| Kick Off | |
|---|---|
Amstrad CPC cover art for Kick Off |
|
| Developer(s) | Dino Dini |
| Publisher(s) | Anco Imagineer |
| Platform(s) | Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Amiga, MS-DOS, ZX Spectrum, NES |
| Release date(s) | 1989 (original) |
| Genre(s) | Sports |
| Mode(s) | Single-player or mutiplayer (up to 4 players) |
The Kick Off franchise is a series of football simulation computer games which was highly popular in the early 1990s. The series is renowned for its fast-paced action and delicate ball control scheme.
Kick Off, the first game of the series, was designed by Dino Dini and released by Anco for the Amiga and the Atari ST in 1989. The game was received well by the games industry at the time and won many awards.
Player Manager was released in 1990. The game was the first game ever to combine a management environment (including tactics, league play, transfers, and detailed player attributes) with a football game engine (based on that of Kick Off).
Kick Off 2 was released in 1990 as a sequel to Kick Off. The game introduced a number of new features as well as several small, but important, gameplay tweaks, and it quickly became even more popular than its predecessor. Kick Off 2 lent itself particularly well to human vs. human games, and it was likely the first football game ever to give rise to numerous large-scale tournaments.
In 1992, Dino Dini left Anco and signed a contract for Virgin Games, who released Goal! in 1993.
Anco released several further editions of the Kick Off series until 1997, but these games had little in common with Kick Off and Kick Off 2 apart from the name, and they did not receive much attention.
Beginning in 2001, annual Kick Off 2 World Cups have been organized by the Kick Off Association (KOA), a fan community devoted to the Kick Off series.
In 2001–2003, the KOA collaborated closely with Anco developer Steve Screech in an attempt to relaunch the Kick Off and Player Manager series. The attempt came to a halt when Anco closed in 2003.
Contents |
Kick Off was released in 1989 and offered a gameplay feel unlike any other football games of its time and quickly became very popular.
In the period 1989-1992, the Kick Off and Player Manager games were by far the most popular games in the computer football genre. Several expansion disks were released for Kick Off 2, but the eagerly awaited release of Player Manager 2 and Kick Off 3 failed to materialize.
In 1992, Dino Dini left Anco and signed a contract for Virgin Games, who released Goal! in 1993. Even though Goal! was widely regarded as the de facto sequel to Kick Off 2, Goal! differed from previous Kick Off games in crucial ball and player control aspects, resulting in a markedly different gameplay feel.
Anco finally released Kick Off 3 in 1994. The game used a side view instead of a top-down view and bore little resemblance to Kick Off 2 apart from the name. Faced by the stiff competition from SWOS and FIFA, the game did not receive much attention upon release.
Anco published the first versions of Kick Off 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.[1]
With Kick Off the ball did not stick to the player's feet but instead was realistically kicked ahead from the players, in a manner similar to that of Nintendo's Soccer, released in 1985 on the NES. This added a degree of difficulty and skill requirement at the same time. This, along with features such as action replays, players with different characteristics, different tactics, fouls, yellow cards, red cards, injuries, injury time and various referees with different moods, gave Kick Off and especially its successor, Kick Off 2, lasting appeal. Kick Off enthusiasts still play tournaments on original Amiga computers every year.
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.[2]
In 1990, Kick Off 2 was released by Anco. It was even more successful than its predecessor. Kick Off 2 retains the pace and accuracy of the universally acclaimed Kick Off, with a full size multi directional scrolling pitch and the players, markings, goals etc, in correct proportions. Both teams play the game strictly according to tactics. Players move into position to receive passes and gain possession. The ball, as in real game, travels ahead of the player thus making a tackle a matter of skill rather than of choice.
Kick Off 2, like real soccer, requires skills in ball control for passing, dribbling, shooting etc. Accuracy in shooting, the ability to swerve or bend the ball to score, when taking free kicks need a lot of practice. The practice option allow to practice the ball skills and set pieces, without being harassed by the opposition and practice the skills to perfection. If two players are to team up, it is an ideal opportunity to practice ONE - TWO up and down the pitch.
Each player on the pitch has a unique combination of attributes and skills suitable for the skill level at which the game is being played. An International is superior to 4th div. player in all departments. One of the most useful options is the provision to set the skill levels of both teams independently. A novice with International Squad can give a professional with 4th Division Squad a run for his money.
There is a league and a cup tournament with sudden death penalty shoot outs, in case of a draw. The teams in the league are on the whole evenly matched but with different styles of play and the player skills to match, that style. There is an option to load your own team from "Player Manager" along with your own tactics, to play against another "Player Manager" team in a single game or enter league and cup tournament.
The special events selection in the main menu allows data disks to be loaded. Kick Off 2 also provides the facility to change strip colours and on expanded Atari ST's (1 MB or above) there are additional sound effects. The "Action Replay" facility allows you to see the goals at normal pace or in "Slow Motion" and compile your own "Golden Goals" disk. There are 24 referees and have their own distinctive temperaments. Some referee turns a "blind eye" and someone has a pack of red cards to distribute. On the other hand, like human beings, they have good days and bad days.[3]
Super Kick Off is one of the follow-ups of Kick Off and Kick Off 2 for Gameboy, SEGA and SNES.[4] Like all games in Kick Off series the ball wasn't glued to the footballer's foot. But there was a button to stop the player keeping the ball, so non-experienced players could turn easier. Super Kick Off was slower than the original games.[5]
In 1992, a sequel, Kick Off 3, was in development. The game wasn't released in this form though, 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, player acceleration, and more advanced menu systems and options. Goal! received generally good reviews but did not enjoy the same lasting popularity as Kick Off 2.
In 1994, Anco released Kick Off 3 developed by Steve Screech, a totally new game with nothing in common with Kick Off 2. The game didn't receive as good reviews as its predecessors and didn't gain the same popularity.[6]
In 1996, Anco released Kick Off 96 for Amiga and Windows. The game received average reviews.[7] In 1997, Kick Off 97 was released for Windows. The game received better reviews than Kick Off 96 but still didn't become popular.[8] Later the same year, Anco released Kick Off 98 which received poor reviews.[9]
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 for PC with the name Kick Off 2002. The game received poor reviews and did only sell 5000 copies.[10][11] and Mac OS.[12] 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.
Kick Off series include the following games:[13]
The Three times Kick Off 2 World Champion Gianluca Troiano started a project called Throw In in 2004. The game is a remake of Kick Off 2 but with a 3D engine. The fast action gameplay with Kick Off 2 gameplay is remained but with possibility to watch the match and replays from infinitive views and a new attractive GFX engine. In cooperation with Kick Off Association several betaversions were released during the 00s. Throw In has been praised by the Kick Off programmer Dino Dini[17][18][19]
In 2012 the game Throw In 2nd Half will be released. The game is developed by the gamedeveloper The Fox Software. It will have gameplay similar to Kick Off and original Throw In but adjusted to gamepad and keyboards.
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.[20]
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 and arrange a Kick Off 2 World Cup every year.
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.[21]