Atari Soccer

About

Atari Soccer is a fast-paced arcade football game where you control a player using a trackball and two buttons to kick with either foot. Each team has two players, if only two humans are playing, the computer fills in the gaps. Black and white squads face off in timed matches, with goals deciding the winner. The trackball lets you maneuver your character, while simple button presses handle shooting. It’s straightforward, no-nonsense sports action from 1980. What sets it apart is the trackball’s tactile control, a rarity in early arcade sports. The option to play with up to four people (for a price, two credits unlocked the four-player mode) made it a social draw for its time. Though primitive by today’s standards, it’s a direct ancestor to modern soccer games and a relic of Atari’s early experimental phase. Players still praise its simplicity and the physicality of the trackball, which feels more responsive than you might expect from 40-year-old hardware.