''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 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 Corporation's Neo Geo family, released on September 9, 1994, four years after its cartridge-based equivalent. This is the same platform, converted to the cheaper CD format retailing at per t ...

, 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 pl ...

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

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.

Original Super Sidekicks

Super Sidekicks 2: The World Championship

Super Sidekicks 3: The Next Glory

Neo Geo Cup '98: The Road to the Victory

The Ultimate 11: SNK Football Championship

References

See also