Kick Off

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This article related to the computer game Kick Off. For information on the method for starting and restarting play in various sports, please see Kick-off.
Kick Off
Developer(s) Dino Dini, Anco
Publisher(s) Anco
Release date(s) 1989 (original)
Genre(s) Sports game
Mode(s) 1 to 4 players
Platform(s) Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Amiga, MS-DOS, ZX Spectrum

Kick Off is one of the most acclaimed football computer game series ever released for home computer and console.

In 1989 Anco published the first versions of Kick Off, developed by Dino Dini, for the Amiga and Atari ST and it was immediately considered a pioneer of soccer computer games, thanks to the new original features never included in a football game before.

With Kick Off, contrary to all its predecessors, the ball did not stick to the player's feet, but instead was realistically kicked ahead from the players. This added an important degree of difficulty and skill requirement at the same time. This, along with all the new original features like action replays, players with different characteristics, different tactics, fouls, yellow cards, red cards, injuries, injury time and various referees with different moods, made Kick Off and especially its successor, Kick Off 2, one of the most successful football game series ever. Kick Off enthusiasts still play big World Cup competitions on original Amiga computers every year, arguing that no other football game gives so much exciting amount of control over the action.

Even though versions for other computers followed, the Atari ST and especially the Amiga versions were by far the most popular. Kick Off was first developed for the Atari ST and then ported to the Amiga.

Kick Off was develop by Dino Dini and Anco.

Contents

[edit] Magazine reviews

  • ST Action - Highest accolade they could give.
  • Amiga User Int - "Best computer game ever" 97%
  • The One - "Ultimate soccer simulation" 96%
  • ACE - "Brilliant, BUY BUY BUY" 92%
  • Amiga Format - "Best footy game to have appeared on any machine" 94%
  • ST Format - "What a game! gem to play. Magic" 90%
  • C&VG - "Championship winning material" 95%
  • The Games Machine - "Probably the best sports game ever" 92%
  • Commodore User - "No other footy game can touch it" 90%
  • Amiga Action - "Surpasses all other football games" 93%
  • PCW - "Nothing short of brilliant"
  • New Comp Express - "Computer football event of the year"

[edit] Awards

  • Awarded UK. 1989 INDIN Best 16 Bit Product
  • Nominated UK. 1989 INDIN Best Programmer (2nd place, the winner was "Bullfrog" for "Populous")
  • Awarded 1989 EMAP Images Golden Joystick Award Best 16 Bit Product. (EMAP is a major UK magazine publisher).

[edit] Games in the series

  • Kick Off (1989)
  • Kick Off Extra Time (1989)
  • Franco Baresi World Cup Kick Off (1990)
  • Player Manager (1990)
  • Kick Off 2 World Cup 90 (1990)
  • Kick Off 2 (1990)
  • Kick Off 2 1MB (1990)
  • Kick Off 2: Giants of Europe (Data Disk) (1990)
  • Kick Off 2: The Final Whistle (Expansion Disk) (1991)
  • Kick Off 2: Return To Europe (Expansion Disk) (1991)
  • Kick Off 2: Winning Tactics (Data Disk) (1991)
  • Kick Off 2: Super League (Expansion Disk) (1991)
  • Kick Off 2: Maths Disk (Expansion Disk) (1991)
  • Kick Off 2 competition version (2005)

[edit] Sequels

In 1990 Kick Off 2 was released by Anco. It was even more successful than its predecessor.

In 1992, a sequel, Kick Off 3 was in development. The game wasn't released in this form, as Dino Dini left Anco in 1992 for Virgin Games, where he developed Goal!, released in 1993. Goal! featured similar gameplay to Kick Off 2 but also added one-touch passing as seen in Sensible Soccer, and more advanced menu systems and options (although some kit colours were still wrong). This received generally good reviews, but does not have the same lasting popularity as Kick Off 2.

In the next year Anco released Kick Off 3 developed by Steve Screech, a totally new game with nothing in common with Kick Off 2.

In 2001 Steve Screech started a project called Ultimate Kick Off with the help of an early established Kick Off Association. The game was released by Anco in 2002 with the name Kick Off 2002. Later a sequel called Kick Off 2004 was planned but it was never released.

In 2005 Steve Camber started his project called Kick Off 2 competition version. An updated version of the classic game for Amiga improving its features using reverse engineering on the original Amiga game.

In 2006 Gianluca Troiano started a work to make the ultimate Kick Off 2 remake. The name of the remake is Throw In and is under development. Just as Kick Off 2002 it is made in cooperation with Kick Off Association. Betaversions are available for download.

[edit] The Kick Off Association

The Kick Off Association (K.O.A.) is a nonprofit organization founded by Gunther Wening and Jan Tijssen in 2001 as an umbrella organization for fans of the series.

Membership is open to everyone and is free. The Kick Off Association approximately has 1400 members. All members can exchange ideas on the partnership sites, the KO Gathering, Kick Off World and kickoff2.com. The KOA has been involved in the organizations of various international tournaments of Kick Off 2.

The KOA actively participates in the research and development of the new versions of Kick Off as Kick Off 2 competition version, Kick Off 2002 and Throw in. All the testers for these games belong to the Kick Off Association.

[edit] Trivia

  • Dino Dini worked on the Kick Off series till Kick Off 2, all the later games were developed by Steve Screech
  • The international Kick Off Association arrange every year, in a different European City, a big international Kick Off World Cup. This is by far the biggest competitive gathering of Kick Off enthusiasts in Europe and it's called Kick Off Gathering.
  • Amiga Power gave Kick Off '96 their lowest score ever: 1%. The reviewer, Stuart Campbell, had a long and rocky relationship with the Kick Off series.

[edit] External links

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