Game Review #250: Super Kickers League (Nintendo Switch)
Reviewer: Bradford “TheWaffinator87” E.
Developer: Xaloc Studios
Publisher: Xaloc Studios
Category: Sports, Arcade
Release Date: 3.20.2019
Price (at time of review): $14.99
Buy Super Kickers League from the Nintendo Switch eShop here.
Overview
As I have said in the past, I wished I had gotten more into sports. I have no problem playing them in video games but that’s where I draw the line. I refuse to watch major league teams play, but I love to play them and wish I had gotten to play more. I really don’t understand why I enjoy them so much. However, there is one sport I never got into and I really wish I had. That sport is soccer.
The more I play soccer via video games, the more I wish I had gotten into and played as a child and got on a team. But I am on the older side now and I think it’s a bit too late for me. That is why I try to get my kids to try all sports and activities. I don’t want them to have any regrets. If they like what they try then they have more joy in life, if they don’t, they don’t and move on to something else. And the way I show my kid a lot about things to see if it interests him is - you guessed it - videogames!
He is at the age where soccer or basketball would be a great sport to get into because he has lots of energy to burn off. With the help of Xaloc Studios’ newest release on the Nintendo Switch Super Kickers League I am showing him that soccer can be an interesting sport. I mean I must keep reminding him that some of the game is a bit more on the fictional side because he is also at the age where the imagination is a super-powerful tool. Super Kickers League is an arcade style sports game (silly rules and power ups) and nowhere near traditional soccer except for the kicking of the ball into nets/goals. So, like I said he keeps wanting soccer to have power ups but at least he is getting interested.
One of the biggest similarities it shares with other Arcade style sports games is that it has one rule; THERE ARE NO RULES! There is no “out of bounds” because all the stages are closed off, almost like playing indoors (all the courts are out doors) and there is no mercy. You can shove and tackle people for crying out loud and it is FANTASTIC! You can even summon a shower of meteors on your opponents!
Controls
I found that it actually took looking at the button layout to understand how to play. As soon I turned it on, I gave it to my kid to try first and we got destroyed because we didn’t bother looking at the button layout. So, after his annihilation we went to the options and took a good look at the button layout and I played the second match and as I learned and got better, I would show him, and he seemed to understand as well. So, not just a jump in and play game for newer folks to sports but it is easy to learn.
There are two button layouts, and both are fairly easy to learn. You have the button layout for when you are trying to score (ATTACK) and when you are trying to keep the other team from scoring (DEFENDING).
I only tried playing with the Pro Controller and Portable mode and both handled very well. There were points (not too often) where my player didn’t seem to move exactly I how I commanded them to and that was a little frustrating. I didn’t try playing with a single Joy-Con because I have sausage fingers but my kid did and enjoyed it.
Audio/Visuals
This was one of my favorite aspects of the game. The characters looked like they were straight out of a Disney Junior or Nick Jr kids show. In fact, if I were to pick a show that resembled them the most, I am going PJ Masks without a doubt. To be honest as me and my kid were playing the first few matches the resemblance between the characters became very noticeable and even my kid pointed it out. I am not saying that they look exactly the same but having seen a few episodes I could notice the similarities in character design. If Super Kickers was more on the cartoony side and slightly less 3D they would be like siblings.
To me this is a well-planned character design because PJ Mask is a very popular show and may be more appealing to the younger audience of the game. Super Kickers looks not only visually appealing while in Docked Mode but Portable Mode as well and making this a good game to add for on-the-go playing. The arenas all had fun themes to them and have both a day version and a night version. One of my favorites was the Farm Night because in the background there is a cow, and like the good old folk lore aliens come and abduct the cow! Another favorite of mine was the beach (my guess to the surfer team/tiki-takas). Either way all the arenas had very nice contrast, colors, and layouts and were very appealing.
You get 4 camera options while playing the matches. 1, and 2 are more of a close up of the character you are playing. 3 is like you are sitting in the bleachers and watching everyone all at once. And camera 4 focuses on the ball and follows the ball everywhere. The camera option I personally found best was camera 3. Camera 4 was a bit much.
The sound effects and music choice were like many other sports games and had some upbeat music that makes you want to crank out some game play and jump right in. The sound effects while using special abilities are very entertaining and appealing and overall a good and fun time.
More about the game
In Super kickers there are three modes to choose from and keep you entertained. Actually, you and 5 other friends. That’s right in local multiplayer you can play up to 6 players because the teams are 3 VS 3. I didn’t get to have a crazy Super Kickers party and play with 6 players but even having the kiddo on my team made it quite enjoyable. He would tackle me for some reason a lot but that’s another topic.
Back to the three game modes. You have Retro Mode (didn’t get to unlock yet), Teams mode and Kickers mode. Each mode also has 3 playing option. You have Quickplay (can play up to 6 players), Cup (compete to gain cups/trophies for each arena which are Urban Cup, Farm Cup, Coconut Cup, Arcade Cup and Beam Cup) and League which is the play and gain points to be top team at the end of the season.
Retro Mode - looks like, well, “retro” video games. I only know this from seeing gameplay on YouTube.
Teams Mode - You play as a set team. Every character on your team will resemble the team you choose. Example; Silent Strikers is a team of ninjas (my personal favorite team). There are 10 teams in total to choose from. Each team has their own unique ability/special move. To give a few examples of the teams you have:
Yippie Ki-Yay (cowboys) - Their special move is to pull out a cow and spin, knocking down the enemy.
Silent Strike (Ninjas) - Special move is using a smoke bomb to stealthily move around the arena.
Tika-Takas (witch doctors) - special move is calling a monkey to jump around on you! Do you know how hard it is to score when you have a monkey on your back? Ill give you a hint, it’s not very easy!
And then there’s:
Kickers Mode - This is like an “All Star” mode. You get to make a team of 3 individuals from 3 teams to compete with. I liked using Silent Strikers, Sonota Sisters (makes the enemy stop what they are doing and dance), and the Tiki-Takas. This is an interesting mode and can add a little more of a challenge seeing how it’s like competing against 3 different teams at once.
Wrapping Up
One thing I failed to mention is like a lot of games you can choose the difficulty level and where you want to play. You have Easy, Medium and Hard. Well for me it’s more Completely Annihilate the Computer (easy), Computer Will Let You Think You Will Win Then Beat You (medium), and I’m Too Scared to Try This (hard). It will take time to master the teams and how to use abilities properly in order to play at a higher difficulty setting but easy is a great start for all players. It will help you get the hang of the game and not get destroyed. Overall this game was great and reminded me a lot of NBA Street, NBA Jam, and NFL Blitz. This being one of the arcade style games of soccer that I know of helps make this game stand out and that much more enjoyable regardless of being a soccer fan or not. The only thing I think that could make this game a tad bit better is an online mode and maybe a crazy score system (NBA Street) so you can set HIGH Scores.
Super Kickers League was fantastic overall and set some standards in the arcade category of sports games for the Switch. I will be keeping this one in my library.
Score: 8.5/10
Buy Super Kickers League from the Nintendo Switch eShop here.
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*Review Code Provided by Xaloc Studios