Pelé!

Pelé! is a simulation of association football in which the player can control one of 40 national teams. Gameplay takes place from an isometric perspective, and during a match, the player controls the selected player's movement with the D-pad, while the button commands vary depending on whether the player is on offense, defense, or if the ball is in the air. On offense, the player can chip, shoot, or pass.

On defense, the player can check, tackle, or switch control to the player closest to the ball. If the ball is in the air, a player may perform a header or a bicycle kick.

In the years preceding the 1994 FIFA World Cup, which would be hosted in the United States, interest in the sport within the country had increased. In April 1993, Accolade announced that it had signed exclusive licensing agreements with former Brazilian footballer Pelé and American ice hockey player Brett Hull to endorse and help design sports games for the SNES, Sega Genesis, and MS-DOS. To this end, Pelé worked alongside Canadian game developer Radical Entertainment and Accolade project manager Robert Daly. Many of Pelé's playing strategies were incorporated by Radical into the gameplay's logic.

Alan Price programmed the game, while Philip Bat Tse and Edgar Bridwell served as lead artists. The sound effects and music were respectively created by Paul Wilkinson and Marc Baril. As none of the teams featured in the game provided endorsement, generic names were given to the game's teams, and only the players' surnames are included.

Pelé! received mixed reviews upon release. Arnie Katz of Electronic Games praised the large and detailed players, realistic artificial intelligence, and intuitive controls. Electronic Gaming Monthly stated that the game offered everything expected from the sports genre, but warned the mechanic of switching players during play was confusing. Athletic Supporter of GamePro appreciated the amount of options and deemed the graphics and audio to be above average (singling out the large player sprites and crowd noises respectively), but was frustrated by the penalty-filled gameplay, and he faulted the lack of an in-game clock.

Deniz Ahmet of Computer and Video Games felt that the focus on options came at the expense of the gameplay, which he said was marred by sluggish controls and lack of character between teams. Paul Glancey and Angus Swan of Mean Machines Sega condemned Pelé! as "an affront to the good name of soccer and the good name of Pelé"; while they acknowledged the large sprite size and fair amount of options, they derided the ropey controls and difficult goalkeepers, dismissed the music as "nauseating Hammond organ", and described the crowd sounds as "the spectators at a St Trinian's hockey match". Katz remarked that the full-motion video clips, while attractive on their own, did not blend well with the aesthetic presentation of the gameplay.