Kick Off 2
From Kick Off World of Soccer - wikickoff
One of the very best (if not THE best) soccer games ever made, Dino Dini's seminal classic Kick Off 2 was a huge success on the Atari ST and Amiga, although, as usual, it attracted little attention of PC gamers due to poor marketing and limited distribution. I'll let this wonderful review of the game for an Amiga magazine speak for itself:
"Undoubtedly the best game ever created. This seminal footy sim was unleashed on an unsuspecting public back in the late summer of 1990, as the sequel to the original Kick Off from a year earlier. Despite being almost 8 years old, incredibly this game is still available in the high street - try your local branch of Game.
Hailed as a classic from day one, reviewers made comments such as "sheer brilliance", "miss it and you'll hate yourself for the rest of your life" and "THE best game ever produced."
Even the arrival of the highly-praised Sensible Soccer could not dislodge KO2 from its rightful place at the top of the footballing tree, and modern games such as ISS Pro and Actua Soccer pale into insignificance upon comparison. Unlike today's soccer simulations, Kick Off doesn't rely on flashy graphics or realistic team data to impress. 100% gameplay is the order of the day here, and it takes many hours of practice to become a competent player.
Newcomers to the experience are often put off by the speed. Although hard to control at first, perseverance pays off, and it gives a sense of real achievement when the player is able to pull off breathtaking moves at a seemingly-impossible pace. Reaction times are paramount, and concentration must be maintained at all times to become a succesful player. The top-down viewpoint and utilitarian visuals are perfectly adequate and do not distract the player from the task at hand - the game has been designed to be played, not to be looked at, and it shows. The simplistic appearance hides an incredibly versatile game, with an almost limitless tactical depth. A wide range of shots - including aftertouch - are available, and fully accessible with a one-button joystick (another feature that modern games could learn from).
Of course, no game is perfect, and KO2 has a number of bugs that occasionally manifest themselves in dramatic fashion. However, they emphasise the character of the game, and it's endearingly quirky nature. Just like real football, you never quite know what is going to happen next.
Despite the spartan graphics and sound effects, this game is a shining example of quality software. It retains a cult following to this day and has yet to be bettered, or even equalled. My friends and I spent many, many happy hours playing Kick Off 2, and it still gets a regular outing. Simply the most competitive, most demanding and most rewarding 2 player game ever (immaculately) conceived." Highly recommended!
Note: ANCO Software has since released Kick Off 2002 (formerly Ultimate Kick Off), designed by Steve Screech, one of the designers behind this classic. Visit the site below to learn about this true sequel of Kick Off 2 or arguably Goal! (not ANCO's Kick Off 3, which was designed without input from Dino or Steve).
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Reviews
t is just as fast, if not faster than Kick Off, and much, much harder, not only to score but just to pass it around and so on. SWOS, and also Sensi Soccer, are far, far easier to get to grips with. You can do headers, lobs, and curled shots, just like SWOS, but it goes so fast it's often very difficult to carry out these moves. There's the option to play the World Cup, Friendly, leagues, that sort of thing, with 1-4 players. In single player mode, there's really not that much to add to its longevity. However, in multiplayer mode (notable 4 player mode), the game comes into it's own. With three other players, and a four player adaptor (and four joysticks), you can play two people per side, either with the computer choosing the closest player to the ball, like usual, or you can "be" a player the whole match, for example becoming the winger for the whole game or something like that. Great stuff! However, overall, I don't think this game really is as good as Sensi Soccer, let alone the all conquering SWOS. If you see it in a bargain box for a few quid, it'd be worth buying for a piece of history and a quick go, but if you want the best game, SWOS is definately your best bet (on ALL formats!!!).
(A few days later....)
I`ve just got hold of CUCD #, er, well, the one with Scalos (which doesn`t install properly, btw!) and SWOS World Cup on the cover, and read the review of this game off the database. Sorry, but I don`t agree in any way at all with this review, and as I`m in a bad mood now because my mouse port has fallen off my A1200 and I`m going to have to spend about 30 quid getting it repaired, I`m going to do a bit of a review assassination now. Sorry!
1. The bugs in KO2 do not add to the game in any way possible. However, I must agree you don`t know what`s going to happen next - will your goalkeeper fall asleep or will the game hang? 2. You must have the reactions of a very fast reacting thing to play this game properly on the pro skill levels. By then, the game no longer resembles football, but merely a contest of who can manipulate the speeding pixel. 3. KO2 is no where near as good as Sensi Soccer, let alone SWOS. This is IMHO, but I`m right in this case, because I already established that SWOS is the best football game ever in my review of SWOS elsewhere, so there :o 4. The pitch is no way in scale to the players. 5. Calling KO2 a "seminal classic" is incorrect. "Bug ridden arcade game" (not "football sim") is correct.
Apart from that, everything else the original reviewer said I`m happy with (as far as I can remember). Blimey, this is turning into a newsgroup, complete with flames...
Reviews 2
Undoubtedly the best game ever created. This seminal footy sim was unleashed on an unsuspecting public back in the late summer of 1990, as the sequel to the original Kick Off from a year earlier. Despite being almost 8 years old, incredibly this game is still available in the high street - try your local branch of Game.
Hailed as a classic from day one, reviewers made comments such as "sheer brilliance", "miss it and you'll hate yourself for the rest of your life" and "THE best game ever produced."
Even the arrival of the highly-praised Sensible Soccer could not dislodge KO2 from its rightful place at the top of the footballing tree, and modern games such as ISS Pro and Actua Soccer pale into insignificance upon comparison. Unlike today's soccer simulations, Kick Off doesn't rely on flashy graphics or realistic team data to impress. 100% gameplay is the order of the day here, and it takes many hours of practice to become a competent player.
Newcomers to the experience are often put off by the speed. Although hard to control at first, perseverance pays off, and it gives a sense of real achievement when the player is able to pull off breathtaking moves at a seemingly-impossible pace. Reaction times are paramount, and concentration must be maintained at all times to become a succesful player. The top-down viewpoint and utilitarian visuals are perfectly adequate and do not distract the player from the task at hand - the game has been designed to be played, not to be looked at, and it shows. The simplistic appearance hides an incredibly versatile game, with an almost limitless tactical depth. A wide range of shots - including aftertouch - are available, and fully accessible with a one-button joystick (another feature that modern games could learn from).
Of course, no game is perfect, and Kick Off has a number of bugs that occasionally manifest themselves in dramatic fashion. However, they emphasise the character of the game, and it's endearingly quirky nature. Just like real football, you never quite know what is going to happen next.
Despite the spartan graphics and sound effects, this game is a shining example of quality software. It retains a cult following to this day and has yet to be bettered, or even equalled. My friends and I spent many, many happy hours playing Kick Off 2, and it still gets a regular outing. Simply the most competitive, most demanding and most rewarding 2 player game ever (immaculately) conceived.
Similar games
Links
- Sensible Soccer World Forum - Forum about Sensible Soccer 2006, Old School soccer games and Emulators.
- Blog Kick Off World of Soccer - Blog about Old School Footaball games and Emulators
- Group and Kick Off World of Soccer mailing list - English mailing list for old-school football fans Worldwide
- koa:.:net online Kick Off 2 tournaments
