Soccer, but without the pussies!

I can remember how popular Soccer Brawl was in the arcades, back in 1992. It's simple, the MVS equipped with it were played the whole day. Back in the day, the game was simply amazing! Beautiful and original, a futuristic soccer game where players are robots was something special ... Hard to believe today! Soccer Brawl sucess might have something to see with the movie blockbusters of the time that were Terminator and Robocop. How did it went through time? Is it still the blow to invest in a good old robotic soccer game today? After an introduction extolling the superhuman abilities of cyber-soccer players, you will be given the choice between a tournament against the CPU (League Mode) or a clash between two players, the versus mode. It quickly becomes obvious that against the computer, if the first game is easy (to hold the noob's breath...) from the second match that changes drastically, and it will be an exploit not to have your ass kicked real hard since there.

Eight teams are proposed, differentiating each other by the endurance of their players, the skills of their goalkeeper (who will be an important part of the game!) and by the special shoot of the team's captain, each featuring a different technique. Then comes the choice of the stadium, among the two which are proposed: you have the SNK Stadium equipped with a good old lawn, or the Super Dome, 100% metal. Then the war begins!  Only two buttons are used, and each player have a gauge (Power-Meter) that can be filled to perform ultra-powerful swing potatoes, or fire a crippling laser when playing defense. The Power-Meter will affect the goalkeeper performance too, so make sure it's always well filled! A thus is used to draw or tackle, B to perform pass, jump or shoulder blows. Some hidden techniques are more subtle, but it's up to you to discover these by playing Soccer Brawl... The graphics successfully transcribe the futuristic atmosphere, with stadiums colorful at will, nice effects on the ball when the big shots occur, and impressive beefy cyborg-players!

For sure, visually the quality is flawless, thanks to a meticulous work that didn't omitted the details.  We can only regret that there's only two stadiums in the whole game, which is quite poor. Players would have loved two or three more arenas, with traps such as mines or spikes... that would have been fun, and have still improved gameplay and addiction factor for Soccer Brawl. Besides, the animation is flawless, it goes fast, very fast indeed. The action is intense, downtimes are rare, and powerful scrollings shootout are really super-fast! Besides, it's authorized to use the side walls to bounce the ball, in order to take the goalkeeper by surprise: fun! The soundtrack is like the graphics, top quality but not too varied. Digital robotic voices are perfectly adequate, and the music really nice despite it doesn't change very often... The whole is pleasant, and sound effects (impact, fire, laser ..) are also a highlight of the game. So we can note a very high quality overall, but the lack of environments still remains. The replay value is not bad at all, anyway! Eight teams is cool, League mode is hard to curl and offers a good challenge for most players.

The most addictive feature in Soccer Brawl remains the opposition between players, just like in a good vesus fighting game. Downright addictive despite their simplicity, the clashes are full of twists and surprises! The player with the best reflexes and the higher technical level is rewarded, but even rookies can try their luck. The gameplay there is also no surprise: smooth, quick and intuitive controls make the game very addictive. There are dozens of ways to score a goal, strategies to develop, a real defensive game (preferably violent) to work out... Clearly, Soccer Brawl rocks! Originality is there, and let's confess it, it's heavily enjoyable to shoot 200km/h balls through the field with our own 'terminators'! While not going for a staggering depth, without offering a gameplay itself "revolutionary " , the soft and its originality have all the necessary ingredients to hook football games fevers and science-fiction lovers. Along with 2020 Super Baseball, here's another sport nicely declined into a cyborg-mode by SNK.  Soccer Brawl is a pretty good arcade game, as we love them: nice, straight forward, full of atmosphere, and above all, fun as hell!