It’s incredible to consider how soccer video games have evolved from the early 1980s to the latest versions of FIFA and Pro Evolution Soccer. The realism of today’s games blows everything away from the past, but it’s important to consider where we came from to better appreciate today. Even if the graphics of old games weren’t as pristine as today, the playability in many ways was easier and more fun.

Take a journey with us back in time from 1980 to 2010 to view highlights of the soccer video games that we spent hours playing:

Intellivision Commercial featuring the ‘Incredible Realism’ of Intellivision Soccer (1980)

Atari Soccer (1980)

Championship Soccer for the Atari 2600 (1980)

Atari 2600 RealSports Soccer (1983)

NES Soccer (1985)

Nintendo World Cup (1990)

Sensible Soccer – Amiga (1992)

FIFA International Soccer (1994)

Winning Eleven 1 (1995)

International Superstar Soccer ’98 – Nintendo 64 (1998)

PES 5 / Winning Eleven 9 – PS2 (2005)

2010 FIFA World Cup – PS3/Xbox360 (2010)

FIFA 2011 HD gameplay (2010)

Special tip of the hat to The Best Eleven for the initial idea and several of the videos.