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Street Sports Soccer |
Copyright/Publisher: Epyx, Designed By: Ogdon Microdesign Inc., Programmed By:
Stephen M.Thomas; K-Byte, Release Year: 1988, Genre: Football/Soccer, Number Of Players: 1 or 2
If you wanna be a real soccer star, you've got to start on the streets. Pelé did...
Maradona did...Johann Cruyff did...Paul Glancey didn't - which is why Pelé is a
megastar and Paul Glancey isn't. Funny old game, innit?
Right, now we've established you're going to be famous, let's do it properly,
shall we? First: the pitch - there's the soft and slippery turf of the park (watch
out for those little canine calling cards) or just the plain old, ordinary backstreet.
Second: the team. You can pick three players from a selection of rough and ready
streetwise kids. Spin a coin to find out whether you or your opponent (human or computer)
go first and the most Epyx (ho ho) match on the block is ready to begin.
Pressing the joystick button toggles between members of the team. In addition
to basic passing, receiving, shooting and kicking, you can play a variety of
fancy 'set shots' and block an offensive player.
Fouls result in a penalty shot and offsides (an offensive player without the ball
gets behind a defensive player) mean automatic change of possession.
Matches are played over a set time limit or until one team achieves a preset
winning score.
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Gordon Houghton |
Back where I come from in't Lancashire wilds, backstreet football could lead to
some pretty nasty arguments - but it wasn't exactly played accoring to the rules.
Much t'same could be said (though not necessarily in that accent) about
Street Sport Soccer: it's good fun to play (especially with a friend - well, with
Maff, anyway) and even better to argue over, but it's not really a proper sports
sim - there's just not a big enough variety of tactical moves for that.
But then, is it intended to be? As usual, Epyx' classy presentation is excellent,
right down to the spinning coin that decides who starts the match. If you're not
bothered about an incredibly faithful soccer sim, get out your boots and give
this one a whirl: I think it's fab.
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K.H. |
'Ere we go, 'ere we go, 'ere we go,etc. Geordie aggro, Geordie aggro (Oi! - PG).
I'm just trying to work up the right frenzy for another game of Street Sports
Soccer. This time I'm going to beat that fatso Gordo into the ground, if it's
the last thing I do!
Meanwhile - back to the comment. First off - this is not a very serious football
sim and you don't need to memorise a while range of complicated moves to play. And
that's exactly why I think it's great: if you can't go down to the park with a
group of friends the next best thing is staying in with your computer to bash
the ball about.
You don't need any special knowledge or skills - just get in there and beat the
hell out of them. Almost like the real thing... But then, being a girly, what
would I know about that?
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M.E. |
These past couple of months have seen there fair share of footy simulations. They
seem to be popping up everywhere you look! I suppose Epyx's release is more
to go with their Street Sports series, not just following the rush of World Cup
influenced game.
This isn't a bad game at all as a matter of fact, but I must say that after
Baseball I did expect something more than a watered down International Soccer-type
game. The sprites are a bit on the small side - and a bit chunky come to think of
it.
The backdrops are a fiar enough representation of a street and a park, but
wouldn't a couple of coats on the floor be better than the apparently well made
goals that are there instead? Playability-wise, the game is quite interesting,
capturing a good deal of the atmosphere of the kickabout games I used to play,
but the variety is definitely below the usual Epyx standard.
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