After winning every game of FIFA 9-7, on my PS one, suddenly losing 1-0 in Actua Soccer, was such a refreshing change. Great football game, only surpassed by ISS Pro
I had Actua Soccer 3. My first ever football game. In 1999. I was 9 year's old. I absolutely loved it. I remember using the big head mode cheat, and dying of laughter.... 😂😂
I was so invested in all the Actua games at the time (especially the Ice Hocky). I seem to remember The Actua Soccer 3 was probably the weakest of the 3 as a game though, the first one was obviously playing on the popular Virtua Arcade games and was quite different to what contemporary FIFA was like.. it soon changed.
I remember getting bored of Fifa at the time and trying ISS PRO which I felt was the better of the lot. But Actua Soccer 3 had if I remember correctly... Lower leagues as well? Just seemed to be more teams available to play. The gameplay was different, some games I played were pretty good but mostly I felt the controls were clunky, nothing seemed to properly link up and I found it very frustrating when glitches would happen like when the goalkeepers would sometimes be totally oblivious of the ball and either let it slip in the net or flop it totally meaning it bounced off them and in. The Robbie Williams tune did my nut in so much I turned the music off in the settings as I hated his music anyway 😂 I'd say it was something a bit different to try but very bang average at the time. Also the graphics were even poor for them times.
It definitely had a different feel to it than ISS Pro and Fifa. The fact it had so many teams such as the lower league sides, as you mentioned, was a huge selling point. Quite a few glitches though as you've said, was fun but no great when compared to those two other footy games... And I'm totally with you on the Robbie Williams song, why they didn't include two or three other songs, I'll never know 🤣
Did you ever play Striker 97 on ps1? I will never forget the most amazing goals you could score. Goals scored from your own half that would curl around 90°. Very unrealistic but fun stuff.
@@danthegamingmanYT the games themselves not much, but he did have lots of anecdotes and stories from the industry, but it was a very different place back then to now.
I can imagine. I worked with someone who was married to the developer of the Viva Pinata games on Xbox, if you remember them. He told me a few stories about the industry at the time... Very different now, as you say.
The fact actua soccer used wednesday players (and yes i remember Hirsty lol) for the motion capture was funny to me back in the day as a fan of them 😂 Also i think 3 was the first game to have hillsborough on it
The Actua series was among the first to utilise motion capture, so the games were always very animation driven, which impacted on the controls a lot as you couldn't interrupt many actions quickly - at least in my experience with the first 2 Actua Soccer games. The goalkeepers in Actua Soccer were legendarily bad - the motion captured keeper was extremely tall and the captures for ground shots were too slow, so often the best plan was to punt the ball really hard along the ground whilst they tried to dive towards it. The goalkeepers also often wouldn't react to a shot if it wasn't going to go in. Cue them dumbly standing around waiting for it to go out only for it to take a deflection and go in, or hit the crossbar, cannon off and hit them in the back of the head before bouncing into the net. It was funny when it happened to someone else, but maddening when it lost you the game.
That's really interesting to read. Your line about the ball hitting the keeper on the back of the head made me laugh. I had read the motion capture had been done by professional players including keepers Chris Woods from Sheffield Wednesday for the first game and Simon Tracy of Sheffield United for the 2nd and 3rd. I should have probably mentioned it in my video. Thanks for sharing!
"There's nothing Virtua about Actua" - I think that was the line?? 😂 So the Actua series was the first to use full motion capture I believe. I'm pretty sure it was Andy Sinton and Chris Woods that performed various movements while wearing full motion capture suits for the original Actua Soccer!!
@@danthegamingmanYT I'm actually not, I'm a Man Utd fan - from Newton Heath 👍 But I do have a special place in my heart for Wednesday. For some reason, I had a full Wednesday kit as a child. I'm honestly not sure how or why?? 🤔 🤣 There's a behind the scenes look at Actua on one of the earlier OPM demo's. Possibly number 5?? You can see Andy Sinton and Chris Woods wearing the Motion capture suits. I remember getting really excited for the game after seeing that!! Revolutionary at the time!! 👍
You could include Euro 96 on the Saturn as a Actua game. Running on the Actua Soccer engine and developed by Gremlin, Its basically Actua Soccer with Euro 96 branding.
You're right, I tried to get it running actually for a video I'd planned to do about Euro games but it kept crashing before the kick off. But I should have at least given it a mention in this video...
I used to play Actua Soccer on PC, the controls were terrible, I the ball physics were and are still the worst of any game I’ve ever played. Never got to play actua ice hockey but I probably would have liked it as I’m an ice hockey fan, by the way the rules are actually quite easy to understand in hockey.
As a kid, I loved the NHL games on the Mega Drive. That was really easy to pick up as a non-fan. But with the Actua Ice Hockey, though it looked great and was a lot of fun, I just seemed to be getting penalised all the time, and I never knew why😂
@@danthegamingmanYT Only ever played the first Actual Soccer on original PlayStation. Remember it was really impressive but also hard to control. Combination of early 3D footie and not being used to the new 3D football games.
Yeah licensing was definitely something that attracted some gamers, wasn't it? I remember having friends who didn't like ISS Pro simply because of the names and others liked Fifa because it had the badges and kits...
Yeah by the time Actua Soccer 3 came out my pals and my brother and I had settled on ISS/Winning 11 as our game of choice. We still got Actua to check it out but it was nowhere near as good as ISS.
Did you play any of these Actua Sports games? Which was your favourite?
Actua soccer with Shearer on the cover. Mint game. Loved the manual swerve on the ball too.
I had actua soccer 2 great game at the time
Actua Soccer 3 still has the best shooting system in any football game ❤
If you do a Google search, you can see that Gremlin were so excited about their Actua series, they even pitched an Actua Soccer arcade machine!
I wasn't aware of that! Thanks for taking the time to comment, I'm a big fan of your videos!
I love seeing organic larry comments, last time was on the GB robocop theme music. see you in another 5 years lozza :D
The man's shed wasn't waterproof god damnit 😔
I think they would have populated dodgy English seaside arcades quite nicely. Shame we didn't see them!
After winning every game of FIFA 9-7, on my PS one, suddenly losing 1-0 in Actua Soccer, was such a refreshing change.
Great football game, only surpassed by ISS Pro
Yeah I found it much harder than Fifa (having revisited Euro 2000 recently). Need to go back to ISS Pro at some point, maybe the best of the lot!
My mate and I used to quote Trevor Brooking from Actua Soccer 2. "My old manager, Ron Boon,". The commentary was pretty esoteric.
I'm off to google Ron Boon now... 🤣
I had Actua Soccer 3. My first ever football game. In 1999. I was 9 year's old. I absolutely loved it. I remember using the big head mode cheat, and dying of laughter.... 😂😂
Can't beat a big head mode, I should have captured that for the video 😂
I had the 2nd one on PC. Always found it funny when you scored a soft tap in and the net would bulge like you'd hit a thunderbolt
Haha, so many funny little things like that... Great memories.
I was so invested in all the Actua games at the time (especially the Ice Hocky). I seem to remember The Actua Soccer 3 was probably the weakest of the 3 as a game though, the first one was obviously playing on the popular Virtua Arcade games and was quite different to what contemporary FIFA was like.. it soon changed.
The Ice Hockey game was the most impressive of the ones I played. Actua Soccer 3 wasn't as good as I remember though...
Actua soccer still holds precious memories for me growing up ❤
Would love them to do a reboot or remake!
I remember getting bored of Fifa at the time and trying ISS PRO which I felt was the better of the lot. But Actua Soccer 3 had if I remember correctly... Lower leagues as well? Just seemed to be more teams available to play. The gameplay was different, some games I played were pretty good but mostly I felt the controls were clunky, nothing seemed to properly link up and I found it very frustrating when glitches would happen like when the goalkeepers would sometimes be totally oblivious of the ball and either let it slip in the net or flop it totally meaning it bounced off them and in. The Robbie Williams tune did my nut in so much I turned the music off in the settings as I hated his music anyway 😂
I'd say it was something a bit different to try but very bang average at the time. Also the graphics were even poor for them times.
It definitely had a different feel to it than ISS Pro and Fifa. The fact it had so many teams such as the lower league sides, as you mentioned, was a huge selling point. Quite a few glitches though as you've said, was fun but no great when compared to those two other footy games... And I'm totally with you on the Robbie Williams song, why they didn't include two or three other songs, I'll never know 🤣
The fact that the only song is Let Me Entertain You is hilarious
Haha, in a loop, forever!
He's not asking anymore, he's telling you he's gonna entertain you
Wish I could share a GIF of Russell Crowe saying, "Are you not entertained?"
Pure torture after the 3rd loop
I had Actua Soccer 2 and we used to love the 'SHEARER!!!' shouts at the beginning. Fifa '99 was a lot better though
Actua had some memorable moments but you're right, Fifa was better...
Congratulations on making more quality content and growing your excellent channel bro. You'll be a star in a year if you keep this up 🎉
Thank you for your kind words mate, means a lot!
lol, Actua Golf was funny. 'Badly sliced, miles right'
They were having a right go at me. Bants!
Actua soccer had Shearer in the cover. That was enough for me as child.
I loved him as a kid, I actually had a photo of him on my 10th birthday party invitations to try to convince people to come 🤣
@@danthegamingmanYT give the people Alan Shearer and the people will come. Good idea bruh.
If they were about today I'd love an Actua MMA... with a Robbie Williams soundtrack.
I'd buy that, especially if it's got just a single Robbie Williams song making up the entire soundtrack 😂
@@danthegamingmanYT first audio submission in fighting sports history 😂
Did you ever play Striker 97 on ps1?
I will never forget the most amazing goals you could score. Goals scored from your own half that would curl around 90°.
Very unrealistic but fun stuff.
I've just checked that out online after reading your comment. Wasn't familiar with that one, sounds intriguing, might have to check that out!
One of my lecturers at uni was a lead dev for actual soccer 😂
Did you ever chat about it? I hope I didn't slag it off too much. Great game at the time, bit dated now though...
@@danthegamingmanYT the games themselves not much, but he did have lots of anecdotes and stories from the industry, but it was a very different place back then to now.
I can imagine. I worked with someone who was married to the developer of the Viva Pinata games on Xbox, if you remember them. He told me a few stories about the industry at the time... Very different now, as you say.
David Hirst - Wednesday legend 😎
Had a foot like a traction engine!
The fact actua soccer used wednesday players (and yes i remember Hirsty lol) for the motion capture was funny to me back in the day as a fan of them 😂
Also i think 3 was the first game to have hillsborough on it
Well I'm glad someone got the David Hirst reference ☺️. Yeah it was great to see all those old stadiums in the game, including my beloved Villa Park.
Actua sports was pretty decent at the time. Fond memories of Actua Golf and Actua Soccer.
Definitely, I loved Actua Soccer in the 90s, had a completely different feel to Fifa.
The Actua series was among the first to utilise motion capture, so the games were always very animation driven, which impacted on the controls a lot as you couldn't interrupt many actions quickly - at least in my experience with the first 2 Actua Soccer games.
The goalkeepers in Actua Soccer were legendarily bad - the motion captured keeper was extremely tall and the captures for ground shots were too slow, so often the best plan was to punt the ball really hard along the ground whilst they tried to dive towards it.
The goalkeepers also often wouldn't react to a shot if it wasn't going to go in. Cue them dumbly standing around waiting for it to go out only for it to take a deflection and go in, or hit the crossbar, cannon off and hit them in the back of the head before bouncing into the net.
It was funny when it happened to someone else, but maddening when it lost you the game.
That's really interesting to read. Your line about the ball hitting the keeper on the back of the head made me laugh. I had read the motion capture had been done by professional players including keepers Chris Woods from Sheffield Wednesday for the first game and Simon Tracy of Sheffield United for the 2nd and 3rd. I should have probably mentioned it in my video. Thanks for sharing!
"There's nothing Virtua about Actua" - I think that was the line?? 😂
So the Actua series was the first to use full motion capture I believe. I'm pretty sure it was Andy Sinton and Chris Woods that performed various movements while wearing full motion capture suits for the original Actua Soccer!!
Yes you're right and I think they used Sheffield United players for the later games too, Simon Tracy and David Holdsworth.
@@danthegamingmanYT
I didn't know about Tracey and Holdsworth?? Surely, this is the explanation for the decline of the series then!! 😜
Haha, Wednesday fan?
@@danthegamingmanYT
I'm actually not, I'm a Man Utd fan - from Newton Heath 👍
But I do have a special place in my heart for Wednesday. For some reason, I had a full Wednesday kit as a child. I'm honestly not sure how or why?? 🤔 🤣
There's a behind the scenes look at Actua on one of the earlier OPM demo's. Possibly number 5?? You can see Andy Sinton and Chris Woods wearing the Motion capture suits. I remember getting really excited for the game after seeing that!! Revolutionary at the time!! 👍
I know what you mean about Wednesday. I grew up watching the teams of the 90s so have a lot of nostalgia for them and Wimbledon etc.
This is a right blast from the past
Proper nostalgic!
You could include Euro 96 on the Saturn as a Actua game. Running on the Actua Soccer engine and developed by Gremlin, Its basically Actua Soccer with Euro 96 branding.
You're right, I tried to get it running actually for a video I'd planned to do about Euro games but it kept crashing before the kick off. But I should have at least given it a mention in this video...
Saw this use love these games, you said ps1 & sega!!! Instant sub...
Cheers mate!
Great video, thanks for upload.
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!
I remember these games 😊 #memoryunlocked
So many memories!
God I forgot this ever existed
Memory unlocked!
Barry Davies commentary on Actua soccer he says "the goalkeeper must have shares in a paint factory" What did he mean by that?
Got me thinking now... What could that possibly mean?
I would imagine he means the keeper hasn’t had much to do and so the match has been as boring as watching paint dry.
Good shout, must be something to do with that.
@@danthegamingmanYT it was always played after a good save though.
@@danthegamingmanYT it might have to do with hitting the post or crossbar. Theres an expression "that one took the paint off."
I used to play Actua Soccer on PC, the controls were terrible, I the ball physics were and are still the worst of any game I’ve ever played. Never got to play actua ice hockey but I probably would have liked it as I’m an ice hockey fan, by the way the rules are actually quite easy to understand in hockey.
As a kid, I loved the NHL games on the Mega Drive. That was really easy to pick up as a non-fan. But with the Actua Ice Hockey, though it looked great and was a lot of fun, I just seemed to be getting penalised all the time, and I never knew why😂
Great idea and video
Thanks! Did you play any of these?
@@danthegamingmanYT Only ever played the first Actual Soccer on original PlayStation. Remember it was really impressive but also hard to control. Combination of early 3D footie and not being used to the new 3D football games.
I think the camera angle made it difficult to play compared to Fifa and ISS Pro. I did like it at the time though.
I forgot about actua 👍🏻
One reason why I made the video, to remind everyone! 😂
3:39 WTF?! 😂😂😂😂
The tissues comment? 👀
Actua soccer was good
Yeah I absolutely loved it at the time! Probably need to practice more to get back up to speed with it...
Among the dodgy football titles amongst the PS1 actua wasnt too bad. Give This is football a try, played that one for hours.
Good shout, planning on doing a video on all the PS1 football games, so will be playing that one soon!
@danthegamingmanYT yeah it's not bad at all mate. Also some other ones that aren't bad namco soccer prime goal and striker 96.
I'll check them out too!
What the hell ia wrong with the text in actua 3? Half of the letters look like a different language/alphabet
That might just be my copy... Either that or the letters are trying to escape from hearing "Let Me Entertain You" for the 48th time...
Actua Sports was excellent, especially Actua Golf but your emulator is shit, the games don't look like that
Yeah particularly the Actua Pool game with the fuzzy lines... Fun to revisit though, even if not perfect emulation
@@danthegamingmanYT was interesting too, I thought they got killed off by EA licencing everything
Yeah licensing was definitely something that attracted some gamers, wasn't it? I remember having friends who didn't like ISS Pro simply because of the names and others liked Fifa because it had the badges and kits...
Villa park looks superb
I know, right?
@@danthegamingmanYT I remember nearly fainting when i saw it on premier manager 64 for the first time
I'm a Villa fan and love seeing it recreated in any game. Looks great in Actua Soccer.
Yeah by the time Actua Soccer 3 came out my pals and my brother and I had settled on ISS/Winning 11 as our game of choice.
We still got Actua to check it out but it was nowhere near as good as ISS.
Yeah, perfectly fine if you didn't play Fifa or ISS Pro, but definitely not as good as either as those...