I’m going to be taking a look back at some of the games that have shaped my life as a gaming addict. They will be from a wide spectrum of genres and across many different machines, but all of them will be games I’ve played and recall fondly.
The first game I want to talk about is the game that really set a standard in terms of football titles, the superb Kick Off 2 by Dino Dini.
I’d spent my football gaming time on C64 titles such as Emlyn Hughes International Soccer and the awful Gazza 2, but I remember that first time I saw the majesty of Kick Off 2. It was at my mate Jason’s house, he owned an Atari ST which was well out of my price range. He invited my over for a game of this new football title he’d got, namely Kick Off 2.
I always liked going to Jay’s house as he was always one step ahead with machines and consoles so my only exposure to the game was at his. When I had a Vic 20 he had an Amstrad CPC464. When I (finally) got a Commodore 64 he had an Atari ST. When I (finally) got my Amiga 600 he had bagged a SNES. It wasn’t one upmanshipor anything, he just stayed one step ahead. As mentioned I never actually owned Kick Off 2 as by the time I’d upgraded to an Amiga 600 ‘Goal’ had been released and Kick Off 2 looked dated. Goal was in essence ‘Kick Off 3’ by Dino Dini,
If I’m honest the very first thing that fired my passion for the game was the kit design function! Being a passionate football fan I wanted nothing more than to be able to put my players in red and white stripes like my beloved Lincoln City. That was probably how Jason sold it to me, because something had to keep me going back despite the constant thrashings… and I was constantly thrashed. Back then you only had two buttons to play with, and because of the immense pace of the game you really had to practice to get any good at all. He used to swear he only played it when I came round, but I think even you reading today know he was talking pony.
Essentially I am reminiscing about a game that I never mastered, probably rarely scored a goal on and never owned. The thing is, it was good. It was so quick and the pitch was enormous. It seemed like the closest we’d ever get to real football on the computer. You could alter your tactics and change the way you set up which was ground breaking back in the day. For the first time ever you really seemed to have full control over events on the field, and the ability to change the patterns and routines of your players. There were options that altered your gaming experience, from harsher referees to soggy pitches. It was like nothing we’d seen before.
The top down view had been done before in games such as Microprose Soccer, but they freedom to play with kits and tactics opened up a whole new world. I keep using the phrase fast, and there’s a reason for that. It was fast. Really fast. The players moved quicker than they do on FIFA in 2016, almost at an uncontrollable pace. It was also one of the first games where the ball did not stick to you feet, instead you had to ensure you were positioned behind it at the right angle. That was why practise was so important and that was why Jason beat me every single time. If I wasn’t running off in the opposite direction to the ball I was desperately searching the scanner to try and locate my nearest player. It was a minefield.
Every single time I got beat heavily, except on one occasion. One day somewhere around 1991 I recall clearly heading over to Jason’s for my regular ‘ass serving on a plate’ session. We went through the ritual of designing kits, his always close to Liverpool and for me that day blue and white stripe. How crazy is that, I remember it was blue and white stripes, I imagined like Brighton and Hove Albion.
The game zipped on around me as it usually did but Jason struggled to put enough unrealistic after touch on his shots to beat my keeper. I wondered if maybe he was going easy on me to make it look like there was some sort of parity between us. I broke and forced a corner, and somehow managed to pressure him into scoring an own goal. As was customary he immediately went up and scored from the kick off which was his trait. I couldn’t seem to ever pull it off.
Only this day I did. I went straight up through the pack and managed to apply just enough curve to go 2-1 ahead.
After that is a bit of a blur. I know there was a red card and apparent sabotage on my part kicking the ball out and demanding a toilet break, but irrespective I hung on for a famous victory. It felt so good I immediately pretended I had to go home in order to be the champion of Kick Off 2 just once. Suffice to say Jason wasn’t happy and he called it a moral victory for him, which seemed harsh seeing as he had about a hundred actual victories to his name already.
Kick Off 2 was probably the first football game that had a feel of unpredictability and real competition. It was the first that required a specific knowledge of the games controls and available skills and it was the first you truly could master and express dominance. It was ground breaking in every way and made some keys steps that helped shaped our football games of today.