Okay, I went ahead and brought this title home. After playing only for a few minutes, here's what I've seen.
First off, the best thing about this title is the price: $39.99. Finally, we're starting to see some new software at a reasonable rate.
The intro starts with a quite lengthy cartoon that explaines (well, partially) who an alien swoops down to make off with the Soccer Cup just as the Cup is about to be awarded. A collision with a space station damages the alien's craft, and apparently sends the cup to Earth in pieces. It's up to Soccer Kid to gather all the pieces back together.
The game starts off in England, and in a lot of ways, this game LOOKS British. European style animation, British humor, etc. The play mechanics can take a bit of getting used to. You steer the kid, but also push around his soccer ball. With the right combination of actions, you can bounce the ball on your knee, kick it at the baddies, get under it and do a "header" to bing down things out of reach, or stand on it and use it as an aid in climbing.
Good stuff: Good color, good animation, nice light jazz playing as a background. Fairly long levels with lots of secrets and some nice details.
Bad stuff: so far, there appears to be only 2-3 levels of scrolling. OTOH, it looks very cartoonish, and the flatness of the background fits in with that. Putting together the sequence of ball moves needed in some situations can be frustrating.
Weird stuff: the enemies. Bull dogs, auto mechanics, cranky farmers... sheep. (sheep?!) I'm only up to the second stage out of 25. It's mindless fun so far, and there are plenty of secret levels to find. Guess I'll go kick that ball around some more.
-Mark
michel.buffa@cmu.edu