Elite Soccer (SNES)

Elite Soccer
Also known as: World Cup Striker (JP/EU) Developer: Rage Software Publishers: Coconuts Japan (JP), Elite Systems (EU), GameTek (US) Platform: SNES Released in JP: June 17, 1994 Released in US: August 1994 Released in EU: July 15, 1994 This game has hidden development-related text. This game has regional differences.

Elite Soccer, also known as World Cup Striker in Europe and Japan is an association football video game on SNES. It is effectively an updated version of the earlier Striker, which was known as World Soccer '94: Road to Glory in North America.

Regional Differences

All versions, broadly speaking are the same game, but feature slight variations between regions.

Menu Music

The menu music in the European World Cup Striker features voices occasionally singing the words "World Cup Striker". Elite Soccer uses the same tune, but removes the lyrics. The Japanese World Cup Striker features a completely different piece of music for the menu.

Copyright Screen

EU	US	JP

The Elite Soccer copyright screen has noticeably less text than the World Cup Striker versions.

Language Selection Screen

The language selection screen is unique to the European version of World Cup Striker.

Company Logo Screen

EU	US	JP

The Elite logo in the European version simply grows larger. The Coconuts Japan and GameTek logos in the Japanese version and Elite Soccer respectively rotate into the screen, before scaling towards the screen.

Introduction Screen

EU/US	JP

All versions of the intro screen feature an association football player kicking a ball, which then scales towards the screen. The background on the Japanese version is different however. These backgrounds are also used for the menu screens.

Title Screen

EU/JP	US

In the World Cup Striker versions, the introduction animation of the ball scaling towards the screen continues, with the ball morphing into the title logo, before morphing back into a ball and exiting the screen. In Elite Soccer, there is a straightforward cut to a separate title screen once the ball fills the screen.

Main Menu Screen

EU	US	JP

The European version of World Cup Striker and Elite Soccer have very similar main menu screens, with the most noticeable differences being the different publisher logos in the bottom right corner and the load game option in the European version being replaced with a password entry option in Elite Soccer (Elite Soccer does not feature the battery save feature of the World Cup Striker versions). The Japanese menu has a different layout and the menu icons do not cycle round the screen like in the Western versions. There are fewer icons on each menu screen too, meaning that players have to search through more menu screens to access some options in this version. There is also Japanese text and the Rage Software logo in the bottom left corner appears slightly different too.

Load Game/ Password Screen

EU	US	JP

As mentioned above, Elite Soccer lacks the battery save feature present in both World Cup Striker versions and players instead load games in progress by entering passwords. The European version of World Cup Striker has capacity for 20 save games, but only 8 in the Japanese version. The rotating globes on either side of the 'STORED GAMES' header in the European version are absent in the Japanese version and Elite Soccer.

Team Selection

EU/US	JP

The Japanese version of World Cup Striker replaces Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales from the European version and Elite Soccer with Iran, Iraq and North Korea. Additionally, the Republic of Ireland is renamed Ireland and moved up the menu to a different position in the Japanese version.

Gameplay

EU/US	JP

The graphics on the HUD in the Japanese version of World Cup Striker are more straightforward and do not resemble the digital dot display appearance in the European version and Elite Soccer. The Japanese version also features in-game music, again not present in the other versions.

Build Date

Present at the very end of the ROM. The dates suggest that the European version was compiled first, though it was released second.

• Europe:

Current date is Tue 08/02/1994
Enter new date (dd-mm-yy):

• Japan:

Current date is Sat 09/04/1994
Enter new date (dd-mm-yy):

• US:

Current date is Tue 24/05/1994
Enter new date (dd-mm-yy):