Goal! (1993) 
| Details (Commodore Amiga) | Supported platforms | Artwork and Media | |
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| Publisher: Genre: Author(s): Minimum Memory Required: Maximum Players: Joysticks: Language: Media Code: Media Type: Country of Release: Comments: |  Virgin GamesSport 512K Yes Eng 3.5" Floppy disk Worldwide | Click to choose platform: Atari ST Commodore Amiga More from other publishers: Acorn Electron Nintendo NES |
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Iss 49 Aug 1993 (Amiga Format) 5th Dec 2011 04:58Dino Dino’s sequel to Kick Off 2 is here, but is it Sensible enough to go to the very top of the Premier League?
Do Amiga owners really need another football game? With over 40 of them out there on the market already, that is a difficult question to answer. Amiga football is, to coin a phrase, a funny old game, because it seems that no matter how many are released, they are all soaked up by a market hungry for new footy titles.
To date, though, there really have only been three software contenders which offer you a decent game of football, and they are: Kick Off 2, Striker and Sensible Soccer. There are at least another four football games planned for release later on this year from various companies, but the one which is on most people’s minds at the moment is the subject of the review.
Goal! was programmed by Dino Dini, who is the renowned programmer of Kick Off 2, which for two years held the crown as the best football game around – until Sensible Soccer, that is. Now, Dino is attempting to reclaim the crown.
Can you kick it?
Like Kick Off 2, Goal! is viewed from above the pitch, at a slight angle. The players are slightly larger than in the previous game, and the general look of the game is more polished. Two viewing modes are available, which enable you to zoom-in or out of the action. In zoom-in mode only a small part of the pitch can be seen at any one time, and the screen scrolls smoothly around to follow the ball.
Because you cannot see much of the pitch, a scanner is provided which shows the position of the players and the ball as a series of coloured dots on a mini-pitch.
When the ball goes out of play, the view switches to zoom out mode, so that more of the pitch can be seen and strategies planned more easily. This system works rather well – but if you do not like it the mode can be fixed on either zoom in or out.
In most Amiga football games, the ball will automatically stick to your feet as soon as you touch it, so control is simple but limited. In Goal! the ball does not stick, but your players have their own momentum, which means they speed up and slow down as you move your joystick. This means that without using the fire-button it is in fact possible to perform some amazing feats of dribbling and control of the ball, just as long as you do not move too quickly.
It is a corner
Also, as with Kick Off 2, you can actually trap the ball under your feet by simply holding down the fire-button. Kicking the ball away is achieved by letting go of the button. Fans of Kick Off 2 will be pleased to learn that taking corners and free kicks is now a lot easier and more logical than in the previous two games. Before the kick is taken, a dotted line is drawn away from the ball. This is controlled by the joystick, and is used to determine the angle, strength and trajectory of your shot.
Throw-ins also use this method, though, which is a shame because now they tend to break up the flow of the game. In Kick Off 2 you simply pointed the joystick in the direction you want to throw, and hit fire – a much simpler and quicker method.
The action replay facility has been extended over the previous games. It is now in the style of Striker, where the function keys are used to control fast forward, rewind and slow motion functions, very much like a video editor. When a goal is scored, the replay is shown automatically, as is the trend with recent games. The facility is also available for you to record all of the action replays within a game to disk.
Another important new feature of Goal! is the choice between playing horizontally or vertically. This is an unusual option, included to satisfy those people who normally play games such as Euro Soccer where the pitch scrolls horizontally.
Playing across the screen instead of down is very disconcerting at first, but the control, speed and movements are all identical in both directions. As well as offerings a different challenge, the horizontal pitch removes the fights between who plays up and down the pitch!
Wot no cup competition?
OK, that is basically the new features of Goal!. For those of you who have not played Kick Off 2, you would probably like to know that all the usual features are included, such as after touch (so you can bend the ball after you have kicked it), the new back-pass rule, substitutions, formations and league.
The most notable exception, however, is the lack of a cup competition. This, I am reliably informed, was due to the lack of time, and could be implemented in an update to the game sometime in the future. The sound effects are generally good. The only which is not convincing is the crowd noise which occurs as the ball moves towards one end of the pitch – it sounds more like a strong wind than several thousand baying football fans.
Liverpool United
There are a few other points about Goal! which could be made better. The most obvious is the incorrect team colours – for example, Liverpool play in the Manchester United strip – red with white shorts – which is really unforgivable, while Manchester United play in red with black shorts. The colours can be changed in the game, of course, but a little more care could have been taken in planning the kits.
Next, in some kick-offs one of the opponent’s forwards will stand inside the centre circle. This can be particularly annoying, and would certainly not be allowed in real football. OK, so this is only a minor point, but it is worth mentioning.
As supplied, the team line-ups are sometimes a little curious. For some reason, depending on your formation – attack, defence, that type of thing – you will probably find that a defender has slipped into an attacking role, and a forward has slipped into midfield or even defence. This is extremely odd, and it means that you usually have to move your formation around before you start each game.
Anyway, the teams may be played around with – players transferred between teams, and teams created, altered and transferred between leagues. All this information can be saved to disk, so if you take time to create your ultimate set-up, you won’t have to do it again.
Lastly, there is a niggly problem with selecting which joystick you use. There is nothing in the software to choose between joysticks, so if you have a favourite joystick you have to hope that the Amiga assigns it to you. Otherwise, you need to swap the joysticks between ports – which is not a fun experience when playing in a league.
Andy Nuttall
Do Amiga owners really need another football game? With over 40 of them out there on the market already, that is a difficult question to answer. Amiga football is, to coin a phrase, a funny old game, because it seems that no matter how many are released, they are all soaked up by a market hungry for new footy titles.
To date, though, there really have only been three software contenders which offer you a decent game of football, and they are: Kick Off 2, Striker and Sensible Soccer. There are at least another four football games planned for release later on this year from various companies, but the one which is on most people’s minds at the moment is the subject of the review.
Goal! was programmed by Dino Dini, who is the renowned programmer of Kick Off 2, which for two years held the crown as the best football game around – until Sensible Soccer, that is. Now, Dino is attempting to reclaim the crown.
Can you kick it?
Like Kick Off 2, Goal! is viewed from above the pitch, at a slight angle. The players are slightly larger than in the previous game, and the general look of the game is more polished. Two viewing modes are available, which enable you to zoom-in or out of the action. In zoom-in mode only a small part of the pitch can be seen at any one time, and the screen scrolls smoothly around to follow the ball.
Because you cannot see much of the pitch, a scanner is provided which shows the position of the players and the ball as a series of coloured dots on a mini-pitch.
When the ball goes out of play, the view switches to zoom out mode, so that more of the pitch can be seen and strategies planned more easily. This system works rather well – but if you do not like it the mode can be fixed on either zoom in or out.
In most Amiga football games, the ball will automatically stick to your feet as soon as you touch it, so control is simple but limited. In Goal! the ball does not stick, but your players have their own momentum, which means they speed up and slow down as you move your joystick. This means that without using the fire-button it is in fact possible to perform some amazing feats of dribbling and control of the ball, just as long as you do not move too quickly.
It is a corner
Also, as with Kick Off 2, you can actually trap the ball under your feet by simply holding down the fire-button. Kicking the ball away is achieved by letting go of the button. Fans of Kick Off 2 will be pleased to learn that taking corners and free kicks is now a lot easier and more logical than in the previous two games. Before the kick is taken, a dotted line is drawn away from the ball. This is controlled by the joystick, and is used to determine the angle, strength and trajectory of your shot.
Throw-ins also use this method, though, which is a shame because now they tend to break up the flow of the game. In Kick Off 2 you simply pointed the joystick in the direction you want to throw, and hit fire – a much simpler and quicker method.
The action replay facility has been extended over the previous games. It is now in the style of Striker, where the function keys are used to control fast forward, rewind and slow motion functions, very much like a video editor. When a goal is scored, the replay is shown automatically, as is the trend with recent games. The facility is also available for you to record all of the action replays within a game to disk.
Another important new feature of Goal! is the choice between playing horizontally or vertically. This is an unusual option, included to satisfy those people who normally play games such as Euro Soccer where the pitch scrolls horizontally.
Playing across the screen instead of down is very disconcerting at first, but the control, speed and movements are all identical in both directions. As well as offerings a different challenge, the horizontal pitch removes the fights between who plays up and down the pitch!
Wot no cup competition?
OK, that is basically the new features of Goal!. For those of you who have not played Kick Off 2, you would probably like to know that all the usual features are included, such as after touch (so you can bend the ball after you have kicked it), the new back-pass rule, substitutions, formations and league.
The most notable exception, however, is the lack of a cup competition. This, I am reliably informed, was due to the lack of time, and could be implemented in an update to the game sometime in the future. The sound effects are generally good. The only which is not convincing is the crowd noise which occurs as the ball moves towards one end of the pitch – it sounds more like a strong wind than several thousand baying football fans.
Liverpool United
There are a few other points about Goal! which could be made better. The most obvious is the incorrect team colours – for example, Liverpool play in the Manchester United strip – red with white shorts – which is really unforgivable, while Manchester United play in red with black shorts. The colours can be changed in the game, of course, but a little more care could have been taken in planning the kits.
Next, in some kick-offs one of the opponent’s forwards will stand inside the centre circle. This can be particularly annoying, and would certainly not be allowed in real football. OK, so this is only a minor point, but it is worth mentioning.
As supplied, the team line-ups are sometimes a little curious. For some reason, depending on your formation – attack, defence, that type of thing – you will probably find that a defender has slipped into an attacking role, and a forward has slipped into midfield or even defence. This is extremely odd, and it means that you usually have to move your formation around before you start each game.
Anyway, the teams may be played around with – players transferred between teams, and teams created, altered and transferred between leagues. All this information can be saved to disk, so if you take time to create your ultimate set-up, you won’t have to do it again.
Lastly, there is a niggly problem with selecting which joystick you use. There is nothing in the software to choose between joysticks, so if you have a favourite joystick you have to hope that the Amiga assigns it to you. Otherwise, you need to swap the joysticks between ports – which is not a fun experience when playing in a league.
Andy Nuttall
(Anonymous) (Unknown) 24th Nov 2010 10:35| Cheats | Trivia |
|---|---|
| There are no cheats on file for this title. | No trivia on file for this title. |
History
This title was first added on 27th August 2007
This title was most recently updated on 5th December 2011