Reminder: Nintendo Is Removing Super Soccer From Switch Online Tomorrow

I do wonder why it's leaving. I'm assuming it's not Nintendo's choice and has everything to do with Spike Chunsoft.

I've been playing the hell out of this while I can. It's fine.

Maybe it's a licencing dispute and it might come back? I hope this is just a one off and we keep all the games going forward.

I really hope that they don’t remove other games off the service after this one. A lot of the games I play on NSO are licensed games, and they are absolutely a blast and introduced me to a lot of good game franchises that have become my favorites.

I have to wonder why it’s being removed, but I’d assume it’s maybe the licensing rights expiring. I think that’s the most plausible reasoning whenever a game gets removed off of a service or storefront.

@Pastellioli The only theory going around is Spike Chunsoft (owner of the Human Entertainment catalog) being part of a chain of ownership involving Sony, a company known to sometimes to get a little petty in the gaming business.

I'm surprised this hasn't happened before. Multiple games disappear from Playstation Plus every month. Maybe Nintendo, to their credit, insist on longer term licenses?

I played it a while ago and I thought it was honestly kinda meh.

I had this back in my bad old Magicom pirating days and played it for about 5 minutes....in all honesty it's no loss.

@KingMike Oh. That makes sense now…that kind of doesn’t surprise me a bit now.

Oh no!…..ah it’s a football game, oh well.

I think people either get and enjoy the Human Entertainment game style or they don't. Super Formation Soccer was a big seller on the SFC import scene as it was an early release. I still have brand new unsold copies of this and the sequels lying around.

From the '94 update onwards, the game engine was overhauled and the speed of the PC Engine games returned, making for a far more enjoyable experience.

@KingMike I'd be curious to verify that information of Spike Chunsoft owning the catalog. It seems at best what I could find, is that the catalog rights got split up. Any details would be appreciated.

Also, with Sony having a stake in Spike Chunsoft's parent, parent company, I wouldn't be as quick to point a finger to that being the issue. I mean it's not impossible, all these big gaming companies are dicks, but it seems like it was more a licensing timing issue than anything else.

I mean you can still play it on retroarch or whatever emulator you want. And it'll still be rubbish.

I remember owning this when I got my SNES back in the early 90's

It seemed pretty decent at the time.

Unfortunately however, unlike the other game I owned (Super Mario World), this one hasn't aged particularly well.

I do love a bit of retro gaming, however with the modern football games being so good and so polished it can be hard to go back to games like this.

The only older football game I'll make an exception for is Sensible Soccer

All things considered, it is the first we have had in the lifespan of the console and we are in the shadow of an upcoming Switch 2 launch. This, and the fact that they are viewing NSO as a carry on to the next console, with the library going over, suggests to me that drops off won't be as bad as some scaremongers always insist on. This all said, I would be interested to know if they (Nintendo) have stats on what games are being played on the service, and whether barely played ones may not get renewed.

Lots of people saying it's a crappy game, which is just unfair. It's a solid C+. The 3D effect ain't bad neither.

Subpar Soccer

To be disappointed, or not to be disappointed, that is the question. My answer? Yes.

@Inc
Thats why i wish there was the option to purchase/keep games (similar to ps+ and iirc gamepass) since it would at least offer some form of contingency plan against delisting's.

@FatWormBlowsASparky Lol I read your comment then looked at the headline and that’s what I read.

I actually like Super Soccer. Me and a mate have been playing it on & off for the past 3 years, and always have a good time playing it. We may be the only 2 people that'll miss it 😄

@Mana_Knight The 3D effect was super impressive at the time. As a Sega kid, this was one of the early SNES games that I used to look at the box with envy. I think I only had World Cup Italia 90 back then, and it was terrible. I still loved it though. I never actually played Super Soccer till NSO. It's not great but it's not bad either, C+ is fair. I would have loved it back in the day.

Talking about it makes me want to play it. Going to play a few games.

Come on, Nintendo/Konami, take advantage of the timing, add ISS Deluxe to the NSO and no one will remember Super Soccer departure.

@Zach I mean, it is a very early game. Just getting anything "Mode 7" out was a technical challenge. Maybe the first (of MANY) soccer games on the console, so that has to count for something. (OMG I remember this Japanese video series with a clip of every SFC game in chronological order. Once it hit July 1994, there were way too many soccer games being pushed out!)

They can't all be HAL's Hole-in-One Golf (another early game that's probably not great but I had to buy a copy for cheap just to check out the scaling and rotation was almost definitely Iwata flexing).

Super Soccer is a good game. There's a reason why Nintendo of America picked up the publishing rights back in the day. Same with NCAA Basketball.

“Oh my god what’s next, Super Mario World?!”

I stg that’s how some people reacted to this news.

Don’t remove my Earthworm Jim 2. That’s all I ask. 😭

I couldn't care less about this game in particular, but it still sucks to see as I think this is the first time they're removing a game from NSO? I had kinda assumed they were all safe. Oh well.

Genuinely had to create an account to address some of the tripe here - Supper Soccer is easily the greatest football game of all time (following by the Wii one where you could move guys off the ball and then ISS (1 or 2?) on the Cube I think). Play as Belgium and complete both modes then you'll see.

Also the tunes are banging

Emulation is good, actually. Means you don't got to deal with nonsense like this.

If you really want to play the game there's only a billion options for emulation these days and easily accessible complete rom collections on archive. NSO is a game streaming service. Streaming services are subject to change.

This games removal is getting more coverage than it did when it originally released
😀

@Duncanballs

That's because it being removed is actually a bigger deal than it being added, believe it or not.

@Sarkos
Sadly licencing can be very volatile and yeah im in a similar situation where this isnt a game which interests me but every game is at least someone's favourite so its always unfortunate to see something delisted.

@EarthboundBenjy
Also being that its NSO rather than eshop it being delisted means its outright becoming unplayable where's with eshop games people could at least scramble to purchase the game before its gone in order to still play it.

And this is why the NSO is doo-doo compared to the eshop and virtual console. I don't care about this particular game, but its the fact that you can't keep what you pay for.

This is actually what tomorrow's Nintendo Direct is about, a 30 minute tribute to Super Soccer.

@Pastellioli They likely won't remove any more games unless said games are bad and/or have no solid player base like Super Soccer does/is. The other 3rd party games have solid player bases, so they should be safe!

The press this game is getting because of it's deletion is far more than it received back in 1991.

Insane.

Clearly needs a countdown clock too. The next update when it is removed just won't cover the gravity of this situation.

I'll just play it through an emulator if I feel the need to play it again at this point.

Or I'll fire it up on my Super Nintendo since I still have it on cartridge from back then.

Oh no whatever shall we do??? The sky is falling!!

Oh, so this is why Nintendo is dropping the Nintendo Direct tomorrow, so that we don't riot over Super Soccer taps head

@Justifier

"nothing good is lost here."

its true, this whole time these games could and eventually would be removed from service.

it seems to me that this is all "told you so" for the people who don't like NSO, or subscription services generally, and "who cares?" from the people who do.

@Nintendofanatic994

"They likely won't remove any more games unless said games are bad and/or have no solid player base like Super Soccer does/is. The other 3rd party games have solid player bases, so they should be safe!"

you say that like you have some kind of relevant experience, privileged knowledge of the situation, or supporting evidence but my suspicion is you have none. ✌️

its surprising to me how many people continuously miss the story, and not just in relatively low stakes contexts as this.

Yet another example of why the online subscription model sucks for retro gaming. If I could just purchase these games like the old virtual console I wouldn't have to worry about rights and access being taken away, but noooo, they had to force the subscription model and now games just disappear.

I played it before it gets the boot. Can’t say I like the game especially, but I’m still displeased it’s getting cut from the roster.

@-wc- I'm just speaking as a fact-checker.

I'm calling it now: Super Soccer HD Deluxe Remastered

Is this normal for them to be removing games? Or is this the first time they are removing one?

Are they replacing it with "Soccer that is super".... Nothing much lost here the game is so dated.

@JayJ,

I doubt the virtual console service is coming back, there is just not enough interest in all this apart from the core gamers. The system is fine for the majority of casuals who are buying the Switch.

It is what it is, plus I hated having to rebuy certain games over and over each generation. And most do not have time to play current games let alown old retro ones.

@SBandy1
My man!

@Yosher
This guy Super Soccers - well played

@johnvboy I don't know where all this talk of "there's not enough interest in virtual console games, nobody wants to play them" is coming from when retro gaming has never been more popular.

@JayJ,

Define popular. Pretty sure it's core hobby gamers on the whole. Yes there are retro arcades etc.. but not really the same thing.

I think it's because many / possibly most modern games are a bit crap so real gamers are tending to play the old and gold stuff again. I certainly pay for NSO for the retro titles (and would probably pay the annual cost for Super Soccer alone - incredible game).