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The Super Famicom version of Kick Off, named Pro Soccer for the Japanese market, is basically identical to the Master System version in terms of presentation and the way the game works. There's the odd bit of Japanese text when you pick a team, but it's not vital to understand it. It incorporates similar graphics and, at a glance, looks very much like the original game.

However, when you come to play it, there are marked differences between this and the original computer and Master System versions - read the comments and see what we mean.

Penalties in Pro Soccer are played differently to normal shots at goal. When the player is ready to take the penalty, a small arrow appears. This acts as a shooting target, moving backwards and forwards across the goal mouth. This way, it's possible to put the ball just out of the keeper's range. However, should the player shoot at the wrong moment, the ball flies hopelessly wide.

Imagineer are no strangers to the Famicom, and have already released Populous and Sim City to very high critical acclaim. Let's hope that the rather poor quality of this game is merely a one-off, and their next project, Powermonger, another God-style game in the mould of Populous, brings a return to their previous level of excellence.

If you've never played Kick Off before, it's a good idea to take advantage of the Famicom practice options. These allow you to either practise your passing, tactics and skills, or your penalties. If you want to practise against some competition, you have to play a match.

The world's finest soccer game finally arrives on the Super Famicom... and it's an utter disappointment. For a start, the graphics are very poor - the Master System version is miles better!

Not only are they not particularly well drawn, the sprites are flickery and the scrolling is jerky - a travesty when you consider the Super Famicom's custom hardware. The sound is also dire. An appallingly inept "tune" plays throughout the game and does nothing but annoy - what a waste of the Super Famicom's excellent sound chip!

All this could be forgiven if the gameplay was up to scratch, but unfortunately it's not. The logic and playability that make the 16-bit computer and Master System versions so brilliant have been lost in the translation to Super Famicom, and as a result it's completely lost its sparkle and addiction.

Apart from the control method being poor, the collision detection is dodgy, the after touch doesn't work properly and the player select system isn't very good.

Kick Off fans will most certainly be very, very disappointed, and even those who've not had the pleasure of playing the original versions will find this a strictly average soccer game.

I'm a big fan of Kick Off, so I was really looking forward to this. But it looks as though my anticipation was wasted. Pro Soccer is a sad sham of a game. The big downfall is the unconvincing collision detection and dodgy control method.

At certain points during the game, the ball actually passed through my player, and at others, the ball spanged off in the opposite direction to the one in which it should have gone! Needless to say, this made passing and shooting a real hit-or-miss affair, and resulted in me getting bored very quickly.

After what US Gold have done with Kick Off on the Master System, Imagineer should feel ashamed. The Master System version even has better graphics! If you really need a sports sim on your Famicom, get Super Tennis and wait around for a bettery footy game, this one's very poor.

Presentation 80%
Lots of competitions and options to tweak.

Graphics 52%
Poorly-drawn, flickery sprites, below-average animation and jerky scrolling.

Sound 41%
Inappropriate tunes and naff effects make this sound awful.

Playability 59%
Very speedy, but let down by unconvincing ball movement, dodgy collision and poor game logic.

Lastability 43%
It doesn't take long for all the game's niggles and annoyances to take their toll...

Overall 55%
A sad day for soccer fans. A very poor version of Kick Off devoid of the fun and playability that make the original versions so great.