RetroArkade – Ronaldo V-Football, the “official” game of the Phenomenon – Arkade

In the 90s, the “Phenomenon” it was undisputed success in football. Ronaldo Nazário emerged in football in 1993 and even went to the ’94 World Cup, when it would become “Ronaldinho”. He participated in Tetra’s group, but didn’t even play 10 seconds in the competition.

Explosion and speed player, he had a good campaign in world Cup from 1998. And it was guaranteed success among children, who shaved their hair to imitate their bald head, and who wanted to wear their 9, anywhere in the world.

What matters is that everyone who lived in the 90s knew the Ronaldo, or the Ronaldinho, or even the Phenomenon. Whatever. One of the greatest Brazilian players, and of all times, in addition to his success on the lawns, he was also a strong publicity piece, appearing in numerous commercials and receiving several sponsorships.

And the ace got to receive a game with his name, you know? But calm down. I’m not talking about “Ronaldinho Soccer”, the name that one of the many pirated adaptations of International Superstars Soccer Deluxe received at the height of the 16-bit generation. I’m talking about an official game, released in 2000, for the Playstation, published by Infogrames.

It’s about this interesting game, which hides some very interesting details of a time, that we’ll talk about today.

The 90s Phenomenon

To understand why the game exists, we first need to understand who was Ronaldo Nazário, and how he became the Phenomenon, being an idolized player wherever he went, and who was one of the greatest symbols of football of all times.

He started playing, like many in Brazil, in futsal. Of Valqueire, went to Social Ramos Club, and then go to Saint Cristopher, all teams from Rio de Janeiro, their home state. His talent led him to professional football in 1993, where he reached the cruise, soon drawing attention for his talent.

He was champion of Brazil’s Cup e do miner that year, already drawing the attention of European football. It was very early for the PSV, helping your team to win the Netherlands Cup. He participated, without playing, in the group that played the USA World Cup, in 1994. But after the Cup, he became one of the great names for the future of the national team.

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In 1996 he went to the Barcelona, where he was even more successful, while he was already one of the essential figures of the Brazilian team in those days, including participating in the Atlanta Olympic Games. The Catalan club won the Spanish Super Cup, a King’s Cup it’s at European Cup.

This made him, at the age of twenty, chosen as the Best Player in the World by FIFA. In 1997, he went to Italy, being, until then, the most expensive contract in history. At Milan Internationale, was elected again as the best in the world, in 1998, in a year that was marked by the campaign of the vice-world in the World Cup in France, which had a lot of controversy due to the player’s health situation.

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In 1999 and 2000, Ronaldo went through major problems with injuries, staying five months in recovery, and then another eight months. But, even without taking the field many times in those years, he was already “the Phenomenon“. He received the title by the Italian press after, in his first season, scoring 14 goals in 19 matches, being voted the best in the world, and also winning the Ballon d’Or.

In 2000, the scenario was one of uncertainty, but Ronaldo continued firm in his recovery, when he would reach consecration in 2002, when he scored the two goals of the title, in the Final of Japan and Korea World Cup, against Germany. Later, Ronaldo played in more clubs, like the Milan, and ended his career at Corinthians.

But, in 2000, due to everything we’ve seen, including titles, his recent past and several striking goals, in addition to his important participation in the ’98 World Cup, accredited him to be the most important player in world football at that time, which justified, and a lot, the possibility of a game of its own.

Ronaldo’s “FIFA”

in those days, FIFA e PES, to mean, Winning Eleven, already disputed the preference of the players. the game of Konami it sought, as much as possible for the time, to bring realism to games. While the EA Sports (It’s in the Game, or “tiu de gam”), sought to bring a faster and more open game, with the possibility of very stretched scores.

The game sought to offer the best of both worlds. I started trying to present a lot of “Brazilianness”, with samba and Latin music. There were also menus in Portuguese, a rarity in those days, and it had another element even rarer: narration in Portuguese.

At the time, the Dr. Osmar de Oliveira, doctor and sports commentator, present at the football round tables of the time. It had 64 teams and 15 stadiums, based on world teams and inspired by famous stadiums of the time. Another interesting issue, for the time, is that the players’ uniforms and names are official.

taking away the games FIFA, who at the time already had the license of the names, Ronaldo V-Football also had in the canary team Ronaldo, Rivaldo, between others. Not all selections, but at least the main ones.

The game was inspired by the way FIFA of being, having similar cameras, player format and gameplay style. There were two control formats, one inspired by the FIFA and another in Winning Eleven, who also took advantage of the game from Konami the format of menus.

But the game, despite not being the excellence of the genre, was not a mere copy of its competitors. It had its own way. THE Action Games, in August 2000, reviewed the game, treating it as an average game, which earned a 6.8 mark, but which is worth casual play. It was considered an “ok” game, which managed to please among the other options in the genre.

There are those who consider the game as one of the “worst” in football. But that’s unfair. Even more if we take into account what existed at the time. It does not have the same quality and brand as its competitors. But believe me, there were terrible sports games at this time, and Ronaldo V-Football, at least, managed to be average.

An obscure but competent football game

Ronaldo V-Football was the first and only licensed game with the Brazilian ace on the cover. As he is not very well known compared to his rivals, everything indicates that there was, within Infogrames, no interest in continuing their series of football games, even if they used another player on the cover. The game even got a later version for the Game Boy Advance.

A Infogrames, in those days, it was an interesting publisher, as it had the franchise in its catalog Driver, Test Driver, and also the Unreal Entertainment, gives Epic Games. Then it would become Atari, after acquiring the rights of the legendary company from the 70s and 80s. And, between mistakes and successes, the Atari, which has elements of its story very similar to that of the Infogrames, we never had her soccer game again.

But, many people in Brazil played the game, after all, the appeal of Ronaldo it was very strong. There were those who thought it was a “continuation” of Ronaldinho Soccer 97, but when playing a game with narration in Portuguese and a lot of Latin music, this game certainly amused a lot of people here, between one game or another of Winning Eleven, Where FIFA 2000.

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