Kick Off 2

Kick Off 2 from 1990 by Anco Software is among the most influential football simulations of the eight-bit era, and on the Commodore 64 it offered fast, seemingly chaotic, but immensely refined gameplay. The player controls only one footballer with the ball at a time, and passes, shots, and crosses are performed with a combination of direction and how long the button is held, requiring far more feel and practice than rival games with automatic passing, where it was enough just to aim toward the next teammate and let the game handle the rest.

The physics of the ball, which bounces and rolls across the pitch independently of the players, was unusually realistic for its time and gave rise to a generation of players who practiced precise crosses and free kicks to absolute perfection, because a correctly timed and aimed shot could send the ball flying straight into the top corner, while a rushed attempt usually ended up wide of the goal. The game offers league and cup modes, squad editing, and the option to play against the computer or against a second player, which made it a popular choice at parties and tournaments among friends, where it quickly became clear who had truly practiced the controls and who was just blindly hoofing the ball forward. The graphics are austere, but the top-down view of the pitch remains clear even during fast ball exchanges and quick counterattacks, so the player always has a sense of where best to send the ball.

Kick Off 2 is still mentioned today as one of the best football games on home computers, and its control system influenced a number of later sports titles that moved from simple arcade football toward greater simulation depth. On the Commodore 64 the game remains playable even after all these years, although it requires patience while getting used to the unintuitive, but ultimately very satisfying, controls that, once mastered, offer a real sense of control over every movement of the ball on the pitch.

Why play it: For fans of football simulations who stick with the initially unintuitive controls, it ultimately offers a satisfying sense of real control over the ball on the pitch.