I'm surrounded by Super Nintendos. I have one at home and review games using one here at the office of IE. I generally kick back with Super Mario World or Super Mario All-Stars late at night, because the nature of those two games doesn't really require me to expend a lot of effort playing them. They're mellow, reasonably non-violent adventure games.

	I wasn't even aware of any commercial games like Mario for the PC. Sure, I'd played some terrific shareware platform games like Duke Nukem and Hocus Pocus, but I'd never seen anything bigger and better in any store. So I was taken slightly by surprise when MicroLeague's Soccer Kid was dropped into my folder . . . like any normal human being, I took a look at the title and assumed it was a sports game. Well, needless to say, I was wrong.

	Without hesitation, I can say that Soccer Kid has secured a long-term spot on my hard drive. It's what's been missing from the PC for so long . . . a quality platform game with innovative gameplay. How innovative? Well, there are so many similarities between all of the platform games out there that originality sometimes gets lost in the shuffle. It won't get lost here . . . it's staring you in the face the whole time. Soccer Kid's lone possession is his soccer ball. That's right, mom and dad. He doesn't have any heavy artillery and he can't get any anywhere in the game. Not that he needs any. His soccer ball proves to be sufficient weaponry, especially after you get the hang of the special controls and learn how to make him perform overhead kicks and head shots. Rarely do platform game characters have this kind of complexity. 

	But don't fret. If you prefer platform games because the characters aren't complex, you'll be pleased to know that the game can be successfully played without having to do any of the trick kicks just mentioned. The basics of Soccer Kid are easy enough for a five-year old to understand. You try to complete levels by running through them in typical side-scrolling fashion, killing big bad skaters and firemen as you go. There are several hidden areas in every level, usually high in the sky and reachable via jumping like crazy. Two modes of difficulty are available, Normal and Practice, which appeared to be identical, save for the fact that, in Practice Mode, all non-Boss enemies are killed after one hit from the deadly ball. Even in Normal Mode, however, the first few levels of Soccer Kid are rather simple and are meant to ease you into the swing of things as later levels get to be more of a challenge.

	And yeah, there's a plot, but like the plots of other platform games before it, it's totally unimportant. Supposedly, some aliens invaded Earth, and in the process, shattered the World Cup into five pieces. The ever-intrepid Soccer Kid is on a quest to find the five pieces and put them back together again. Who comes up with these plots, anyhow? Oh well . . . I don't mean to take anything away from the game . . . it really is quite good. Some neat quirks set it apart. For instance, a save-game feature is included, which is good news for anyone who has lost sleep at night trying to beat a game without one. And for those of you who think red and tan are lame, you can customize Soccer Kid's jersey colors at the main menu.

	Keeping with true platform game style, there are a few special power-ups to be found. They're pretty generic, though . . . at least, the ones I found were: speed-up, life-up, and invisibility. Only the life-up bonus is really useful . . . Soccer Kid dies after three hits or when his 500-second-per-round time limit expires. Believe me, you'll never run out of time, so life points are really the only concern. Seeing as that the objective of every level is the same, though, dying really won't leave you with any sense of disappointment . . . this is definitely an easy game to pick up or put down. If you tinker with Tetris or Lemmings during your spare time, I urge you to try out Soccer Kid because it has the same leisurely feel. Beware, though, you may get hooked.