Goal! (NES)
Posted: June 13th, 2018, 12:01 am
This review is dedicated to my friend Enko, who passed away of a heart attack at 51 last November. He was my neighbor and friend in my old apartment complex, and he ran the pool. We would watch the World Cup and had some great times. I'll be watching it with a heavy heart this year.
Ah, World Cup season! Last one was 2014, and it was fun for me. My neighbor ran the pool in our apartment complex, and he'd bring his TV out there to watch the games. Often we'd have to watch them in Spanish, since we didn't get cable, and the games would be on Telemundo or Univision. But that was ok, after my fifth shot of whiskey and ninth beer, I was never able to tell the difference. In subsequent years, we'd watch the Women's World Cup, the Copa America, and then the Euro Cup. We had some good times.
When I was a kid, I remember seeing this game on the shelves at Toys R' Us, and Blockbuster. Unfortunately my parents sprung only for Blockbuster. I wanted this game so bad, but I was never in a good position to ask. Usually it'd be after a phone call home from the teacher saying that I had put an ant in a kid's milk, or I threw some kid's hat out the window on the bus. I never did have much leverage to ask them to buy this for me. I remember often I'd play "Ice Hockey", and pretend it was soccer. Really wasn't the same.
But you know, perhaps it was a good thing I never got this, otherwise I could only imagine the permanent thumb damage I would have sustained! I don't think I've ever in my entire life played a game so hard on my poor thumb. And it would have hurt because this is a good game! The controls are nice and simple, with A being a long ball and slide tackle on defense, and B passing and switching players on defense. You can go right into "World Cup" mode, although the groups match neither the 1990, nor the 1986 World Cup. I do think it's cool how the points are the same, where you get 3 for a win, 1 for a draw, and 0 for a loss, then if you clear your group, you move on to the knockout rounds.
I really wish I would have acted better as a kid, because I really could have seen myself enjoying this one immensely. Nowadays I love FIFA, but back then on the NES, you could never have gone wrong with "Goal!".
When you score, a nice animation captures the excitement of a World Cup goal remarkably well:
What the actual game looks like:
Ah, World Cup season! Last one was 2014, and it was fun for me. My neighbor ran the pool in our apartment complex, and he'd bring his TV out there to watch the games. Often we'd have to watch them in Spanish, since we didn't get cable, and the games would be on Telemundo or Univision. But that was ok, after my fifth shot of whiskey and ninth beer, I was never able to tell the difference. In subsequent years, we'd watch the Women's World Cup, the Copa America, and then the Euro Cup. We had some good times.
When I was a kid, I remember seeing this game on the shelves at Toys R' Us, and Blockbuster. Unfortunately my parents sprung only for Blockbuster. I wanted this game so bad, but I was never in a good position to ask. Usually it'd be after a phone call home from the teacher saying that I had put an ant in a kid's milk, or I threw some kid's hat out the window on the bus. I never did have much leverage to ask them to buy this for me. I remember often I'd play "Ice Hockey", and pretend it was soccer. Really wasn't the same.
But you know, perhaps it was a good thing I never got this, otherwise I could only imagine the permanent thumb damage I would have sustained! I don't think I've ever in my entire life played a game so hard on my poor thumb. And it would have hurt because this is a good game! The controls are nice and simple, with A being a long ball and slide tackle on defense, and B passing and switching players on defense. You can go right into "World Cup" mode, although the groups match neither the 1990, nor the 1986 World Cup. I do think it's cool how the points are the same, where you get 3 for a win, 1 for a draw, and 0 for a loss, then if you clear your group, you move on to the knockout rounds.
I really wish I would have acted better as a kid, because I really could have seen myself enjoying this one immensely. Nowadays I love FIFA, but back then on the NES, you could never have gone wrong with "Goal!".
When you score, a nice animation captures the excitement of a World Cup goal remarkably well:
What the actual game looks like: