Marko's Magic Football

For the unreleased Sega Master System version, see Marko's Magic Football (Master System).

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PAL
NTSC-U
PAL
Game Gear

Marko's Magic Football

System(s): Sega Mega Drive, Sega Game Gear, Sega Mega-CD

Publisher: Domark

Developer:

The Cartoon Mavericks

Interactive Studios

Distributor:

Time Warner Interactive (US)

SF Interactive Media (SE rental)

Sega-Ozisoft (AU)

Tec Toy (BR)

Acclaim Entertainment (EU)

Sound driver:

GEMS

Genre: Action^[1]

Number of players: 1

Official in-game languages:

English

Deutsch

Français

Español

Release	Date	RRP	Code
US	1994-09^[2]	$59.9559.95^[3]	T-88086
EU	1994		T-88086-50
PT	1994
UK	1994-07-21^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7]	£44.9944.99^[8]^[9]	T-88086-50
SE (Rental)	199x
AU	1994	$129.95129.95^[10]	FMAR04SMC
BR	199x		046630
EU	1994		T-88025-50
UK	1995-07-28^[11]		T-88025-50
AU	199x		FMAR04SMR
EU	1994		T-88078-50
UK	1994-09^[12]	£29.9929.99^[13]	T-88078-50

Non-Sega versions
Super NES

Marko's Magic Football, known simply as Marko in North America, is a 1994 platform game developed and published by Domark for the Sega Mega Drive, Sega Mega-CD, and Sega Game Gear.

The Mega-CD and Game Gear versions were released exclusively in Europe (though a US release was at one point planned for December 1994^[14]). The Mega-CD port would later be unofficially brought to the US via Good Deal Games who started selling unlicensed reproductions sometime in the 2000s.

Story

The evil mastermind Colonel Brown, owner of Sterling Toys, has enlisted the aid of a mad scientist to create mutant sludge monsters out of innocent animals. He intends to use an army of these creatures to take over the town of North Sterlington.

The young boy Marko was playing with his football when he came across the Colonel's lackeys pouring sludge into the sewers. His football came in contact with the toxic sludge and absorbed magical properties from it. With this magical football, Marko can put a stop to the Colonel's sinister plans.

Gameplay

Mega Drive and Mega-CD versions

North Sterlington

The game is a platformer played as Marko, a football player with a magical football. It is similar to Soccer Kid and Hurricanes, two other platformers released around the same time that also involve using a soccer ball. Most of the levels require simply making it to the end, though a few levels require destroying all of the Sludge Cans first. Marko can use his football in different ways to help him with platforming or to take out enemies. The game has a mode where the player can practice Marko's moves in his "backyard," a training level filled with harmless targets instead of enemies.

Marko moves with and and ducks with . He jumps with and jumps longer if the button is held for longer. Marko's football appears in front of him, and he dribbles it while he walks or runs. He breaks contact with it when he jumps, but he dribbles it again if he walks or runs next to it. He kicks the ball with and kicks it farther if the button is held for longer. He can kick while moving. Marko can affect the trajectory of the ball by holding to kick it, the pressing or . So Marko chips the ball in a high arc with HOLD , kicks it about head-level by holding , kicks it in a low arc by tapping , and rolls it along the ground with HOLD . Enemies are defeated by hitting them with the ball. Many enemies require more than one hit to defeat. The ball rolls and bounces off objects and surfaces realistically. Marko catches the ball when it bounces or rolls back to him and can kick it again right after. Whenever the ball is away from Marko (or if it destroyed by hazards such as spikes), Marko can make it magically reappear in front of him with (and also with in the Mega-CD version).

Marko can also use his football to bounce higher by jumping and pressing when he lands on the ball, allowing him to reach higher platforms. The ball floats in water or sludge, so Marko can also use it to bounce across wide pools.

In the Mega Drive version, Marko runs by holding while walking. He can jump much farther and higher from a running start. Marko can juggle the ball with his foot with HOLD . While juggling, he can perform a bicycle kick with , which kicks the ball behind him at high speed, dealing more damage than a regular kick. Tapping kicks it high, while holding kicks it low. While Marko is juggling the ball with his foot, he can switch to juggling it on his head with HOLD again. If he jumps while head juggling, he knocks the ball upward, which is useful for taking out enemies above him. He can walk while head juggling; while moving, he can head the ball forward by pressing +. Marko can switch back to juggling the ball with his foot with HOLD (and then the same buttons again to stop juggling and place the ball back in front of Marko).

In the Mega-CD version, Marko starts running after walking a short distance. His acceleration physics affect his jump too, so his jump speed increases after clearing a certain distance (which has the effect of making him jump higher when he jumps farther). Marko can juggle the ball with his foot with . While juggling, he can perform a bicycle kick with , which kicks the ball behind him at high speed, dealing more damage than a regular kick. Tapping kicks it high, while holding kicks it low. While Marko is juggling the ball with his foot, he can switch to juggling it on his head with again. If he jumps while head juggling, he knocks the ball upward, which is useful for taking out enemies above him. He can walk while head juggling. He can head the ball with , which can be done while moving. If done when standing, he can angle the shot by holding or . Marko can switch back to juggling the ball with his foot with (and then again to stop juggling and place the ball back in front of Marko).

Marko has a health bar with five segments. He loses a health segment if he takes damage from an enemy or a hazard such as fire. Touching an enemy harms him, and many enemies have projectile attacks as well. He loses a life if he loses all of his health. Hazards such as water or slime pits also cost a life if he falls into them. The game ends if the player runs out of lives. There is a password system for continuing.

Objects

	Boxing Glove
	Springs Marko high into the air if he jumps on it, usually to reach bonus items. Each glove can only be used one time.
	Sludge Can
	Harms Marko if he touches it. Some levels require destroying all of the Sludge Cans to complete.
	Tourist
	Takes Marko's picture when he comes close. If he loses a life, he is revived at the last Tourist he reached.
	Recycling Machine
	Found at the end of most levels. Touch to end the level.

Items

In addition to these items, there are many hidden spots in levels that award 2,000 bonus points when Marko jumps in them.

Trainers are collected by ducking over them with .

	Cola Can
	Awards 100 bonus points. At the end of each level, the player is awarded an additional 500 points per can collected. Some cans are found suspended from balloons. Touching or shooting down the balloon drops the can.
	Star
	Collect 100 stars to earn an extra life. Also awards 100 bonus points.
	Big Star
	Worth 8 stars. Also awards 10,000 bonus points.
	Heart
	Restores one segment of Marko's health bar.
	Trainers
	Makes a large, glowing football appear, which explodes after a moment, destroying any enemies and collecting any items on the screen.
	Blue Trainers
	Replaces Marko's football with a machine gun for a duration. The machine gun shoots straight ahead with and straight upward + in the Mega Drive version or in the Mega-CD version. Marko can only fire the gun while standing, not while ducking or jumping.
	Green Trainers
	Grants Marko temporary invincibility for as long as he is flashing.
	Plasma Ball
	Gives the player an extra life.
	UFO
	Awards 10,000 bonus points.
	Giant Hamburger
	Awards 10,000 bonus points.

Levels

	Suburbia

	The Cellars
	Password: `HAUNTING`

	Suburbia
	Password: `BSTOKE`

	The Sewers
	Password: `GUNGETNK`

	The Sewers
	Password: `ECTOPLSM`

	The Sewers
	Password: `JAWS`

	Industrial Zone
	Password: `GARAGE`

	Suburbia
	Password: `TRAFFIC`

	The Forest
	Password: `ELF`

	The Circus
	Password: `KRUSTY`

	The Circus
	Password: `BARREL`

	The Forest
	Password: `CRABTREE`

	The Toy Factory
	Password: `WINDUP`

Game Gear version

The game is a platformer played as Marko, a kid who can use his magical football to attack enemies. Marko moves with and . He starts with a walk but breaks into a run after moving in a direction. He rolls along the ground with and , which can be used to fit into tight spaces. He ducks with and jumps with .

Marko dribbles his football in front of him as he walks or runs. He breaks contact with it when he jumps, but he dribbles it again if he walks or runs next to it. He kicks the ball with . He kicks it low if the button is released quickly and kicks it higher if the button is held for longer. Enemies are defeated by hitting them with the ball. If the ball is away from Marko, he can make it magically reappear in front of him with . Marko can use his football like a trampoline by pressing when he lands on the ball, allowing him to bounce higher. Marko can juggle the ball on his head with HOLD , then he can head the ball with (to hit overhead enemies) or stop juggling with .

Marko has a health bar with three segments and loses a health segment if he takes damage from an enemy or a hazard such as spikes. He loses a life if he loses all of his health or if he falls into a slime pit or water. The game ends if the player runs out of lives. There is a password system for continuing.