Amiga

Soccer Kid

This in a lot of ways sounds like oh, so many console-esque platform romps and I would need to good sharp kick up my split casey if I drew such a cruel comparison. The main reason for this is that the Kid is undoubtedly unique. In most titles of this genre it is a simple case of guiding you hero from A to B, jumping and bashing. In Soccer Kid, success depends on how you use the Kid’s ball skill. Killing baddies or reaching ledges can often be down to utilising one of the many tricks our miniature Maradonna is capable of. It is for this reason that the Kid is so special.

The youngster with outrageous ball skills had the AF office purring (and not doing much work) back in September. Soccer Kid tells the tale of how a trophy-hoarding alien attempts to steal the World Cup. The Cup collides with a meteor and shatters, spreading the pieces across the globe. Your task is to collect the bits and get them to America in time for the World Cup Final.

Following all the pre-match hype, you'd expect Krisalis' Soccer Kid to be something special. After all, it's been in production for the best part of one-and-a-half years, and had more column inches written about it in the computer press than any other game in recent memory. Thankfully, the finished version of this soccer-cum-platform hybrid is now upon us, and, to put it mildly, it's stunning.

The boy shouted to his Mum: "Don not call me Trevor. I am Soccer Kid and don’t you forget it". "But Trevor love, you cannot go through life with the name Soccer Kid. Folk’ll laugh at you," said his Mum gently. She had been through all this a thousand times before. "I’m gonna play for Rotherfield Tuesday and be rich and famous, and then win t’ World Cup," continued Trevor stubbornly. "But son, your Dad has signed you on with Shefferham United, the West Riding giants. Don’t you remember, that nice Harry Liquorice came round last week, said he’d seen you play for the school team, brought you a nice box of sweets. Now run along, there’s a good lad. Go and watch the World Cup on the telly – those nice Argentinians are playing Chile".

Hat man die Steuerung erst voll im Griff, macht die originelle Hüpferei jede Menge Spaß – die fünf Disks der 1200er-Version kosten 79 Bälle, sind auf Harddisk installierbar und erhalten vielleicht ein paar Tropfen mehr Farbe.

Les graphismes très "cartoon japonais" sont sympas et dépaysant. On peut même choisir la couleur des vêtements du kid. L'animation ainsi que le scrolling sont parfaits. La maniabilité du personnage est aisée. L'ambiance sonore est riche avec des bruitages et des thèmes variés. Partant d'un concept vraiment original, Soccer kid parvient à se démarquer des jeux habituels de plates-formes. Sa bonne réalisation en fait un jeu passionnant et accessible à tous.

The World Cup has been stolen by space aliens, broken into five pieces and scattered over the earth. It is up to you, a small boy with a large football, to find all the bits and make footy fans happier. Oh well, who needs a believable plot anyway? Off you go through five scrolling levels, full of power-ups and baddies, big and small. Your only weapon is you, apparently deadly, football.

Lange Zeit reichte Krisalis die spritzigen Plattformen für Fußballfans nur als Demo auf Messen herum, man wollte es wohl spannend machen. Anhand der Endversion löst sich die Spannung jetzt in Wohlgefallen auf!

Soccer Kid Was bereits für die (andernorts etwas voreilig getestete) Vorabversion namens "Football Kid" galt, gilt für das endlich fertiggestellte Endprodukt doppelt und dreifach: Grundsätzlich ist Soccer Kid nichts weiter als ein hübsch gemachtes Standard-Hüpfical mit Plattformen und Sammel-Items – wenn der Held hier nicht seine Gegner mattsetzen würde, indem er mit einem Fußball Flachschüsse, Fallrückzieher oder Kopfbälle über den Screen zischen läßt...

Kanske är spelet lite för lätt - de riktiga fanatikerna bör klara det på en kafferast. För andra är det enkel men god arkadunderhållning som räcker ett bra tag.