Overview

Released in 1992, Jaleco’s Super Goal! is a solid football title providing more fun than Nintendo’s Super Soccer but its still far behind the reigning SNES champ; International Superstar Soccer Deluxe.

Graphics

Despite opening with a fancy Mode 7 spinning, zooming, swirling introduction Super Goal! is fairly mediocre in the visuals department. As you see from the screen shots Super Goal! adopts a sideways TV-style view for the action rather than a birds-eye or a ¾ diagonal view in the previous games. You can’t adjust the zoom but there is an option to turn on or off the radar. Unlike in ISS Deluxe, there aren’t multiple stadia/pitch types, however, the stadium/pitch in Super Goal! is fairly well detailed with advertisement hoardings around the pitch and nice pitch textures.

The player models are basic and there isn’t any variation between players except for hair and skin colour so you’re not going to see any crazy hairstyles or players with different builds. The kits are also simplistic with a few colours each and stripes being the only variations. Fortunately, the animations are good and the transitions between them are very smooth. There are also some nice individual animations for fouls and diving headers, though nowhere near the variety of animations you see in ISS Deluxe, but still a lot cleaner and less robotic than ‘Super Soccer’.

Of course, the original Goal! on the NES was famous for its spectacular goal celebration cut-scenes and Super Goal! continues this tradition as well as adding select in-game cut-scenes! In game cut-scenes? Yup, in Super Goal if you fire off a rising shot on (or close to) target from outside the 18 yard box, as the ball approaches the goal, the view automatically switches to an animated cut-scene showing the view from behind the goal as the keeper dives to try and save the shot (sometimes he does, sometimes he doesn’t, and sometimes the ball goes just wide)! I remember being absolutely blown away by these graphics when Super Goal! first came out on the SNES, and though they don’t have nearly the same wow factor today they’re still pretty neat. Furthermore, if you do manage to score a screamer from outside the 18 yard box you’re treated to a variety of fantastic goal celebrations, including my favourite – a nice Mode 7 zoom-out from the goalscorer as he yells in celebration!

Sound

As a first generation SNES game Super Goal! unfortunately doesn’t feature any form of commentary, save for a crazed “Gooooaaaaaaaaaaalll” if you manage to score from outside the 18 yard box! The crowd sounds are mainly on a loop and there aren’t any specific crowd chants. The 16-bit music is also fairly mediocre though there is an option to switch it off during gameplay.

Options

Along with the series’ tradition of gorgeous goal celebrations, Super Goal! unfortunately carries on Jaleco’s tradition of skimpy gameplay options with only an exhibition mode and a World Cup-style tournament. The list of teams is also pretty small with the following nations available for play; Germany, Brazil, England, Argentina, Holland, Italy, Belgium, France, Colombia, Spain, Poland, Switzerland, USA, Canada, Uruguay, Romania, Mexico, Venezuela, Sweden, Rep. Ireland, Denmark and Scotland. Another disappointment is that there still aren’t any player names, only squad numbers.

Game options are basic with the ability to turn on or off; fouls, offsides, GK control (manual or auto), music and the length of the halves. The tactical options are threadbare with only four formations to choose from; 4-3-3, 4-4-2, 1-3-3-3 or 3-5-2. That you can’t select your stating lineup is perplexing as the NES version of Goal Two! (released in the same year) does have that feature. You also can’t bring on any substitutes but that’s just as well since there’s no apparent fatigue model in the game.

Gameplay

The one area where Super Goal! does rise above mediocrity, fortunately, is the most important – gameplay. In keeping with the other games in the series Super Goal! is most definitely an arcade-style experience but it sticks true to the axiom of pass and move being the key to success, and as a result it never feels like you’re playing hockey on grass.

The controls are fairly simple with the d-pad controlling basic player movement. On offense, B is to shoot, Y is to pass and X is a low shot. The longer you hold down B the higher the ball goes and it’s nice that pressing B doesn’t automatically guarantee that the ball goes towards the net – you’ll just kick it in the direction you’re facing and thus you can use the shoot button for high crosses or long passes. The pass button sends a 10-15 yard pass in the direction you’re facing that will automatically go to a teammate if he’s in the vicinity but if not, it’ll just go into space. In this way Super Goal! does, in fact, have a basic form of unscripted ball physics which ensures that there’s less predictability to the gameplay. Dribbling is simple with the ball sticking to your feet however there are no special moves and no speed-burst (!) so the passing game is all important.

On defense, B performs a blocking tackle, A performs a sliding tackle and R is to switch control to the player closest to the ball. The tackling could be better and you can often find yourself exchanging three or four blocking tackles in a row with an opposing player. This not only looks silly but it’s also frustrating as you can sometimes feel like you can never get away from your marker.

The variety of goals you can score in Super Goal! is great though it’s nigh impossible to find yourself even on a partial breakaway because the CPU defenses play so deep. Of course, the one upside to them playing so deep is that you have a bit more time and space to rocket in more than a few from outside the 18 yard box. The crossing and set-pieces could use a bit of work, however, and the ball tends to do some odd things with crossing (e.g. if two players go up for the same ball the ball actually stops in mid-air for a second while the players ‘sort out’ who’s going to win it). All in all though, Super Goal! provides a good measure of arcade football action. The matches are almost always high-scoring with end to end action and the gameplay is balanced enough that you don’t feel cheated or cheap.

Longevity/Replay Value

The upside to an arcade football title is its pick-up and play factor. Unfortunately, the down side is that there often isn’t much depth and that’s a problem with Super Goal!. The relatively small number of teams and a single tournament mode doesn’t help the problem and after a few ‘Super Cup’ wins all that’s left is the multiplayer.

Overall

Make no mistake, despite being a solid game, Super Goal! isn’t good enough to lace ISS Deluxe’s boots but it is still a very enjoyable arcade experience. The variety of spectacular goals is impressive and the game rarely feels cheap with the key to success still being a solid passing game. Definitely worth a look if you’re in the mood for simple pick-up-and-play football but not quite a must-have.

Lavan Chandran

5/7/2005

Screenshots taken by me.