| Soccer Kid | |
|---|---|
 Amiga cover art by Tim James | |
| Developer(s) | Krisalis Software[a] |
| Publisher(s) | Krisalis Software
|
| Producer(s) | Tim James Tony Kavanagh |
| Designer(s) | Matt Furniss Neil Adamson Nigel Little |
| Programmer(s) | Nigel Little Peter Harrap Shaun Hollingworth |
| Artist(s) | Neil Adamson Phil Hackney Les Newstead Mark Potente |
| Writer(s) | Gary Penn |
| Composer(s) | Matt Furniss |
| Platform(s) | Amiga, 3DO, CD32, Jaguar, Game Boy Advance, MS-DOS, PlayStation, Super NES, Windows Mobile |
| Release | |
| Genre(s) | Platform |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Soccer Kid[b] is a 1993 side-scrolling platform game developed and published by Krisalis Software in Europe for the Amiga. The player assumes the role of the titular main protagonist who travels across several countries around the world to repair the World Cup by retrieving pieces that were scattered by the alien pirate Scab, the main antagonist who failed to steal and add it to his trophy collection in a robbery attempt. Its gameplay mainly consists of platforming and exploration elements, with a main single-button or two-button configuration, depending on the controls setup.
Conceived by Dean Lester, Soccer Kid was created by most of the same team who previously worked on the Manchester United franchise at Krisalis Software and uses the same game engine as with Arabian Nights, another title made by the developer. After making multiple association football titles, the team experimented with creating a project that fused both football and platform game elements in 1992, developing a physics engine dedicated to the soccer ball that proved to be successful internally. Initially released for the Amiga platform, the title was later ported to other home computers and consoles including the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer, Amiga CD32, Atari Jaguar, Game Boy Advance, MS-DOS, PlayStation and Super Nintendo Entertainment System, each one featuring several changes and additions compared to the original version. Conversions for multiple systems were also in development but never released.
Since its original release on the Amiga, Soccer Kid garnered positive reception from critics who praised multiple aspects such as the presentation, visuals, original gameplay concept and replay value, while some felt divided in regards to the difficulty and sound design, with others criticized some of the repetitive set pieces later in the game. The Super Nintendo version received a more mixed reception from reviewers who felt very divided with the graphics, sound design and gameplay. The DOS conversion, although mixed, got a critical response similar to the original Amiga version for its visuals, sound and gameplay. The CD32 port was very well received by critics and the 3DO port got mostly positive reviews. The Jaguar port was received with mixed opinions from reviewers who criticized and felt that it did not improve the graphics and audio from the 16-bit versions, while the Game Boy Advance release was received with a more warm reception.
- ^ "Preview – Football Kid". Zero. No. 34. Dennis Publishing. August 1992. p. 87.
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