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MasterKick is a table-soccer or foosball simulation distributed by Industry Entertainment (www.indus3.org). There are no stated minimum system requirements, and versions are available for Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, as well as Windows Mobile and PalmOS for your mobile devices.

I was under the impression that MasterKick was going to be a soccer simulation, and so I fumbled my way through the Quick Start menu and into a match. It was only when the match started and my in-line soccer men started moving in tandem with my mouse that I clued in: "Oh, table soccer". After trying about 15 keys I discovered that the Ctrl key spins the foosmen - useful info if you want to actually kick the ball. Some instructions would have been nice. The perspective during game play is a bird's eye view, and I was a little disappointed that there weren't any other viewpoint options. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

MasterKick includes two modes of play: Quick Match and League Tournament, which is only available in the full version. There is an options menu, but it only has cosmetic options: volume, clouds or no clouds, shadows on or off, etc. My first irritation came when I tried to Check for Updates. The website opened fine, but I got booted out of the game! The same thing happened when I tried to see other games by Industry Entertainment, buy the full version, or activate my current version. It's only a small detail, but an oversight nonetheless.

When setting up a Quick Match or League you can choose from 6 teams (only one is available in the trial version) and 7 layout variations. You can also select the difficulty level, field type (again, only one is available in the trial version), and match type (timed or 5-goal limit). The game play is exactly what you would expect, and nothing more it's table soccer on your PC, Mac or mobile device. The foosmen move back and forth in response to your mouse movements, or you can use the keyboard arrows. The Ctrl button spins your men in an attempt to kick the ball. Much like traditional table soccer, you have to time it right. There is a replay feature, but it doesn't add much.

Overall, the PC/Mac/Linux version of this game gets a 1/5 rating. MasterKick is in the same genre as the pinball game that came installed on my PC, and it's less enjoyable. I was bored after about 5 minutes. There weren't any major flaws; the concept just wasn't all that engaging. The Windows Mobile/Palm OS version gets a 3/5 rating because I could see enjoying this game on the train or in a boring class (better mute it though - it's loud!). MasterKick is not worth your time as a PC game, but it would make for an average addition to your cell phone or PDA.

Learn more about this author, Jared Ott.
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