Super Sidekicks

Published in 1993, the original Super Sidekicks (known as Tokuten Ou, „Goal-Scoring King“ in Japan) was SNK’s first soccer video game. It features 12 teams divided into two groups which compete for the „SNK Cup“ (the main differences between teams is their formations on the field):

Group A: Germany, Italy, Spain, England, Mexico, Japan
Group B: Argentina, Holland, Brazil, France, United States, South Korea

The players‘ team plays against all the others in their group, then it goes into an elimination tournament’s semifinals and then the final to win the cup. There was also a hidden feature in the game, which wasn’t documented, and affects a single player game. During a free kick for the CPU if the player has tapped button A for player two, the CPU performs a short-shot, while pressing the button A performs a longer kick.