The Ultimate 11: SNK Football Championship

Last updated
The Ultimate 11: SNK Football Championship
Ultimate 11.jpg
Neo Geo AES cover art
Developer(s) SNK
Publisher(s) SNK
Producer(s) Takashi Nishiyama
Designer(s) I.Etsuko
Y.Romario
Composer(s) Yasuo Yamate
Series Super Sidekicks
Platform(s) Arcade, Neo Geo AES
Release
  • JP: 16 October 1996
  • NA: November 1996
Genre(s) Sports
Mode(s)
Single-player, multiplayer
Arcade system Neo Geo MVS

The Ultimate 11: SNK Football Championship [lower-alpha 1] is a 1996 soccer arcade video game developed and published by SNK. Despite the international name, it is the fourth installment in the Super Sidekicks series, preceding Super Sidekicks 3: The Next Glory (1995). Featuring an arcade-style approach to soccer much like its predecessors, the game allows players to choose any available game mode to compete with AI-controlled rivals or human players with their preferred team. Although first launched for Neo Geo MVS, the game was ported to Neo Geo AES, in addition of being re-released on download services for various consoles. The title received positive reception from critics but proved to be less popular than its previous iterations. It was followed by Neo Geo Cup '98: The Road to the Victory (1998), which is a remake of Super Sidekicks 3 and served as the final entry in the Super Sidekicks saga. [1] [2]

Contents

Gameplay

Gameplay screenshot showcasing a match between Italy and Portugal. NEOGEO The Ultimate 11 - SNK Football Championship (Tokuten O - Hono no Libero).png
Gameplay screenshot showcasing a match between Italy and Portugal.

Similar to its predecessor, The Ultimate 11: SNK Football Championship is a soccer game that is played from a top-down perspective in a two-dimensional environment with sprites. Though it follows the same gameplay as with other soccer titles at the time and most of the sport's rules are present, the game opts for a more arcade-styled approach of the sport instead of being full simulation. [3] [4]

The players scoring the goals are still named, but individual scores are no longer kept. The regional tournaments have been eliminated and replaced with alternate mode the SNK Football Championship, which is the game's namesake, an elimination tournament in which the player can select any one opponent from any region to play. The last region played is the deciding match.

Good player performance opens up a match against a hidden boss team called the SNK Superstars, which features characters from SNK's fighting games as players. Teams now have a charge bar (similar to the one in fighting games), which is charged depending on how long the player keeps the ball under their team's control. When the bar is fully charged and flashing, if a player is near the goal, they can take a shot that is virtually unblockable, depending on the opposing team. Teams are ranked to mirror their real-life counterparts.

Team

There are 80 teams available to choose from before the start of any game modes, each one divided into 8 geographical "regions" and representing their country: [3] [4]

Europe (group A)
* Flag of Italy.svg  Italy
* Flag of Spain.svg  Spain
* Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal
* Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales
* Flag of France.svg  France
* Flag of England.svg  England
* Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland
* Flag of Scotland.svg  Scotland
* Ulster Banner.svg  Northern Ireland
* Flag of Iceland.svg  Iceland 		Europe (group B)
* Flag of Germany.svg  Germany
* Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden
* Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium
* Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark
* Flag of Austria.svg  Austria
* Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands
* Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg   Switzerland
* Flag of Norway.svg  Norway
* Flag of Finland.svg  Finland
* Flag of Croatia.svg  Croatia 		Europe (group C)
* Flag of Bulgaria.svg  Bulgaria
* Flag of Russia.svg  Russia
* Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey
* Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czech Republic
* Flag of Romania.svg  Romania
* Flag of Greece.svg  Greece
* Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary
* Flag of Poland.svg  Poland
* Flag of Slovakia.svg  Slovakia
* Flag of Israel.svg  Israel 		Africa
* Flag of Nigeria.svg  Nigeria
* Flag of Cameroon.svg  Cameroon
* Flag of Zambia.svg  Zambia
* Flag of Cote d'Ivoire.svg  Ivory Coast
* Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa
* Flag of Egypt.svg  Egypt
* Flag of Morocco.svg  Morocco
* Flag of Zimbabwe.svg  Zimbabwe
* Flag of Tunisia.svg  Tunisia
* Flag of Algeria.svg  Algeria
Americas/Caribbean Sea
* Flag of the United States.svg  United States
* Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada
* Flag of El Salvador.svg  El Salvador
* Flag of Panama.svg  Panama
* Flag of Guatemala.svg  Guatemala
* Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico
* Flag of Puerto Rico.svg  Puerto Rico
* Flag of Costa Rica.svg  Costa Rica
* Flag of Jamaica.svg  Jamaica
* Flag of Honduras (1949-2022).svg  Honduras 		South America
* Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil
* Flag of Colombia.svg  Colombia
* Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg  Bolivia
* Flag of Paraguay.svg  Paraguay
* Flag of Chile.svg  Chile
* Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina
* Flag of Uruguay.svg  Uruguay
* Flag of Ecuador.svg  Ecuador
* Flag of Peru (state).svg  Peru
* Flag of Venezuela (state).svg  Venezuela 		Asia/Oceania A
* Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg  Saudi Arabia
* Flag of India.svg  India
* Flag of Iraq.svg  Iraq
* Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg  United Arab Emirates
* Flag of Iran.svg  Iran
* Flag of Qatar.svg  Qatar
* Flag of Oman.svg  Oman
* Flag of Bahrain.svg  Bahrain
* Flag of Kuwait.svg  Kuwait
* Flag of Uzbekistan.svg  Uzbekistan 		Asia/Oceania B
* Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia
* Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China
* Flag of the Republic of China.svg  Taiwan
* Flag of Thailand.svg  Thailand
* Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand
* Flag of South Korea.svg  South Korea
* Flag of Japan.svg  Japan
* Flag of Malaysia.svg  Malaysia
* Flag of Hong Kong 1959.svg  Hong Kong
* Flag of Singapore.svg  Singapore

Development and release

The Ultimate 11: SNK Football Championship was headed by Takashi Nishiyama. [5] I.Etsuko and Y.Romario served as co-designers. [5] Shinsekai Gakkyoku Zatsugidan members Yasuo "Tate-Norio" Yamate and MIKI handled both music and sound effects. [5] [6] The Ultimate 11 was first released by SNK for the Neo Geo MVS in Japan on October 16, 1996, and North America in November, and later for Neo Geo AES in December. [7] [8] [9] The game was one of the few Neo Geo releases to feature a corporate sponsor: Akai. [5] Both the Japanese and European AES releases have since become one of the more expensive titles on the platform, with copies of the port fetching over US$6,000 and $45,000 on the secondary video game collecting market respectively. [10] After its launch, the title was showcased to attendees at the 1996 AM Show. [11] D4 Enterprise re-released it on the Wii's Virtual Console in March 2013. [12] Hamster Corporation also re-released it for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in February 2019 under their Arcade Archives series. [13]

Reception

The Ultimate 11: SNK Football Championship received positive reception from critics but proved to be less popular than its predecessors. [4] [7] [16] A reviewer of Brazilian magazine Super Game Power  [ pt ] praised the fun factor, controls, graphics and sound. [15] AllGame 's Kyle Knight commended the improved visual presentation and fine-tuned gameplay but criticized the sound design and difficulty level of AI-controlled opponents. [14]

Notes

  1. ↑ Also known as Tokuten Ou: Honoo no Libero (Japanese: 得点王: 炎のリベロ, Hepburn: Tokuten Ō: Honō no Libero, lit. "Goal-Scoring King: The Flaming Sweeper") in Japan.

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References

  1. ↑ Setsu (October 2003). "Dossier - SNK Neo Geo: 1998". HardCore Gamers  [ fr ] (in French). No. 14. FJM Publications  [ fr ]. p. 12.
  2. ↑ "Arcadias: Super Sidekicks". Club Nintendo (in Spanish). No. 199. Editorial Televisa  [ es ]. June 2008. pp. 66–67.
  3. 1 2 The Ultimate 11: SNK Football Championship user's manual (Neo Geo AES, EU)
  4. 1 2 3 Hermellin, François (December 1996). "Joypolis - Les Secrets De L'Arcade: The Ultimate 11: SNK Football Championship". Joypad  [ fr ] (in French). No. 59. Yellow Media  [ fr ]. p. 120.
  5. 1 2 3 4 SNK (1996). The Ultimate 11: SNK Football Championship (Neo Geo MVS). SNK. Level/area: Staff roll.
  6. ↑ Fuentes, Edgar S. (August 31, 2016). "Vandal Game Music: SNK Sound Team — Realizamos un recorrido por el equipo interno de compositores de SNK desde sus inicios". Vandal (in Spanish). El Español. Archived from the original on 2020-11-06. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  7. 1 2 "Dossier: Neo Geo Y SNK — Deportivos". GamesTech (in Spanish). No. 11. Ares Informática. July 2003. p. 60.
  8. ↑ Akagi, Masumi (October 13, 2006). "SNK プレイモア （新日本企画、プレイモア）SNK; SNK; U". アーケードTVゲームリスト 国内•海外編 (1971-2005)[Arcade TV Game List: Domestic • Overseas Edition (1971-2005)] (in Japanese) (1st ed.). Amusement News Agency  [ ja ]. pp. 18–21, 133–135, 169. ISBN   978-4990251215.
  9. ↑ "Title Catalogue - NEOGEO MUSEUM". SNK Playmore. 2010. Archived from the original on 2018-08-28. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  10. ↑ Reichert, Nick (April 27, 2020). "The Rarest & Most Valuable Neo-Geo Games". Racketboy. Archived from the original on December 9, 2019. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  11. ↑ Delpierre, Christophe; Daniel, François; Castel, Rodney (November 1996). "L'arcade dépasse les bornes! - JAMMA le show continue: SNK". Player One  [ fr ] (in French). No. 69. Média Système Édition  [ fr ]. pp. 44–45.
  12. ↑ "得点王 炎のリベロ - ゲーム情報GAME". SNK Playmore (in Japanese). D4 Enterprise. 12 March 2013. Archived from the original on 2017-07-31. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  13. ↑ Moyse, Chris (March 3, 2019). "Win the cup of the world with The Ultimate 11: SNK Football Championship - TWAT! That was liquid football!". Destructoid . Enthusiast Gaming. Archived from the original on 2020-11-08. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  14. 1 2 Knight, Kyle (1998). "The Ultimate 11 (Neo Geo Advanced Entertainment System) – Review". AllGame . All Media Network. Archived from the original on 2014-11-15. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  15. 1 2 "Esporte Total - Neo Geo: The Ultimate 11". Super Game Power  [ pt ] (in Portuguese). No. 33. Nova Cultural  [ pt ]. December 1996. p. 52.
  16. ↑ Setsu (October 2003). "Dossier - SNK Neo Geo: 1996". HardCore Gamers  [ fr ] (in French). No. 14. FJM Publications  [ fr ]. p. 11.
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