Kick Off is a soccer simulation
computer gameA personal computer game is a game played on a personal computer, rather than on a video game console or arcade machine...
series designed by
Dino DiniDino Dini is a computer game developer specializing in football games. He was not a football fan himself, but publisher ANCO simply asked him one day to make a football game and he took on the task. Dini is noted for being the creator of two successful sports game brands: Kick Off and Player Manager...
and released by Anco for various home computer platforms in
1989-Notable releases:* Bullfrog Productions releases Populous on June 5 1989, which was one of the first commercially successful god games.* Namco releases Winning Run; Rompers; Blast Off, which is the sequel to Bosconian; Valkyrie No Densetsu; Dirt Fox; World Stadium '89; Finest Hour; Burning Force;...
. The game was received well by the games industry at the time and won many awards. There has been numerous sequels and ports to many home computer and games consoles.
Anco published the first versions of
Kick Off for the
AmigaThe Amiga was a family of personal computers originally developed by Amiga Corporation. Development on the Amiga began in 1982 with Jay Miner as the principal hardware designer. Commodore International bought Amiga Corporation and introduced the machine to the market in 1985...
and
Atari STThe Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was commercially available from 1985 to the early 1990s. It was released by Atari Corporation in 1985...
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.
Kick Off is a soccer simulation
computer gameA personal computer game is a game played on a personal computer, rather than on a video game console or arcade machine...
series designed by
Dino DiniDino Dini is a computer game developer specializing in football games. He was not a football fan himself, but publisher ANCO simply asked him one day to make a football game and he took on the task. Dini is noted for being the creator of two successful sports game brands: Kick Off and Player Manager...
and released by Anco for various home computer platforms in
1989-Notable releases:* Bullfrog Productions releases Populous on June 5 1989, which was one of the first commercially successful god games.* Namco releases Winning Run; Rompers; Blast Off, which is the sequel to Bosconian; Valkyrie No Densetsu; Dirt Fox; World Stadium '89; Finest Hour; Burning Force;...
. The game was received well by the games industry at the time and won many awards. There has been numerous sequels and ports to many home computer and games consoles.
Gameplay
Anco published the first versions of
Kick Off for the
AmigaThe Amiga was a family of personal computers originally developed by Amiga Corporation. Development on the Amiga began in 1982 with Jay Miner as the principal hardware designer. Commodore International bought Amiga Corporation and introduced the machine to the market in 1985...
and
Atari STThe Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was commercially available from 1985 to the early 1990s. It was released by Atari Corporation in 1985...
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.
Reception
- ST Action
ST Action was a video game magazine in the UK covering gaming with the Atari ST during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Published by Gollner Publishing Ltd. and launched in April 1988, it assimilated The One with issue 49 in May 1992...
- Highest accolade they could give.
- Amiga User Int - "Best computer game ever" 97%
- The One
The One was a video game magazine in the United Kingdom which covered 16-bit home gaming during the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was first published by EMAP in October 1988 and initially covered computer games aimed at the Atari ST, Commodore Amiga, and IBM PC markets.Like many similar magazines,...
- "Ultimate soccer simulation" 96%
- ACE - "Brilliant, BUY BUY BUY" 92%
- Amiga Format - "Best footy game to have appeared on any machine" 94%
- ST Format
ST Format was a computer magazine in the UK covering the Atari ST during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Like other members of the Future Publishing Format stable - PC Format and Amiga Format, for instance, it combined software and hardware reviews with columnists, letters pages and a cover...
- "What a game! gem to play. Magic" 90%
- C&VG - "Championship winning material" 95%
- The Games Machine
The Games Machine was a video game magazine that was published from 1987 until 1990 in the United Kingdom by Newsfield, which also published CRASH, Zzap!64, Amtix! and other magazines.-History:...
- "Probably the best sports game ever" 92%
- Commodore User
Commodore User, known to the readers as the abbreviated CU, was one of the oldest British Commodore magazines. A publishing history spanning over 15 years, mixing content with technical and games features...
- "No other footy game can touch it" 90%
- Amiga Action - "Surpasses all other football games" 93%
- PCW
Personal Computer World was a long-running British Computer magazine.Although for at least the last decade it contained a high proportion of Windows PC content , the magazine's title was not intended as a specific reference to this...
- "Nothing short of brilliant"
- New Comp Express - "Computer football event of the year"
- Zzap!64
Zzap!64 was a computer games magazine covering games on the Commodore International series of computers, especially the Commodore 64 . It was published in the UK by Newsfield Publications Ltd and later by Europress Impact....
- "So realistic, so fun, and soooo addictive" 96%
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
EMAP is a British media company, specialising in the production of business-to-business magazines, and the organisation of business events and conferences...
Images Golden Joystick Award Best 16 Bit Product. (EMAP is a major UK magazine publisher).
Kick Off 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. A 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 ManagerPlayer Manager was a football management game, released in 1990. It was notable for being the first game to combine both managing the team and playing as a single player. The match engine borrowed heavily off the Kick Off match engine, which was developed by Dino Dini and Anco, who also created...
" along with your own tactics, to play against another "
Player ManagerPlayer Manager was a football management game, released in 1990. It was notable for being the first game to combine both managing the team and playing as a single player. The match engine borrowed heavily off the Kick Off match engine, which was developed by Dino Dini and Anco, who also created...
" 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, 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.
Super Kick-Off
Super Kick-Off is one of the follow-ups of Kick Off and Kick Off 2. 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 (with a significant loss of speed).
Kick Off 3
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 GamesVirgin Interactive was a British video game publisher. It was formed as Virgin Games Ltd. in 1981. The company became much larger after purchasing the budget label, Mastertronic in 1987. It was part of the Virgin Group...
, where he developed
Goal!Dino Dini's Goal is the real sequel to Kick Off 2. Dino Dini was responsible for all engineering and game design and introduced improved dynamics and A.I...
, 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.
Others
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
PCA personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end user, with no intervening computer operator...
with the name
Kick Off 2002 and
Mac OSMac OS is the trademarked name for a series of graphical user interface-based operating systems developed by Apple Inc. for their Macintosh line of computer systems. The Macintosh user experience is credited with popularizing the graphical user interface...
. 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 engineeringReverse engineering is the process of discovering the technological principles of a device, object or system through analysis of its structure, function and operation...
on the original Amiga game.
Kick Off 2009 is rumoured to be in development by Neogen2 Creations with the collaboration of Steve Screech.
Games in the series
Kick Off series include the following games:
- Kick Off (1989)
- Kick Off Extra Time (1989)
- Franco Baresi World Cup Kick Off (1990)
- Player Manager
Player Manager was a football management game, released in 1990. It was notable for being the first game to combine both managing the team and playing as a single player. The match engine borrowed heavily off the Kick Off match engine, which was developed by Dino Dini and Anco, who also created...
(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)
- Super Kick-Off (1991)
- Kick Off 97 (1997)
- Kick Off 98 (1997)
- Kick Off 2002 (2002)
- Kick Off 2 competition version (2005)
Remakes
The Three times Kick Off 2 World Champion Gianluca Troiano has started a project called
Throw In. 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. The Final version will likely to be released in 2008. Until then betaversions can be downloaded.
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.
Trivia
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 PowerAmiga Power was a monthly magazine about Amiga computer games. It was published in the United Kingdom by Future Publishing, and ran for 65 issues, from May 1991 to September 1996....
gave Kick Off '96
their lowest score ever: 1%. The reviewer, Stuart Campbell, had a long and rocky relationship with the Kick Off series.
External links
- KOA Kick Off Gathering - KOA (Kick Off Association) Official International Kick Off Fan Site (organising Kick Off World Cup tournaments since 2001)
- Kick Off 2 World Cup - Home of the annual Kick Off 2 World Tournament