Kick Off (series)

Sequels

In 1990, Anco released Kick Off 2, which retained the pace and accuracy of the original while introducing a full-size multi-directional scrolling pitch with correctly proportioned players, markings, and goals. Both teams play strictly according to tactics, with players moving into position to receive passes and gain possession. The game includes a league and a cup tournament with sudden death penalty shootouts in case of a draw; teams are evenly matched but have different styles of play and corresponding player skills. Players can load a team from Player Manager along with its tactics to play single games or enter tournaments. Special events selection allows loading data disks, and the game offers strip color changes and additional sound effects on expanded Atari ST systems with 1 MB or more. An Action Replay facility lets goals be viewed at normal pace or in slow motion and saved to disk. There are 24 referees, each with a distinctive temperament. Super Kick Off, a follow-up for the Master System, Game Boy, Mega Drive, and Super Nintendo Entertainment System, was slower than the original games; the Mega Drive version topped charts and received a 94% score and a Hyper Game Award from MegaTech, though it was criticized for its high price. In 1992, a sequel called Kick Off 3 was in development but was not released in that form because Dino Dini left Anco for Virgin Games, where he developed Goal! in 1993. Goal! featured similar gameplay to Kick Off 2 but added one-touch passing, player acceleration, and more advanced menus; it received good reviews but did not achieve the lasting popularity of Kick Off 2. Anco released a different Kick Off 3 in 1994, developed by Steve Screech, which was a totally new game with nothing in common with Kick Off 2 and did not receive as good reviews. An Atari Jaguar port was in development but never released.