Previous Next

It's soccer action all the way for you NES owners. First of all, you had Nintendo World Cup (hot contender for the worst console game of all time!), this time you've got Jaleco's Goal! Whereas World Cup was a more conventional horizontally scrolling footy game, Goal! is a tad different in that the action is displayed in Zaxxon-style isometric 3D.

Usual soccer rules apply, although the gameplay is altered slightly by use of the massive amount of options available. As well as one- or two-player games, there's the option to play a single game or participate in the World Cup (where you're up against sixteen of the best teams in the world!). Also available is the opportunity to play a Pro Tournament game where world famous soccer teams like Kansas, Chicago, Dallas and Boston battle it out for supremacy!

One of the most bizarre features in Goal! is the option to play a shooting contest, where one player must take on two defenders and score past the goalie. Like the main game, one or two players can have a shot at this, with one player adopting the role of the attacking player, while the other controls the defender and 'keeper.

Just like the real thing, every team entered for the World Cup is put into a group. There are four groups: A, B, C and (unsurprisingly) D. Each team plays everyone else in their group once. The two teams in each group who prove their worth are put through the second round.

All of these teams play each other and the four teams that come out best go through to the semi-finals. From then on the two winners of the semis go on into the final in a one match battle for soccer supremacy!

Jaleco describe Goal! as "an extremely realistic one or two-player soccer game" and they pride their game on the many attributes given to every player on the field.

Each player performs according to certain such as dribbling, kicking power, running speed, tackling, shooting ratio, marking and ball keeping abilities.

The ball sticks to the players' feet, so dribbling isn't much of a problem. The B button passes the ball whilst button A is used to attempt a shot. Hooking and slicing the ball (known as 'aftertouch') after you've kicked it is also possible just by pressing button B again and pressing the direction you want to hook or slice the ball. Back-spinning and extending shots are also possible.

After the ghastly shambolic mockery they called Nintendo World Cup, I thought that maybe this would be a decent soccer game. I couldn't have been more wrong. Goal! is another Nintendo footballing debacle, a dire travesty purporting to be a simulation of our top national sport.

The sprites are laughably awful - they don't look or move like footballers at all, and instead resemble sad phantom ice skaters slowly woblling around a featureless green rink.

The gameplay is even worse. The control method is very vague, the player logic is very poor and the player selection is terrible, making passing plays a completely hit and miss affair. Goal! is one of the most dreadful console sports games around, and should be avoided at all costs - especially if you're a football fan.

I didn't think there could be any soccer game worse than Nintendo World Cup, but I was wrong and how! Goal! is a crippled, retarded excuse for an NES football game, featuring stick insect-like main sprites and pathetic pitch graphics (for some reason the penalty area hasn't got any grass on it!).

I have no idea why Jaleco chose to warp the action through 45 degrees, but I can safely say that the effort was wasted. Gauging the height and speed of the ball is made all the more difficult because of it. Having all manner of options tarts up the game very slightly, but there's simply no hiding the fact that Goal! must rank as one of the worst soccer games produced for any console.

It's a sad day for NES footy fans.

Presentation 55%
Loads of options for the player to tweak.

Graphics 34%
Awful 3D perspective and warped stick-like sprites.

Sound 43%
Barely average tunes and effects.

Playability 41%
Trembling, wobbly gameplay and unconvincing ball action makes Goal! unappealing from the outset.

Lastability 28%
The slow pace of the action and vague control method means it bores within a few sessions.

Overall 33%
A ghastly soccer game which should be avoided at all costs. C'mon Nintendo - give us a decent footy game!