''Super Sidekicks'' is a series of
soccer
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
video games made by
SNK
is a Japanese video game hardware and software company. It is the successor to the company Shin Nihon Kikaku and presently owns the SNK video game brand and the Neo Geo video game platform. SNK's predecessor Shin Nihon Kikaku was founded in 1978 ...
for its console, the
Neo-Geo.
Released in the 90's with an
arcade-style approach to soccer, the games of the franchise allow players to choose any of the available game modes to compete with
AI-controlled rivals or other human players with their preferred team. Though first launched for the MVS hardware, the series were ported for
Neo Geo AES
The , stylised as NEO•GEO and also written as NEOGEO, is a cartridge-based arcade system board and the fourth generation home video game console released on April 26, 1990 by Japanese game company SNK Corporation. It was the first system in ...
and
Neo Geo CD
The is the second home video game console of SNK, SNK Corporation's Neo Geo family, released on September 9, 1994, four years after its Neo Geo (console), cartridge-based equivalent. This is the same platform, converted to the cheaper CD format ...
, in addition of being re-released through
compilations and download services for various
consoles.
Original Super Sidekicks
Published in 1992, the original Super Sidekicks (known as Tokuten Ou, "Goal-Scoring King" in Japan) was SNK's first soccer video game and the second soccer game released for
Neo Geo MVS
The , stylised as NEO•GEO and also written as NEOGEO, is a cartridge-based arcade system board and the fourth generation home video game console released on April 26, 1990 by Japanese game company SNK Corporation. It was the first system in ...
, preceding ''
Soccer Brawl
is a futuristic soccer game first released in arcades on February 14, 1992. It was available on the Neo Geo on March 13 the same year and later for the Neo Geo CD on March 31, 1995.
Gameplay
It is a futuristic soccer game that uses either bi ...
'' (1991). Its
gameplay
Gameplay is the specific way in which players interact with a game, and in particular with video games. Gameplay is the pattern defined through the game rules, connection between player and the game, challenges and overcoming them, plot and pla ...
uses a simplified two-button configuration. It features 12 teams divided into two groups which compete for the "SNK Cup".
The title proved popular among players and garnered positive reception from critics; praise was directed towards the graphic presentation and fast gameplay but criticism was geared towards several aspects.
Super Sidekicks 2: The World Championship
Published in 1994 (Japanese title: Tokuten Ou 2 - Real Fight Football), Super Sidekicks 2: The World Championship corrected most of the flaws in the original's design, including the ability to switch players' control during the game and a smaller goal. It increased the number of teams to 48 and divided them into 6 geographical regions.
Its
gameplay
Gameplay is the specific way in which players interact with a game, and in particular with video games. Gameplay is the pattern defined through the game rules, connection between player and the game, challenges and overcoming them, plot and pla ...
uses a simplified three-button configuration. The title proved popular among players and garnered critical acclaim from critics, with praise directed towards improvements made over its predecessor.
Super Sidekicks 3: The Next Glory
Published in 1995 (Japanese title: Tokuten Ou 3 - Eikoue no Michi, "Goal-Scoring King 3: Path to the Glory"), Super Sidekicks 3: The Next Glory features 64 national teams divided into 8 regions. It proved popular among players and garnered positive reception from critics, however most reviewers noted that it felt as an update than a true successor to Super Sidekicks 2.
Neo Geo Cup '98: The Road to the Victory
Neo Geo Cup '98: The Road to the Victory is based on the
FIFA World Cup 1998
The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the ...
, despite being released after the 1998 FIFA World Cup.
It is a re-make of Super Sidekicks 3. However, animations and designs were exactly the same. The only difference is teams and kits to reflect the World Cup and players to resemble squads from the World Cup (teams that did not qualify use line-ups from friendly games and qualifiers). It served as the final entry in the ''Super Sidekicks'' saga.
The Ultimate 11: SNK Football Championship
Published in 1996 (Japanese title: Tokuten Ou - Honoo no Libero, "Goal-Scoring King: The Flaming Sweeper"), The Ultimate 11: SNK Football Championship received positive reception from critics but proved to be less popular than previous titles of the series. Despite the title, it is still considered the fourth game in the Super Sidekicks series. It features 80 national teams divided into 8 regions.
References
See also
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Tecmo World Cup '90
''Tecmo World Cup '90'' is an association football video game released by Tecmo for arcades in 1989. It was an arcade successor to Tecmo's ''Tehkan World Cup'' (1985), and is based on the 1990 FIFA World Cup.
An unofficial bootleg of the game ...
*
Tecmo World Cup Soccer
''Tecmo World Cup Soccer'' is a video game for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Released in 1990 by Tecmo, as its name suggests it is a soccer game focusing on the World Cup. It is a port of ''Tehkan World Cup'', released on arcades in 1985.
...
*
International Superstar Soccer
''International Superstar Soccer'' (known as ''Jikkyō World Soccer'' in Japan) is the name of a series of football video games developed by Japanese company Konami, mostly by their Osaka branch, Konami Computer Entertainment Osaka (KCEO). Title ...
*
Neo Geo Cup '98: The Road to the Victory
*
Legendary Eleven
''Legendary Eleven'' is a football/soccer video game developed by the Spanish company Eclipse Games and released in 2018 for PC and consoles PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and Xbox One.
Gameplay
Inspired by arcade-type football/soccer video ...
{{Portal bar, 1990s, Japan, Video games
SNK franchises
Video game franchises introduced in 1992