Review by: Pete Hines
Published: September 29, 1997

KickOff ’97 is Maxis’ effort to bring the world’s most popular sport, soccer (or football, for most of the planet), to life in a realistic fashion. Playing either as a professional or national squad, you have the opportunity to lead your team to glory. I’ve played soccer at almost every level since I could walk, and still being active in playing and coaching the game, I looked forward to this title with much relish.

From the main screen in KickOff ’97, you have several options that will get you on the pitch and playing: friendly, leagues, cups, and challenges. Each type is geared to different variations of the same game, with different numbers of matches and objectives. The game also comes with a practice mode that allows you to hone your skills in the various aspects of the game, such as shooting and passing. Games can be played in either arcade (easier) or simulation (tougher) mode. The difference is simply how tightly the opposing team will mark your players when you have the ball.

A “friendly” is a single match between two teams selected from the 70 national teams, or from the 80 Premier Division clubs from around the world. There is even the ability to create “dream teams” comprised of any players from any countries. A league can consist of up to eight teams, which can be controlled by either the computer or other players. You can play in leagues of national teams, the champions league (16 top European squads), or create one of your own. You will play each team in the league, usually twice in a home-and-away series, with three points being given for an away win, two points for a win at home, and one point for a draw. League seasons can be followed by a single elimination tournament.

The cup feature allows you to recreate world cup scenarios by choosing from the 50 national teams available for cup play. You can also create a cup using a combination of 8 or 16 teams chosen from premier division clubs, national teams, and dream teams. Last, the challenge is your chance to take the team of your choice up against 30 other teams. As you progress through the line-ups, the competition gets more and more fierce.

Regardless of which squad you choose, you will have to determine the strategy and formation for your squad. If you face a superior side, you might want to play a 5-4-1 (non-soccer fans, this means how many players are positioned in the back, middle, and front of your team — keepers don’t figure into formations), and focus on playing defense and counterattacking at every opportunity. Conversely, a heavier emphasis on offense might keep up the pressure on their backs and create more scoring opportunities for you.

The strategy and alignment you use will alter your lineup somewhat. For example, playing a 5-4-1 would mean replacing at least one forward or striker with an additional fullback. Players are rated by their attributes, which include characteristics like stamina, flair, aggression, and agility, and skills like passing, tackling, and shooting. The area of strength for a particular player will be in coordination with their position. So, a forward may have better shooting skills and flair, while a defensive player might be more aggressive and be a better tackler. All players receive an overall rating as to how good they are in comparison to others. Similarly, each team has an overall rating that lets you know how they stack up against your squad.

Matches consist of two 45 minute halves, but how long they actually take is up to you. You can play the game in real-time, so it actually takes 45 minutes to play, or you can have it take as little as one minute to play a half. You can choose to have your players identified by either their names (first initial and last name) or their jersey numbers. I’m not familiar with all of the professional players all over the world, but it seems that KickOff ’97 uses real teams and the actual players for all of the countries, except for the U.S.

Essentially, the setup of the game is not too different from most other soccer titles on the market. We’ll look at some of the other features of the game when we look at the ratings. Let’s take a look at how KickOff ’97 scored….