Nowadays when it comes to football sims there isn’t much choice beyond Pro Evo and FIFA, but it wasn’t always that way.
Back in the early ’00s there was a slightly more varied choice, and in order to rival EA Sports’ stranglehold companies would turn to footballers and managers to endorse their titles.
Everybody was getting in on the act; from David Beckham Soccer and Sven-Göran Eriksson’s World Manager to O’Leary Manager 2000 and Chris Kamara Street Soccer, but if you wanted to play one of those then you had to spend a fortune on a Playstation, an XBox, or a Gameboy Colour.
And you certainly couldn’t do that in school time. Step forward Roberto Baggio, and Roby Baggio’s Magical Kicks. In an IT lesson and tired of learning how to use Excel? Magical Kicks. In a history lesson and bored of dying from typhoid on The Oregon Trail? Magical Kicks. In an English lesson and growing weary of BBC Bitesize notes on Shakespeare? Magical Kicks. In any lesson whatsoever and in front of a computer? If your school’s 56k internet connection and outdated Flash player could take it then chances are you and your mates would find yourselves on Magical Kicks.
If you weren’t lucky enough to spend your school days playing Magical Kicks because you were too busy learning about science and geography and stuff then here’s some background.
You take on the role of Italian legend, the Divine Ponytail himself, Roberto Baggio as you seek to execute a series of well placed free kicks through three clicks of your mouse; one for power, one for direction and one for curl. The technique is so simple that it leaves you wondering how any footballer ever manages to miss the target.
Sometimes Baggio will be joined by a teammate, the legendary Astrosolid. Astrosolid, in his famous #20 shirt, will occasionally tee you up for your set piece or simply wait in the box for a pass that he can turn towards goal. Sometimes, in the knowledge of how deadly Astrosolid can be from six yards, the defender will give away a penalty – which were seemingly impossible to score from. For all his good points Astrosolid will not, under any circumstances, slot in the rebound after the goalkeeper saves your free kicks, but he’ll always celebrate alongside you after each goal.
In the pantheon of football trophies there is the World Cup, the Champions League and, of course, the Passion Cup. Score enough goals between Astrosolid and yourself and the Official Passion Network will begin awarding you Passion Cups. The ultimate aim is to fill your imaginary trophy cabinet with as many of these cups as possible, and beat your classmates by the end of your lesson, or until your RE teacher catches you and directs you back to Encarta ‘95.
You see the joy of Magical Kicks, alongside its ease of access and healthy competition, was the fact that it was endless; there was no time limit, no lives, you just kept going until you were forcibly moved away from the computer. By that time you and your friends, plus Roberto Baggio and Astrosolid, could have scored thousands of goals, won hundreds of Passion Cups and, for some reason, tallied up the number of times you hit the woodwork. And still not scored from a penalty.
The unfortunate thing about what we must assume is Roberto Baggio’s career highlight is that it was impossible to save your progress. If you accidentally used the webpage to Ask Jeeves how to use WordArt then all your goals and trophies would drift off into the ether, to be turned into folklore and legend; “Remember my 538 goals in one IT lesson?”, “I got 378 Passion Cups at lunch”, “I scored a penalty”. Myths that would pass from friend to friend with little or no evidence.
The good news is, though, that you’re not longer at school and now you know how to use the print screen function – and Roby Baggio’s Magical Kicks is still online. So if all this has got you nostalgic for Roberto and Astrosolid then fire it up, get your fingers at the ready, and bring home those Passion Cups. And get ready to hide the browser behind a spreadsheet whenever your boss walks past.
Here’s Roby Baggio’s Magical Kicks…
Football Games
Baggio`s Magical Kicks
