Super Sidekicks

Super Sidekicks, known in Japan as Tokuten-ō (得点王), is a football game developed and published by SNK in 1992. It's the first SNK football game released for the Neo Geo platform and the first game in the Super Sidekicks series.

As part of ACA Neo Geo, the game was released in July 27, 2017 for PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch.

Development and release
Super Sidekicks was the second soccer game developed for the Neo Geo MVS after Soccer Brawl, being created by most of the same team that worked on multiple projects for the Neo Geo platforms at SNK such as Ghost Pilots and Alpha Mission II. Producer Eikichi Kawasaki headed its creation, with Kenji "Ishimotti" Ishimoto acting as designer. Shinsekai Gakkyoku Zatsugidan members Yoshihiko "Jojouha Kitapy" Kitamura and Yoko Osaka handled the sound design. Masato "Mioshi" Miyoshi, "S K", "Younger Face", Eri Koujitani, J. Mikami and Mori-P were responsible for the pixel art. Programmers under the pseudonym "Mabushi", "Narutaki" and "EP82boy" were in charge of coding. Other members collaborated in its development. The SNK staff wanted to translate the spectacle and action of their fighting games into soccer.

Super Sidekicks was first released by SNK for the Neo Geo MVS on December 14, 1992, and was then released for Neo Geo AES on February 19, 1993. It was showcased at the 1993 IMA show in Frankfurt. The game was later re-released for the Neo Geo CD in Japan on March 31, 1995, and later in North America in October 1996. In 2010, a version by M2 for the NEOGEO Station service was published by SNK Playmore on PlayStation Network. The title is available as one of the 20 pre-loaded games with the Neo Geo X. Hamster Corporation re-released the game for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in July 2017 under their Arcade Archives series. The title was also recently included in the international version of the Neo Geo mini, the Neo Geo Arcade Stick Pro plug and play game device and the Neo Geo MVSX table top.

Overview
The game offers a choice of 12 international teams, each with their own player positioning. Each team also has an "Ace" player with better stats. While in possession of the ball the player can pass and shoot. While on defense shoot is replaced with a sliding tackle used to retrieve the ball, although being too rough will result in a foul. Throw-in, corner kicks, and penalty kicks are all implemented just as in the actual game of soccer. Games either last for two three minute matches (in SNK Cup mode), or for one game (in VS mode).

Critical Reception
Super Sidekicks garnered positive reception from players and critics. In Japan, Game Machine [ja] listed Super Sidekicks on their March 1, 1993 issue as being the fourth most-popular arcade game at the time. RePlay reported Super Sidekicks to be the tenth most-popular arcade game at the time. Marc Menier and Robert Barbe of Consoles + [fr] criticized the presentation but praised the graphics, animations, sound design, playability and longevity, stating that "Super Sidekicks wonderfully recreates the frenzied atmosphere of football matches." Christophe Delpierre of Player One [fr] gave very high remarks to the visual presentation, sound design, playability, difficulty and longevity. Andreas Knauf of Video Games [de] complemented the detailed graphics and playability, regarding the game to be better than Soccer Brawl. Paolo Cardillo of Computer+Videogiochi [it] praised the visuals, audio, playability and longevity, stating that Super Sidekicks is "undoubtedly fun, but much more was expected from the Neo Geo." Likewise, Piemarco Rosa of Consolemania [it] commended the visuals, sprite animations and arcade-perfect gameplay but criticized the sound design for being inappropriate.

Megablast 's Michael Schnelle commended the visuals but felt mixed about other aspects. Hobby Consolas 's Marcos García gave high remarks to the visuals, sound design and playability, regarding Super Sidekicks as "the most direct, fun and addictive soccer in the history of video games." However, García criticized the small team roster and the lack of certain gameplay aspects. Jean-François Morisse and Nourdine Nini of Joypad [fr] praised the graphics, animations, controls and sound design but criticized the slowdown that occurs when too many sprites are present in penalty areas. G. S. of Play Time [de] criticized the sound but praised both visuals and gameplay. Electronic Gaming Monthly 's four reviewers commented positively in regards to the visuals, sound design and gameplay. German magazine Mega Fun [de] reviewed and praised the title several times, with both Uwe Kraft and Ulf Schneider commending the visuals and sound. Similarly, GameFan 's four reviewers gave positive remarks to the visual department and fast gameplay.

Javier Iturrioz of Superjuegos [es] commended the visual presentation, simple controls and gameplay, stating that "many think that the enormous playability of this game has never been surpassed by any of its continuations." However, Iturrioz noted that the gameplay options do not vary much. AllGame 's Kyle Knight gave positive remarks to the visuals and gameplay but criticized the sound design and controls, stating that "Super Sidekicks is truly a mixed bag. At times it's very enjoyable, while at others it's equally frustrating."

Retrospective reviews
Super Sidekicks has been met with mixed reception from retrospective reviewers in recent years. VentureBeat 's Daav Valentaten noted its colorful graphics, fast action, simple controls but criticized the inability to choose players, precision to steal the ball from opponents and framerate in the PlayStation Network version. Elliott Osange of Bonus Stage stated that "Super Sidekicks will appeal to fans from the NEO GEO era and diehard football fans who need something to fill the void in their lives. For casual sports players and non-sport entities, however, this is going to be a hard pass."

A staff member of German magazine MAN!AC [de] reviewed the PlayStation Network version via PlayStation Portable, noting the difficulty level of AI-controlled opponents and praised the visual presentation, regarding the game to be quite entertaining but recommended playing its sequels. Pure Nintendo Magazine 's Trevor Gould commended the large sprites, gameplay speed, sound design and visual presentation.

Nintendo Life 's Dave Frear praised its fast gameplay and visual presentation but criticized the lack of additiona replay value, options and teams. Nintendo World Report 's J.P. Cobran criticized the controls, the disjointed gameplay for being choppy and the zoomed perspective.

Legacy
Super Sidekicks spawned a series of three sequels and a remake; Super Sidekicks 2: The World Championship (1994), Super Sidekicks 3: The Next Glory (1995), The Ultimate 11: SNK Football Championship (1996) and Neo Geo Cup '98: The Road to the Victory (1998). The Ultimate 11 proved to be less popular than its predecessors, while Neo Geo Cup '98 served as the final game in the series. Mexican magazine Club Nintendo regarded the Super Sidekicks franchise as one of the best soccer sagas in video games, touting it to be better than Sega's Virtua Striker series.