This game has a very European flavor to it, English accent
included. It's the day of the World Cup and an alien steals the trophy. It crashes onto
Earth and its up to Soccer Kid to recover the pieces. The game consists of 25 platform levels filled with action. Soccer Kid has to kick his ball into anything from animals, grumpy farmers, to city workers. The gameplay is unexpectedly deep.
Soccer Kid has about a dozen moves at his disposal, anything from a bicycle kick, hopping off his ball to high jump, and kicking the ball to collect items. Controls are overly complex, though with time they come together and game benefits when once the mechanics are in full grasp of the player.
The levels are well drawn but one flaw was that the levels seemed to lack variety and could get occasionally repetitive. Around every six stages you get to face a boss. They are quite a challenge and require good timing to defeat. The whole game is no walk in the park, as carelessness will get you killed quickly.
As cheesy as the tunes are in this game, it's easy to appreciate them despite sounding so European. You'll find yourself humming along. The sound effects are also fitting and sound like they were genuinely thought out. They fit well and for once don't sound generic or like they've been recycled from another game.
This game was ported to a ton of systems: Kid Kleetz (SNES) Marko (Game Gear) Marko's Magical Soccer Ball (Genesis) as well as a few less popular consoles using the name Soccer Kid. The 3DO is probably the best version as far as features as it was capable of FMV and the others aren't. The gameplay doesn't make use of the 3DO's capabilities but it doesn't detract from this port at all. With as dry as the library on the console is, this is a needed edition to your collection.
