Super Arcade Football Review - Arcade Soccer on a Budget

From OutOfTheBit game studios, Super Arcade Football is a modern take on classic soccer games. Available on PC and the Nintendo Switch, Super Arcade Football is a fast-paced footy game with an enthralling backstory that has you rooting for the little guy. Originally released back in 2016 and updated some five years later, OutOfTheBit nailed what arcade sports titles should be about: fun, fun, and more fun.

What I Like – Super Arcade Football Review

Story Mode

There are two things that all soccer fans love, a good story and the idea that they can manage a team and do it better than the pros. Thankfully, Super Arcade Football hits on both of those with its unique story mode, which starts when you take over your favorite local team, Balarm, as it faces bankruptcy. While you don’t quite possess Ted Lasso levels of charm, the task ahead of you is just as daunting.

Faced with taking over the managerial role for the first time, story mode is a nice way to break up the monotony of playing games. It’s not overbearing, but instead a welcomed distraction that hits at your emotions as you navigate through the hardships that professional sports management can throw at you.

Easy To Pick Up And Play

With eFootball and FIFA attempting to replicate simulation football, Super Arcade Football is as refreshing as lemonade on a hot summer day thanks to its simplified control scheme. With strong Sensible Soccer vibes, Super Arcade Football features a top-down vertical pitch and a one-button control scheme (space bar) that seems basic at times but is entirely functional.

Apart from wanting to send in the occasional cross, one button for passing, shooting, and even slide tacking is effective and responsive. There is even crazy over-the-top weather such as meteors or ice that can throw in some added challenges to your game.

Game Modes

Apart from a dedicated season mode, there are a variety of different ways to enjoy the game. There is the aforementioned story mode, plus tournaments within story mode — including having a few challenges within each match to keep things fresh. There’s also an online mode that I didn’t get a chance to play since the OutOfTheBit team provided an early access code, but I’m looking forward to testing my acumen against other humans in the future.

Even within tournament mode there are a couple options such as leagues and traditional knockout tournaments that you can customize as you see fit. Indie games such as Super Arcade Soccer are only as good as the modes they provide, and this one excels in that area.

Graphics

Being a throwback to the 16-bit days, Super Arcade Football isn’t going to wow you with photo-realistic graphics. It’s not that type of game, and I’m happy for it. Instead, the retro-inspired visuals create a sense of nostalgia as you battle the elements on pitches of different colors to reflect the weather conditions. Icy pitches, meteor-ridden pitches, and worn-out pitches all help to create different environments to play on, each coming with its own unique challenges.

The gameplay is 11-on-11, so it can be hard to tell the different players apart, but luckily there’s still a player name bar — just like in larger footy titles such as FIFA and eFootball. Super Arcade Football isn’t going to blow anyone away graphically, but for what OutOfTheBit is trying to accomplish here on the graphics front, the game is a success.

What I Don’t Like – Super Arcade Football Review

Longevity

With a $9.99 price, the only negative when it comes to Super Arcade Football centers around longevity, and that is not necessarily a bad thing. For a 16-bit mobile-like game such as this one, long-term value is not the first priority here. How much long-term appeal the game retains is entirely determined by how much you enjoy the game and the aforementioned tournaments that can be customized to your every whim.

The online mode certainly extends play time, and the the story mode caps out at roughly 60 matches. Matches can be as short as two minutes each if you’re trying to run through them. For less than $10, this game is not meant to have prolonged seasons like FIFA‘s career mode, so just running through the initial story arc should be good enough for most players.

Bottom Line

Video games are supposed to be about fun, and Super Arcade Football accomplishes exactly that. Whether it’s bending the rules in a custom tournament or playing through the story mode, Super Arcade Football is a cool 16-bit throwback with enough there to keep you entertained. With its simple control scheme and challenging AI, it’s a game that’s easy to pick up yet hard to master. Five years in the works, it’s clear that there’s a market for indie footy titles and not just FIFA or eFootball.