Super Sidekicks | |
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art cover
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Developer(s) | SNK |
Publisher(s) | SNK |
Platform(s) | Arcade, Neo Geo |
Release date(s) | 1993 |
Genre(s) | Sports Game |
Mode(s) | Up to 2 players simultaneously |
Cabinet | Upright |
Arcade system | Neo Geo (54 Mbit cartridge) |
Super Sidekicks, is a series of soccer video games made by SNK for its console, the Neo-Geo.
Published in 1993, the original Super Sidekicks (known as Tokuten Ou, "Goal-Scoring King" in Japan) was SNK's first soccer video game. It features 12 teams divided into two groups which compete for the "SNK Cup" (the main differences between teams is their formations on the field):
The players' team plays against all the others in their group, then it goes into an elimination tournament's semifinals and then the final to win the cup. There was also a hidden feature in the game, which wasn't documented, and affects a single player game. During a free kick for the CPU if the player has tapped button A for player two, the CPU performs a short-shot, while pressing the button A performs a longer kick.
One noted mistake was that Spain's kit would actually resemble Portugal's. Portugal would not be in the game until Super Sidekicks 3.
On release, Famicom Tsūshin scored the game a 25 out of 40.
Published in 1994 (Japanese title: Tokuten Ou 2 - Real Fight Football), the sequel corrected most of the flaws in the original's design, including the ability to switch players' control during the game, a smaller goal, and no more long shots taken (in Super Sidekicks 1 the simple long shot was sometimes too long, leading into a throw-in situation). It increased the number of teams to 48 and divided them into 6 geographical "regions" (new teams underlined):
Upon starting the game, the player goes into a "Regional Qualifying Round Final" against another team from the same region. After beating it, the player's team goes into the World (Cup) Tournament, in which they are grouped with three other countries in a round-robin. After winning against all of them, the team enters an elimination tournament: the quarterfinals, semifinals, and the final for the World Cup. This type of tournament thus is more reminiscent of the real-life World Cup. If a match ends in a draw, the player has the option of replaying a full game, going to the penalty kick tiebreaker, or playing a sudden death (golden goal) game (the golden goal feature was not present in the original Super Sidekicks); however, the arcade version requires an extra credit for these options.