TWAT! That was liquid football!
Sometimes, it can be tough to recommend the weekly Arcade Archive release. For every re-run on Sunset Riders, or Garou: Mark of the Wolves, Hamster gives us a truly antiquated title such as Front Line or, in this week’s case, Vs. Soccer, now available to download on Nintendo Switch.
Originally released for the NES in 1985, Soccer is one of the earliest, and thus most rudimentary digital examples of “The Beautiful Game.” One or two players face off on the field in very basic soccer action, choosing from a selection of seven world squads and playing in 15-45 minute halfs (in-game time, of course). Not only was Soccer the first football title to be played from a horizontal view, but it even features cheerleaders!
You can check out the action in the video below, courtesy of YouTuber Retro MGV.
Now don’t get me wrong, I love all of these old-school games, they’re titles I grew up with and shaped my formative years. It remains a hard ask to encourage customers to spend $8 on a download of Vs. Soccer for their Nintendo Switch. There are obviously far better titles, for the same price tag, within Hamster’s own Arcade Archive range, let alone on the eShop. Thus titles such as Vs. Soccer are recommended for old-school completionists only.