Overview

Capcom’s Soccer Shootout (CSS) is another one of those Super NES games that I never got around to playing in the early-mid 90s. I’d definitely heard of it, and vaguely remember reading an import review of the game in ‘SuperPLAY’ magazine but I was too busy with other titles to manage to get my grubby mitts on it. Fortunately, ten years or so later I finally understand why this game developed such a cult-following.

Graphics

I always find myself in a bind when discussing graphics in 16-bit games because, to today’s candy-spoiled eyes, it’s like I’m comparing different varieties of crap. Or in a footballing analogy; who’s better, Eric Djemba-Djemba or Salif Diao? That said, I would put games like ISS Deluxe and even the original Super Goal in the ‘good 16-bit football graphics’ camp, while titles like Euro Soccer Champ and Striker are in the ‘utterly crap 16-bit football graphics’ camp. Capcom’s Soccer Shootout, lies somewhere in between the two extremes.

On the plus side, the player models are decent and animations, while not spectacular, are functional. I also like the little picture-in-picture close-ups of the referee after you commit a particularly heinous foul. In these instances the window pops up and you see the referee, looking down at his little notebook, pen in hand, shaking his head while deciding what to do with the guilty party. If you’re unlucky he’ll stick his head up and pull out a card (complete with a speech bubble “Yellow Card”). However, if he decides not to card you, he sheepishly looks up, shrugs his shoulders and gives a ‘I dunno’ look – this is bloody hilarious the first time you see it. After the 20th time…..not so funny.

The menus are laid out nicely, and the tactics screens are functional and uncluttered. The goal-scoring celebration cut-scenes are also nicely done (much like the ‘regular’ goal cut-scenes in Super Goal).

On the minus side, however, the in-game graphics are plagued by a hideous black, barely translucent, scoreboard indicator that takes up the top fifth of the screen. While props must be given to whomever decided to put the radar at the top of the screen (it’s where I always have it in Winning Eleven), he/she totally nullified their good work when they added thick black bars to obscure everything else.

The stadium, or what little you see of it is also pretty unimpressive, though it is kind of neat to see adds for other Capcom games such as Final Fight and Gargoyles Quest!

Sound

As with most console games released around this time, Capcom’s Soccer Shootout features nothing in the way of commentary and the crowd sounds are simply a tinny cheer on a loop. The music is entirely forgettable, however the there are different tunes for the first and second halves of matches.

Options

In the options department CSS is impressive with the exception of the roster of available teams – a paltry twelve!. The actual list of teams is interesting as it includes ‘Britain’ as a country! Not England, not Scotland, not Wales, not Northern Ireland – but Britain, complete with a Union Jack as a the flag on the team selection screen! (The other teams are; USA, Brazil, Russia, Argentina, Mexico, France, Germany, Spain, Holland, Italy and Cameroon). Twelve teams really is a poor number as even the SNES launch title, Super Soccer, had more available teams.

Capcom’s Soccer Shootout makes up for the lack of teams, however, with a number of impressive game modes. Along with the token Exhibition Match mode, there’s also an All-Star Match mode, a League Mode, an Indoor Soccer mode, and a cool Training mode.

The league mode (or ‘Main Game’ as its listed in the menu) consists of a 22 or 44 game league season with the aforementioned international teams. The indoor soccer mode involves 8 vs 8 play on a smaller (and gastly blue) artificial field! The play in this mode is even more frantic than the regular game and there are NO refs so matches come down to who kicks their opponent the most to win. The training mode involves a series of training mini-games such as dribbling through cones, 2vs1 shooting drills and free kicks. You’re given a score for how well you do in these games so they’re more than just a practice tool.

Finally, I also have to note how impressed I was with the formation manager that allows you to create custom formations by dragging players around a grid depicting the pitch – a very cool feature for its time.

Gameplay

Capcom’s Soccer Shootout, like so many games released around this time, is purely an arcade-style representation of soccer, however a number of gameplay factors make this title stand out above other similar titles such as Super Soccer.

Controls are as follows;

As you can see, the game features curve/aftertouch to long passes which adds a degree of depth not found in many other arcade soccer games. The curving of passes/shots is definitely exaggerated and as a result it makes set pieces such as corner kicks incredibly exciting as you can try and score directly from the corner flag!

The pace and flow of the game is definitely frantic, with slide tackles flying in left, right and centre. You rarely have time to breathe and games are always high scoring. The addition of a low-pass into space, as well as an automatic pass to a teammate, makes the build-up play more varied than if there were only an automatic pass button, and there is a wide variety of goals that can be scored.

The presence of a rugby-tackle-style shoulder barge is somewhat disappointing as whether or not it’s penalized is completely random. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not bothersome enough to cause the game to degrade into a WWF Royal Rumble like in Super Soccer, but it’s presence is a blemish on the gameplay that spoils some of the fun.

Longevity/Replay Value

I can’t speak for when the game originally came out, but as it stands I was able to play a fair number of games (many more so than Super Soccer) but I can’t see myself going back for the odd game or two as I do with Super Goal and ISS Deluxe.

Overall

While I wasn’t blown away with Capcom’s Soccer Shootout it is a game I wish I had of played when it came out. I doubt it would have captured my like Super Goal or other similar titles, it has enough good ideas to make it stand out on its own.