SNK did things like no other when they were at their peak, and tried things that no one else would dare try first. They had games that took things further than ever before and they applied this idea to sports games as well. SNK would take sports that didn’t seem like they would make for great action games and make it work beautifully. This is seen with Neo Turf Masters, a game that is now regarded as an all time classic. When it comes to Soccer/Football. SNK also hit a goal and created something special.
Soccer Brawl feels less like a sports game, and more like an action game that happens to include sports. Showing a futuristic version of soccer that is played with bionic people or cyborgs as the players, the rules you are familiar with do not apply anymore. This is is a one or two-player game where your team is representing one of eight countries, which include. Germany, Japan, Brazil, The United States, Italy, Spain, England and South Korea, each with their own unique abilities and skills. The game involves 5-on-5 matches, that resemble less of a soccer match than a an arcade brawler set in a soccer game.
While feel that Midway’s arcade sports games are the games that defined what an arcade style sports game should be, the reality is that SNK did just as much if not more for this genre. SNK threw out all sense of realism and instead made it about fun and action by blending elements of different genres. The influence the game has left behind can be seen in games like Sega’s Soccer Slam and Super Mario Strikers/Mario Smash Football as well. Every modern sports game that uses arcade style action to differentiate itself owes something to this game. I would love to see SNK revisit this at some point in the future, because it is too good to just be left behind.
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