''Dino Dini's Goal'' is a

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

released by

Virgin Games Avalon Interactive Group, Ltd., formerly known as Virgin Interactive Entertainment, was a British video game distributor based within Europe that formerly traded as the video game publishing and distributing division of British conglomerate the V ...

in 1993. It is considered by many to be the "true" sequel to '' Kick Off 2'' (in preference to '' Kick Off 3''), as ''Kick Off''s creator Dino Dini had moved from Anco Software and was responsible for all ''Goal''s engineering and game design. ''Goal'' introduced improved dynamics and A.I. over ''Kick Off 2'', as well as other innovative features, such as multiple camera views. The game shipped 60,000 units on the first day of release.

''Dino Dini's Soccer''

''Dino Dini's Soccer'' was a conversion of ''Goal!'' for the

Sega Mega Drive The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master Sys ...

. ''Dino Dini's Soccer'' had all the relevant features of the

Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers produced by Commodore International, Commodore from 1985 until the company's bankruptcy in 1994, with production by others afterward. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16-b ...

version and it was graphically superior to it. The game implemented an innovative 4-way play feature. There was also a conversion to

Super NES The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, commonly shortened to Super Nintendo, Super NES or SNES, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Europe and Oceania a ...

, developed by

Eurocom Eurocom Entertainment Software was a British video game developer founded in October 1988 by Mat Sneap, Chris Shrigley, Hugh Binns, Tim Rogers and Neil Baldwin, to develop games for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Eurocom expanded to Handh ...

, but this version was only an interpretation of the game, and Dino was unhappy to have his name associated with it, as he was not responsible for any of that version and had no creative control over it. The SNES version features a different control method, with the ball on sticking to your foot to make running with the ball easier. The game is viewed from above and played up and down the pitch, without the left-to-right option of ''Goal''. Matches can be between 2 or 20 minutes, and the scanner which shows player positions on the rest of the pitch can be moved, resized or disabled. The method of triggering aftertouch onto a pass can be chosen as well. The game features a variety of tournaments, including the full World Cup and its qualifying rounds, and the European Championships, or individual matches, as well as being able to configure a league or cup tournament to player's specification. Only international teams are included, although their names can be customised. Unlike most soccer games of the time, player ethnicities are accurately depicted.

Reception

Computer Gaming World ''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American Video game journalism, computer game magazine that was published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 199 ...

'' in April 1994 said that ''Goal!'' "sound effects and animation are merely 'OK'". The magazine predicted that "'' Kick Off'' fans will definitely enjoy this one, as will many other soccer fans".

References

External links

* {{moby game, id=/goal_, name=''Goal!'' 1993 video games Amiga games Association football video games Atari ST games DOS games Multiplayer and single-player video games Sega Genesis games Super Nintendo Entertainment System games Video games developed in the United Kingdom Video games scored by Allister Brimble Video games set in Europe Virgin Interactive games