the past few decades regarding association football.
2. FIFA (Any entry actually, they've all been the same since 2017) - Nintendo Switch
Yeah, I know; we all have quite the complicated feelings towards EA and the Nintendo Switch versions -annually titled “Legacy Edition” to make the lack of effortless obvious- pale in comparison with the Xbox and Playstation’s releases, but if you get it as cheap as $10 US bucks, it is definitely worth your attention. Independently of the year, you’re buying you get a very nice experience with pretty decent graphics to spend a couple of dozen hours on; if you’re already a FIFA fan and don’t feel the urge to buy it expensively on other platforms, this is the right title for you as it is one of the most widely known video game brands around the world.
1. Super Mario Strikers - Nintendo Gamecube
Out of this listing, Super Mario Strikers is the only title not to be available to buy either right away physically in stores or digitally in the Nintendo eShop or as part of your Nintendo Switch Online subscription as it was first and just released as part of the Nintendo Gamecube catalog way back during 2005 -or 2006 if you lived in Australia or Japan-. Developed by the recently Nintendo acquired studio Next Level Games, Super Mario Strikers offers a unique football experience with some of the most popular Super Mario characters to choose from and play; and while it got a sequel in the immensely popular Wii, the Gamecube entry remains as a classic among both Nintendo and Super Mario sports fans. We can only hope for a sequel shortly to be added to the Nintendo Switch catalog.
