After the release of Street Racer Collection, QUByte Interactive turns its attention to another niche license in collaboration with Piko Interactive: Soccer Kid. Many Amiga players from the nineties may have a soft spot for this platformer that dared to do something different. Even then, seeing Soccer Kid receive the compilation treatment feels like an extremely deep cut in video game history.
A European platformer with personality
Soccer Kid certainly earned its place in the European platforming canon. It embraces many of the genre’s trademarks: fast-paced action, huge amounts of collectibles and more than a few leaps of faith. Developer Kristalis also injected the game with a surprising amount of personality thanks to its football mechanics and its cartoony yet semi-realistic setting. That stood out in an era where many European platformers looked like an outright fever dream.
The game takes you across four locations around the world, each divided into two lengthy stages. These levels are packed with snacks to collect for points and various civilians who, for reasons never fully explained, need to be knocked out. Considering that taking three hits from enemies or hazards costs one of your precious extra lives, removing anything that moves quickly becomes a matter of self-preservation.
Playing football
The football mechanics give your character a remarkable amount of control over the ball, which serves as both your primary weapon and a tool for puzzle solving. You automatically dribble while moving and can, of course, kick the ball. The little guy also has an impressive set of tricks, allowing him to juggle, slide, lob and even perform a bicycle kick.
You can also bounce on the ball and use it to launch yourself into the air, opening up areas that would otherwise be inaccessible.
These mechanics add an extra layer of control to the platforming. Some pickups can be reached through careful jumps, while others require a well-placed kick.
Tough love
As a product of its era, Soccer Kid is difficult to the point of being downright mean at times. Then again, memorisation gets you much further than raw skill alone. Enemies often appear with very little warning, largely because of the game’s oversized sprites and limited view of the stage. Knowing what lies ahead is half the battle.
That is the PC DOS version in a nutshell. It is a game that you initially struggle with, only to appreciate more with every playthrough. It is a bit like listening to a Frank Zappa album for the first time. At first, there is simply too much going on and it all feels too abstract. Eventually, its strengths start to reveal themselves. It may never reach true greatness, but it is still a game worth sinking your teeth into, even if you have never heard of it before.
An odd choice of versions
Instead of including the original Amiga release, QUByte opted for the DOS and SNES versions of Soccer Kid, likely because of the ease of emulation and the team’s previous experience with DOS releases. As was the case with Street Racer Collection, the DOS version feels like the definitive edition thanks to its full-motion videos and smooth gameplay.
The SNES version, on the other hand, fares considerably worse. The visuals are noticeably flatter, with less colour and detail. It is rather surprising that an in-house port feels so far removed from its DOS counterpart. I cannot personally compare it to the Amiga original, but the general consensus is that the Amiga version is superior to the PC release. That makes the choice of included versions feel more like a matter of convenience than careful curation.
The same can be said about the accessibility features, which seem tied to the capabilities of the individual emulators rather than being developed specifically for the collection. The SNES version includes a rewind feature, while the DOS version does not, creating an oddly inconsistent experience.
The minimum definition of ‘collection’
When all of these shortcomings are weighed against the fun offered by Soccer Kid and Soccer Kleets, it is hard not to feel somewhat disappointed. Two games can hardly be called a collection and when one of them is little more than a curiosity, the package starts to feel rather underwhelming.
The same approach and set of features worked well enough in Street Racer Collection because that package simply had more to offer. Here, Soccer Kid Collection feels less like a lovingly curated retro release and more like an attempt to capitalise on a long-dormant licence. There is still a good game hidden within the package, but as a collection, this release never quite reaches its potential. On the other hand, the relative low price makes up for it not reaching its complete potential.
While purely on the merits of Soccer Kid's gameplay, a re-release of the Amiga version at a fair price would have been enough to satisfy fans of the game and Euro-platformers in general. Unfortunately, a "collection" limited to just two games, one of which is the vastly inferior SNES version, simply feels too thin. The lower asking price softens the blow somewhat, but it still leaves the impression of a package that could, and perhaps should, have offered a little more.
