Here are some closeups of the sprites.  In order of display: the goalie, the 'indestructible' soccer player, 2 various stages of the sprites that occur after the sprite has been struck by the soccer ball, the 'sunglasses' stages of the sprites which mean the soccer player is almost destroyed (side), the sunglasses stage from the front, and the last stage of sprite right before destruction.

Sound: 4/10
Although the music of the game isn't enough to cause me to scream in pain, it isn't anything to smile at, either. There are at least five different pieces of music for the game, with each piece being quite distinguishable, and yet not even the slightest bit memorable.  Every single one of them is only a few beats long and continuously loops throughout play.  The most annoying noise, however, ended up being the 'game over' tune.  The game is so impossible to play, that you end up losing the game quite frequently... having your ears assaulted by that little fall of notes over.... and over.... and OVER again.  The sound alone was enough to make me want to rage quit the game, or at the very least, record the noise and use it to drive someone crazy.

So maybe I'm teasing about the last line, but it isn't the only sound which feels poorly thought out.  Each time the soccer ball hits a frame of the game or a soccer player, it makes a quiet 'ting' noise which is barely audible over the annoying techno beats.  Although the sound in and of itself is not bad, it's rather annoying that you can only hear it by listening very closely.  As I mentioned in my review of  Arkanoid, that little tell-tale ping is one of the things I love most about the game.  It's such a shame to miss that little joy when so much more is lacking in this game.

Addictiveness: 3/10
You probably couldn't pay me to keep playing this game.  While I absolutely love the concept, the game is quite the disappointment.  There are quite a few things that make it not worth your time, even aside from the emerging graphics and unimaginative soundtrack.  There's not much to distinguish one round from another, and the game is far too complicated to really get into.  If it weren't for the ability to 'continue' this game with the unlimited coin supply, there's no way I would have played the game even past level 2.  I might have stuck it out to see if things differ as the game progresses.... but once I survived to that second level and saw the same striped lawn?  I would have walked away from the cabinet immediately.  It's just simply not worth the heartache.

Story: N/A
Not much to say here, I suppose.  This seems to be one of the things lacking from the game, which is probably no big surprise to anyone that's read at least this far.

I'll just give you some more interesting graphics to stare at instead.  ;)

Depth: 6/10
Unfortunately, there's not much depth to this game if you're looking for something that will retain your interest and change frequently.  Once you've seen the first level, you've really seen it all.  On the other hand, this category in and of itself is the sole reason I rated the game so favorably.  I mean, I see the potential this game has to be great... and it frustrates me that the opportunity was squandered so effectively.

What makes this different from every other breakout game?  Well, for one, there's goalie at the top of the screen.  Any time the soccer ball even moves into his near vicinity, he catches the ball and kicks it back towards the paddle as hard as he can.  If you're just starting the stage, however, the ball usually ends up being caught by the players, and they wreck havoc with your eyes.... kicking the ball from player to player until the ball finally zips your way from an unexpected direction.  Although this is an aspect of the game which makes it a little more difficult, the goalie also has a huge bonus.  Occasionally, he will miss the ball and you score a 'goal', gaining a huge amount of points and sometimes even advancing to the next stage.  This seems to happen very rarely, but has the effect of any gaming accomplishment: a short shout of joy before continued focus on the game.

Like any breakout game, the soccer ball does begin to travel faster as it stays on the screen for an extended amount of time. However, this is nearly impossible to witness or experience due to the difficulty of the game. Unlike other breakout games, the ball's path is nearly unpredictable.  Players kick the ball if it approaches them from behind (goalie side), and sometimes the ball will travel horizontally or straight down at a tremendous speed.

I think these unique aspects offer a depth Arkanoid never could, but their poor execution make them very hard to enjoy.

Difficulty: 9/10
Have I said this before?  This game is nearly IMPOSSIBLE to enjoy.  In order to advance to each stage, the player needs to have superhuman reflexes and an even faster computer.  Perhaps playing the cabinet with a joystick makes the game more feasible, but success certainly isn't attainable using a keyboard or mouse.  If it weren't for the fact that I was interested in reviewing the game... the taunting 'end game' tune and the idea of continuing every 30 seconds would have caused me to run in the opposite direction.

Not only is the soccer ball too small to see, the player sprites too distracting to keep track of, the goalie too impossible to trick, and the soccer ball's descent too quick..... but the pill bonuses seem to almost be a joke.  In fact, there seem to be only two real pluses to catching pills:  one pill extends the length of the paddle by about double, and another pill causes the paddle to become sticky.  All other pills seem to have no effect on gameplay or only add points to the game score.  While I understand that many arcade gamers play for the sake of achieving a high score, I simply can't imagine someone playing this game long enough to -care- about making the top of a list.

I'm not even sure what the point of the pills are, or what they are supposed to represent.  The 'sticky' pill is labeled with the letter c, and the extension pill is simply rainbow colored, but there are other pills which are simply unexplainable.  Some example of pills that have no noticeable effects include those labeled with the letters s and l.  There's even an 'f' pill, but that at least puts a floating coin across the screen, labeled with the letter h.

As ashamed as I am to admit it, I'm not sure what that coin does.  After hours and hours of play, my soccer ball never ONCE hit that coin, despite my best efforts.

Anyways, the game is way, WAY too hard. I don't rage quit easily, but this games only redemption came from the ability to have a limitless supply of 'coins' with which I could 'continue' the game as many times as I wanted.  I probably restarted the game over 100 times while trying to get through it.


In conclusion....
What sold the game for me was easily, EASILY the uniqueness of it.  I wouldn't recommend it for the sake of playing it, but simply for the sake of seeing a wonderful idea which failed greatly.  It's such a shame that this genius idea went to waste, but perhaps someone will take it and fly with it some day.  I do know there was at least one re-make of this game, but the only difference I could tell were some majorly improved graphics.