Match Day II

Matchday II
ZX Spectrum Cover art
Developer(s)Jon Ritman
Publisher(s)Ocean Software
Platform(s)Amstrad CPC, Amstrad PCW, Commodore 64, MSX, ZX Spectrum
Release1987
Genre(s)Sports
Mode(s)1 or 2 players

Match Day II is a football sports game part of the Match Day series released for the Amstrad CPC, Amstrad PCW, ZX Spectrum, MSX and Commodore 64 platforms. It was created in 1987 by Jon Ritman with graphics by Bernie Drummond and music and sound by Guy Stevens[1] (except for the Commodore version, which was a line-by-line conversion by John Darnell[2]). It is the sequel to 1984's Match Day.

Gameplay

The controls consist of four directions (allowing eight directions including diagonals) and a shot button. Each team has seven players,[3] including goalkeeper and there are league and cup options available.

The game is considered highly addictive due to its difficulty level, the complete control over ball direction, power and elevation (using a Diamond Deflection System),[4] and the importance of tactics and player positioning over the field (barging if necessary[5]), which makes it challenging to break strong defences. It was the first game to use a kickometer.[6]

Some versions of the game play the song "When the Saints Go Marching In" while the players are walking to their initial positions on the field at the beginning of each half.[7]

Reception

The ZX Spectrum version of the game went to number 2 in the UK sales charts, behind Out Run.[8]

The game is similar to a previous unpublished game by Jon Ritman, Soccerama.[9] Later, in 1995, Jon Ritman tried to release Match Day III, but the name of the game was changed to Super Match Soccer to avoid any potential legal issues.[9]

References

  1. ^ Comment about authors of the game in Ritman's home page, ritman.co.uk
  2. ^ Matchday II Archived 2008-07-24 at the Wayback Machine at Stadium64
  3. ^ Match Day II review at crashonline.org
  4. ^ Matchday 2 review at Your Sinclair Rock and Roll Years Archived 2008-02-21 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ Match Day 2 instructions[permanent dead link‍] at zxsoftware.co.uk
  6. ^ Football games at geocities.com/SiliconValley
  7. ^ Match Day 2 review at pressplaythenanykey.com (in Spanish)
  8. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-06-20. Retrieved 2014-06-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. ^ a b "Interview with Ritman at amstradmuseum.com". Archived from the original on 2009-06-07. Retrieved 2010-11-29.