Football Manager 2

Your Sinclair

Kit 57%

Atmosphere 81%

Playerbility 85%

At The End Of The Day 76%

Overall 80%

Jonathan Davies 80%

THE COMPLETE AND UTTER YS GUIDE TO SOCCER ON THE SPECCY Footie games, eh? Where'd we be without 'em? There've been hundreds of the blooming things, with more on the way each month, and they always (always! always!) sell like hot cakes (even the ones that are crap). So with the World Cup lining itself up on the horizon, let's join the slightly less-than-enthusiastic JONATHAN DAVIES, as we lead you by the hand into the past, present and future world of the Spectrum soccer game. Oh dear. How can I start? Um, quite a few phrases spring to mind. Like "They're all the same!" and "No, please, not another one!" and, erm, "Let me out of here!" The problem, you see, is that for every MicroProse Soccer or Matchday 2 there are six or seven World Cup Carnivals (US Gold's tragic 1986 attempt at a footie sim) to wade through. And I should know - I've just waded through them all. Quite frankly I wouldn't care if the colour green never darkened my Speccy again. I'm sick as a parrot. So let's just forget all about them, eh? What? No. You like them? Cripes. (Better get going on this giant mega-feature thingie then, hadn't you? Ed) Er, yes. Right. Football. Well, there are certainly lots of games. And no, they're not all the same. There are in fact a few basic types, and within each of these categories dwell a hundred and one subtle variations. Um, what fun... IT'S A GAME OF TWO HALVES That's right, one half management, the other half actually booting the ball around a bit. To kick off with we have the straightforward arcade simulation. This you should all be familiar with - a big green pitch (seen from above, or sometimes from the side), the roar of the crowd (well, the 'beep' of the crowd), lots of little men running around kicking the ball, and you up in the air somewhere above it all, doing your best to keep one or two of them (plus the ball) under control. What you don't have to worry about though is what any of the blokes are called, how much they're worth, or any other boring managerial-type stuff. Good examples of this kind of game are Matchday 2 and Kick Off. The second main sub-division, the management game, is a totally different kettle of fish. No footie here at all (as such), apart from the results of various games flashing up on your screen every so often to tell you how you're doing. It's business acumen we're worried about here, with all sorts of weird and wonderful information popping up to confuse you - what your men are called, how tall they are, how skilful they can be and all sorts. A good example of this variety of game is, surprise, surprise, Football Manager. The third, and crappiest, type of footie game is the pools prediction program. Now you may get really excited by the prospect of these (I don't know) but I find them so brain-blendingly boring that this is the only mention they'll get here, so enjoy it while you can. (Sorry and all that.) Actually there's a fourth subdivision I've just remembered too - those games that provide you with an often quite bizarre mixture of action game and management, usually consisting of lots of lists of numbers with slightly dodgy bolt-on arcade bits thrown in. Some of them work quite well, but there's always the odd game that's simply too weird for words - like Roy Of The Rovers for example, part arcade adventure of all things and with a badly drawn Roy searching for his kidnapped team! FOOTBALL MANAGER II Addictive "He has excelled in the creation of this game with his brilliance," remarks the inlay. It is describing, of course, Kevin Toms, and also provides a photo of his majesty for all to marvel at. The game, though, is of the 'lists of numbers' variety, with the dubious benefit of 'match highlights'. It's an update, would you believe, of the original Football Manager. The action sequences are a major improvement, thanks to the innovative use of Machine Code, but they get a bit boring after a couple of picoseconds as you just sit there and watch them. The lists are quite interesting too (as lists go), and should keep any number-fan occupied for a while. For sheer historical accuracy, FM II deserves a mention. And it's also pretty good. Its only real problem is that it tries to be a bit of a jack of all trades, with its strategy stuff and flashy graphics. While this might appeal to most people, those who want to stick to one area might fare better looking elsewhere.

Football Manager - lists, lists and more lists! (The action sequences are pretty useless though.)

A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE ON THINGS The Overhead View This features in MicroProse Soccer, Kick Off and most of the Codies games, among others. It has the advantage that you don't actually get to see the players faces (only their bald patches) and generally avoids some of the confusion you get in side views when too many players get all tangled in together and you can't quite tell what's going on. You often get a nice 3D view of the ball too, as it flies up into the air and then plummets back down to earth again. And on the minus side? Well, timing headers can get very, very tricky, but more importantly it doesn't always 'feel' quite right somehow. After all, when you watch a game of soccer, you never see it from above, do you? The Side View A bit common, you get this viewpoint all over the place, but generally it's the most reliable method. It gives a good 'as seen on telly' angle, although things have to be quite well animated for it to work (not always the case) and you do tend to get horrible sprite 'scrums' at key moments. A Bit Of Both Views Only spotted occasionally, in things like Gazza's Super Soccer, this technique can get very confusing indeed. You get a side view when the ball's in the middle of the pitch, but when you get near to either goal the whole thing flips round to give a sort of overhead/into-the-goalmouth sort of perspective. All very well, but it gives you a godawful headache after a while.

ALMOST EVERY SOCCER GAME EVER RELEASED (DEPRESSING ISN'T IT?) Bobby Charlton's Soccer - Dacc Brian Clough's Football Fortunes - CDS Bryan Robson's Superleague - Paul Lamond Emlyn Hughes' Soccer - Audiogenic European Five-A-Side Football - Silverbird FA Cup Football - Virgin Fighting Soccer - Activision Footballer of the Year - Gremlin Footballer of the Year II - Gremlin Football Director - D&H Football Director II - D&H Football Fever - Tanglewood Football Manager - Addictive Games Football Manager II - Addictive Games Four Soccer Sims - CodeMasters Football Frenzy - Alternative Gary Lineker's Superstar Soccer - Gremlin Gary Lineker's Hotshot - Gremlin Gary Lineker's Superskills - Gremlin Gazza's Super Soccer - Empire International Manager - D&H International Match Day 128 - Ocean Kenny Dalglish Soccer - Manager Cognito Kick Off - Anco League Challenge - Atlantis Manchester United - Krisalis Match Day - Ocean Match Day II - Ocean Mexico '86 - Qual-soft Microprose Soccer - Microprose Peter Beardsley's International Football - Granslam Peter Shilton's Handball Maradona - Grandslam Player Manager - Anco Premier II - E&J Professional Soccer - CRL Roy Of The Rovers - Gremlin Saint And Greavsie - Grandslam Soccer Boss - Alternative Soccer 7 - Cult Soccer Star - Cult Street Cred Football - Players Street Gang Football - CodeMasters Super Soccer - Imagine The Double - Johnson Scanatron Tracksuit Manager - Goliath Games Two Player Super League - D&H World Cup Carnival - US Gold World Cup Soccer - Artic World Cup Soccer '90 - Virgin

AND STILL TO COME This is of course World Cup Year. And what happens in World Cup Year? Yes, hundreds and hundreds of new Speccy soccer games suddenly appear, that's what. There are going to be oodles of them - but how are you going to be able to tell them apart? What you need is a handy-dandy reference sheet to keep score on, isn't it? And - by Jingo! - what have we got here but the very thing! Simply keep reading YS, fill in the scores of all the new games in the spaces provided as we print them and 'Bob's your uncle' (as they say)! Now all you need do is take this copy of the mag down the shop with you whenever you intend to buy a footie game. You won't regret it! (Oh, and by the way, we've not included any budget games here - there'll be plenty of those around too. Check out Matchday or the Codies' World Cup offering for starters.) WORLD CUP '90 SCORE CARD Game: Adidas World Championship Football Company/Release Date: Ocean - May/June Notes: Programmed by Smart Egg Software, this one has to have a good chance around World Cup time. Score: 85% Game: England - The Official Football Game Company/Release Date: Grandslam - May/June Notes: Grandslam has secured the official England licence, meaning it can use the images of all the individual players (say John Barnes, or Bryan Robson). It's also planning a feature which modifies the team's performance if one of these is injured and can't play. Blimey! Score: Never released Game: European Superleague Company/Release Date: CDS - June Notes: Another management game to add to the list. Score: 80% Game: Football Manager World Cup Edition Company/Release Date: Addictive - any day now Notes: Apparently even better than Football Manager 2. It comes with its own World Cup wall chart and a competition with 'prizes' like getting your picture up alongside Kevin Toms on the packaging of the yet-to-come Football Manager 3!! Blimey! Score: 82% Game: Italy 1990 Company/Release Date: US Gold - April Notes: We await US Gold's entry with bated breath. The one thing we're certain of is that it won't be a replay of World Cup Carnival (surely?). Score: 81% Game: Golden Boot Company/Release Date: Ocean - to be announced Notes: We don't know much about this (including a firm release date) but it's a wacky football game programmed by Ocean France (responsible for Beach Volley, which looks less and less likely to ever appear on the Speccy). Score: Never released Game: Kenny Dalglish Soccer Match Company/Release Date: Impressions - April Notes: A pretty straight, eight-way scrolling side-view footie game with a Kenny Dalglish licence attached. Again, a full review next issue. Score: 46% Game: Kenny Dalglish Soccer Player Company/Release Date: Impressions - end of next year Notes: More in the Footballer Of the Year mould (though more arcadey than that apparently), this new Kenny game follows the fortunes of an individual player trying to make it into a team and then on and upwards from there. Score: Never released Game: Kick Off 2 Company/Release Date: Anco - May Notes: Hopefully a souped-up, less scrappily presented version of the original Spectrum game (on compilation now, though it was only released a few months ago). Score: 80% Game: Liverpool - The Official Football Game Company/Release Date: Grandslam - April Notes: The first of the two 'official' Liverpool games, this one gets to use the images of the various players... Score: Never released. Game: Liverpool FC Company/Release Date: Ocean - September Notes: ... while this one uses the official team badge and colours. Score: Never released. Game: Manchester United Company/Release Date: Krisalis - any day now Notes: Another game sponsored by a team as opposed to an individual player, we'll have a full review next issue. Score: 74% Game: Player Manager Company/Release Date: Anco - July Notes: Like a sort of cross between Kick Off and a management game, this was a massive hit on the 16-bit machines recently and deservedly so. Will it do the same on the Speccy? Score: Never reviewed in YS Game: Subbuteo Company/Release Date: Goliath - May/June Notes: Based not on football itself so much as the popular 'flick-to-kick' table-top game. Will we see giant fingers reach down onto the pitch? You'll have to wait and see! (Again.) Score: 81% Game: Super League Manager Company/Release Date: Audiogenic - May Notes: Audiogenic's first Emlyn Hughes game got a critical drubbing from Marcus (and then went on to sell by the lorry-load of course). How will this management offering fare? Score: Never released. Game: Superleague Soccer Company/Release Date: Impressions - out now Notes: A pretty basic management game by all accounts. Again we'll be having a look at it next month. Score: 52% Game: Vinnie Jones Company/Release Date: Again Again - September Notes: Too late for the World Cup, this will in fact sell on the 'merits' of soccer hard-man Vinnie himself. We can hardly wait. Score: Never released. Game: World Cup Italia '90 Company/Release Date: Virgin - May Notes: And last, but by no means least, it's Virgin's game, the only one officially sponsored by the World Cup tournament itself. Hurrah! Score: 79%

NAMING YOUR FOOTIE GAME This is the trickiest part of writing any footie game. Although coming up with a name is fairly easy, the chances are that it's already been used seven times before. To assist with this problem we've designed the YS Footie Game Naming System™. Simply pick one word from each column and put them all together to come up with a convincing title. Gary Robson's Advanced Football Game Brian The Hamster's Ten-a-Side Soccer Simulator Kevin Lineker's Super Footie Director Plus Wayne Of The Rovers' Boring Tracksuit Manager '90 Darren Monkhouse's Quite Good Pickled Onion Challenge Bernadette Toms' Strip Ninja Footie Quiz

RATINGS Being the tricky things they are, footie games don't quite fit into the usual way we rate our games, so for the purposes of this feature here's a one-off system we've devised that hopefully takes into account all their little (and dearly loved) idiosyncrasies. Playerbility: Having forked out your dosh and loaded it up, will you be over the moon or sick as a parrot? In other words, is it any cop... or is it utter crap? At The End Of The Day: ...will you still be playing it? Or will it have joined the potato peelings, used tea bags and missives from Readers Digest in the dustbin? Kit: Aesthetic appeal, really. Lists of numbers are all very well, but are they decently presented? And if it's an arcade jobbie, are the graphics any good? Especially high marks go to those games with two or more colours used on the players, or a choice of team outfits. Atmosphere: Is it just like being in the stands at your local ground (apart from getting a bottle smashed across your cranium every ten minutes that is)? Or might you just as well be standing in a queue by the fish counter at Waitrose counting the dandruff on the back of the person in front of you? Here's where to find out!

SO YOU WANNA WRITE A FOOTIE GAME? Here are a few features you may wish to incorporate when devising your own 'tuff turf' footie extravaganza... A celeb, preferably glistening and grinning, with his signature scrawled across the box. Important-looking statistics, and screenloads of them. These should not only be wholly incomprehensible but, so as to thwart even the most dedicated of punters, boast no underlying logic whatsoever. Minimal player interaction. Keep him waiting for hours just to 'PRESS ANY KEY'. A big green box with lots of footballers on it. They all have one. Tacky adverts round the pitch carrying plugs for your other games. Disastrous artwork all over the place. Muscles where you never knew they existed. Free poster and badge that you wouldn't particularly want to stick anywhere (see artwork). A 'STOP THE TAPE' message halfway through loading. Meanwhile, you've dozed off and the tape runs on to the end.

THE FIRST FOOTIE GAME IN HISTORY A bit of a tie (almost), but by checking out all my back issues of YS, getting hold of various release dates, dismissing the really early stuff that's virtually unrecognisable as Speccy games as we know them today, and consulting with all the experts I could find, it has to be... Football Manager from Addictive! That's right, it's the one with mugshots of that cheery bearded bloke all over it (Kevin Toms actually. Ed). Originating in the days of long shorts and over-the-knee footie boots, it sold squillions of copies, mainly because it was released on everything from the ZX81 to the Teefal HY9000 De Luxe Deep Fat Fryer. We didn't stand a chance really. It was, of course, the first of those dreadful 'management' jobbies, in which you spend the whole time staring at lists of things. Written in 100% Basic, it featured some chronic 'action scenes' and a unique 'customising' feature. (In other words, you could break into the program and do all sorts of despicable things to it.) The punters loved it. As for the first action game, that's a bit harder. It was probably Artic's World Cup Football, the first of the little-people-running-around variety. Unfortunately though it was, to be honest, utterly, utterly terrible. The graphics especially were complete rubbish. It was so bad, in fact, that US Gold decided to use it as the basis for its renowned World Cup Carnival game. (Hurrah!) Far better is Matchday, which appeared soon after - the first proper, enjoyable footie action game.

ACE (Advanced Computer Entertainment)

Ace Rating 920/1000

Spectrum, £9.99cs, £14.99dk C64, £9.99cs, £14.99dk CPC, £9.99cs, £14.99dk ST, £19.99dk Amiga, £19.99dk PC, £19.99dk £14.99dk The sequel to the biggest selling footy management game ever. FM II offers a deluxe reworking of Football Manager - the original soccer management game, with loads more options and features. Enables you to make key management decisions such as buying and selling players, picking the team, deciding on play formations, commercial decisions and stacks more.

C&VG (Computer & Video Games)

Realism 2/10

Depth 2/10

Speed 2/10

Visuals 5/10

Fun 3/10

Total 14/50

Tony Dillon 14/50

FUNNY OLD GAME INNIT CECIL? Footballs have been kicked around computer screens for just about as long as the gaming habit has existed. 1988 saw more releases than ever before - Tony Dillon asks what is and what is not good computer football. Of all the simulations, authentic endorsements and plain old original attempts, there can't be any topic that comes as close to a games player's heart that our very own Soccer. Even in the very early days of paddles and mono displays, where the Grandstand home entertainment console reigned supreme with it's incredible 4-game selection football was one of them. Admittedly it was nothing more than computer tennis with double the number of bats, but it was still football. And it was the first. Since then, many have tried to recreate the feelings of running about on an open pitch, being buffeted by the wind, the cheers of the crowd and smells of the other players. What we at C+VG have tried to do is come up with a comprehensive guide to the more memorable ones, the best, the worst, the one with the nicest graphics, the one that you couldn't tell the difference between the ball and the players, or indeed the players from the pitch, or simply the one that we liked the most. Also, we've put our heads together and come up with a league table of all the football games around at the moment. Including the ones we didn't get to mention. So, here goes, straight into section one, which funnily enough is about. ARCADE FOOTBALL Of the three genre of football games (Arcade, Managerial and Diagnostic), the arcade is easily, judging by the sales, the most widely popular, though games like Football Manager still rank high up in the list of best selling games. There were many early attempts at football games way back in the dawn of programming history, when programming people were just finding their feet. Now defunct Artic, for example, released World Cup I and II, which both featured small matchstick men, slow gameplay and a very low computer skill level. Funnily enough, World Cup II was given a facelift (well, not really a facelift, more a snip-and-tuck around the chin) and was released by US Gold under the title World Cup Carnival to coincide with the World Cup happening at the time. It came packaged with lots of photographs, posters and other World Cup memorabilia. Nevertheless it flopped and went down in game history as one of the worst games ever, ranking up there with The Great Space Race itself. Probably the most successful of the early arcade football games was International Soccer on the Commodore 64. Originally only available on cartridge (now released on tape and disc by CRL), it featured large blocky graphics, crude animation and a tendency to crash quite a lot (well, mine did!). The funny thing is, even with todays high programming standards and the high level that consumers expect to find of today's software, it's still one of the best you can get on the 64. Except, of course, for a slightly altered version I saw a while ago, changed by the hands of our dear friend, Mr Gary 'Moose' Penn, who changed the players from their running state, and placed them all in wheelchairs, which is sick, and terrible (snigger), and not (cough, splurt) at all (ready to burst) funny (Ha ha ha). So, what else happened that shook the world of football gaming? Matchday did! Written by Jon Ritman, and Bernie Drummond, it was quite simply incredibly superior to anything that had appeared before it, on the Spectrum anyway. It featured large, well animated graphics, a goalkeeper that could dive and a chance to play through a knockout championship to win the FA Cup, as well as simultaneous two players to boot. Not long after that came Matchday II, which had all the above and then some, such as jumping headers, a league facility with a code entry system, and improved graphics, not to mention DSS. What's DSS? The Diamond Deflection System. What this does is work out what direction the ball's going to travel in when it hits off another player, with the player's speed and direction brought into account. Between these two came the game that should have been a lot better and, judging by its features, it was. Unfortunately, it wasn't. Super Soccer included things like sliding tackles, enemy levels and extra training, but was so bug-ridden and unplayable that it flopped. One major bug was the energy thing. If you played a long game, the players would run out of energy quite quickly. What they would finally end up doing was jog around the pitch at a snail's pace, then if you tried to do a sliding tackle, they wouldn't get up again, so basically 80 minutes into the game, the pitch would be littered with dead players. Both the Nintendo and Sega have their own soccer games, Nintendo's is called Soccer, and is quite playable and has several levels of play. It also has a two-player option, but suffers from slightly sluggish joycard response. That withstanding, it's still a lot better than you can buy on most home computers. Sega's World Soccer is one of C+VG's all-time favourite games, and can be held responsible for many hours of lost work time - particularly the case with Gary Williams, the Ads Manager. Unlike him, though, the game is absolutely brilliant and fully captures the spirit of a big game, with the players able to do overhead kicks, banana shots and slide tackles. It's a shame that it's only available on the Sega, as it's the best soccer game on any home system. Up until recently, games have been displayed in semi forced perspective 3D, which works really well but often makes aiming for the goal difficult. Now a new trend is emerging: the overhead viewpoint. Games like European 5-a-Side and Supercup Football let you view the action from above, which gives a much more accurate look at the action, with the size of the ball increasing and decreasing to denote hoots skyward. Easily the best, however, is the new one from Microprose/Sensible Software. It's smooth, fast, very playable and extremely polished and scored 95% in the last issue. It's menu system is incredible, and the game comes a very, very close second to World Soccer - it's easily the greatest football game available for home computers. But these are mere highlights of all the arcade football games around at the moment. Check out the league table for the full C+VG report. Now, let's move onto the next section, which by some staggering coincidence happens to be about. MANAGERIAL FOOTBALL Moving completely away from games that require fast reactions and an eye of an eagle, and onto the slower, more thoughtful games that are around the managerial. Typically: in a managerial game you take the role of the manager/secretary/accountant of your chosen team and have to make all the right decisions with the ultimate aim of taking your team to the top of their league and winning the FA Cup/World Cup/Nations Cup/whatever. Of all the ones I've seen, rather than mention games that stand out, I'm going to talk about the companies involved. First is Kevin Toms' company, Addictive. They released the first successful managerial game way back in, oh, well it was a while ago. It was then hailed as the best football game ever (not much of claim; check out the opposition at the time!) and was pretty simplistic. Written in 100% basic, it consisted of a series of screens with a choice on some of them. After cycling through them, you get a few highlights of the match you just played, with matchstick men and beepy sound effects. Though not much by today's standards, it still has to get a mention for being the original. I wish I could say the same for it's successor, FM2. The only difference between them were screen redesign and better graphics on the game highlights. A shame really, considering what could have been done. One company that I have to mention are D+H games, a company almost solely devoted to managerial games, especially football ones. Though none of their games require huge amounts of thought, feature no graphics, have a tendency to be slow and are generally small, there is still an edge of the seat feeling when playing a match as minute by minute it updates the score. Probably their most famous one is Football Director, What a lot of people don't know is that Football Director is only part of a series. As well as the usual Football Director II, which boasts nicer screens and faster gameplay (except on the +3, which is six times slower than any other version), there's a two-player Super League, which is identical to Football Director except that it boasts two-player simultaneous action, and International Manager, which is Football Director set in the topsy turvy world of international football. The last company I have to mention is the company that has recently written the best ever managerial game, Goliath Games. Headed by Doug Mathews, of ex-Scanatron fame, Track Suit Manager was the company's first release, and was well-received by everyone and featured all the teams in the World Cup, and all the players in all the teams (around 700 in all) as well as accurate statistics on all of them, a revolutionary ,match commentary system that gives you a continuous flow of text telling you what's happening on the turf. All this would normally cost speed, but in this case it doesn't. The speed of the game is fully adjustable via the joystick, from the full 45 minutes a half, right down to eight seconds a half. The Spectrum version is a bit slower than the Commodore version, and boasts a masterful piece of compaction. All the data just fits, and looking at the statistics I've been given, there were two bytes left at the end of it. The funny thing is there were two spelling mistakes, "Substitute" and the other one escapes me for the moment. The point I am two letters missing altogether, so if those letters were included, there would be no room left at all. I can't talk about managerial games, though, without mentioning the worst: Soccer Boss. Soccer Box is not a very good game. In fact, it's very bad. It boasts amazingly s-l-o-w gameplay, unresponsive controls and is sooo easy. Needless to say, it's still riding high in the budget software charts. Makes you think, doesn't it? But of course, there are many others. This is just the cream of the crop and we simply haven't the space to re-review all the old games, for the simple reason that there are so many of them. We came up with over 30! Plus there are lots of pools prediction things and record filers and lots of other serious gimmicks that can't be classed as games. We leave you now with the league tables. We've done two because it just isn't fair to class arcade games alongside strategy games. If you've written a football game that you think is any good, or you know of one that isn't mentioned here and you think it should be, then why not drop a line to C+VG. Even if it doesn't get reviewed in the mag, we'll still get back to you and let you know what I think of it. Please include an S.A.E. if you want the tapes returned. FOOTBALL DEATURE - LEAGUE TABLE 1 - STRATEGY Title: Tracksuit Manager Home Ground: Goliath Games Realism: 9/10 Depth: 8/10 Speed: 9/10 Visuals: 7/10 Fun: 8/10 Tot: 41/10 Title: Brain Clough's FF Home Ground: CDS Realism: 6/10 Depth: 8/10 Speed: 8/10 Visuals: 2/10 Fun: 10/10 Tot: 34/10 Title: Football Director 2 Home Ground: D+H Games Realism: 4/10 Depth: 6/10 Speed: 6/10 Visuals: 5/10 Fun: 8/10 Tot: 29/10 Title: The Double Home Ground: Scanatron Realism: 8/10 Depth: 6/10 Speed: 3/10 Visuals: 3/10 Fun: 6/10 Tot: 28/10 Title: Football Director Home Ground: D+H Games Realism: 4/10 Depth: 3/10 Speed: 3/10 Visuals: 4/10 Fun: 7/10 Tot: 21/10 Title: 2 Player Super L. Home Ground: D+H Games Realism: 4/10 Depth: 3/10 Speed: 2/10 Visuals: 3/10 Fun: 8/10 Tot: 20/10 Title: Int. Manager Home Ground: D+H Games Realism: 5/10 Depth: 3/10 Speed: 3/10 Visuals: 3/10 Fun: 5/10 Tot: 19/10 Title: Football Manager Home Ground: Addictive Realism: 2/10 Depth: 1/10 Speed: 3/10 Visuals: 3/10 Fun: 5/10 Tot: 14/10 Title: Football Manager 2 Home Ground: Addictive Realism: 2/10 Depth: 2/10 Speed: 2/10 Visuals: 5/10 Fun: 3/10 Tot: 14/10 Title: On The Bench Home Ground: Cult Realism: 3/10 Depth: 2/10 Speed: 1/10 Visuals: 2/10 Fun: 3/10 Tot: 11/10 Title: Soccer Boss Home Ground: Alternative Realism: 2/10 Depth: 1/10 Speed: 1/10 Visuals: 2/10 Fun: 1/10 Tot: 7/10 All the marks are corresponding to the best version of that game. The +3 version of Football Director 2, is six times slower than any other version, so it would be unfair to review that version. FOOTBALL FEATURE - LEAGUE TABLE 2 - ARCADE Title: Sega Soccer Home Ground: Sega Graphics: 9/10 Sound: 8/10 Playability: 8/10 Value: 8/10 Fun: 9/10 Tot: 42/10 Title: MicroSoccer Home Ground: Microprose Graphics: 9/10 Sound: 7/10 Playability: 8/10 Value: 8/10 Fun: 7/10 Tot: 39/10 Title: Match Day 2 Home Ground: Ocean Graphics: 8/10 Sound: 6/10 Playability: 8/10 Value: 7/10 Fun: 8/10 Tot: 37/10 Title: International Soc. Home Ground: CRL Graphics: 5/10 Sound: 4/10 Playability: 9/10 Value: 9/10 Fun: 8/10 Tot: 35/10 Title: Match Day Home Ground: Ocean Graphics: 7/10 Sound: 4/10 Playability: 7/10 Value: 6/10 Fun: 6/10 Tot: 30/10 Title: European 5-a-side Home Ground: Silverbird Graphics: 6/10 Sound: 6/10 Playability: 5/10 Value: 8/10 Fun: 4/10 Tot: 29/10 Title: Gary Lineker's SS Home Ground: Gremlin Graphics: 6/10 Sound: 4/10 Playability: 6/10 Value: 5/10 Fun: 5/10 Tot: 26/10 Title: Peter Beardsley's Home Ground: Grandslam Graphics: 6/10 Sound: 4/10 Playability: 6/10 Value: 5/10 Fun: 5/10 Tot: 22/10 Title: Supercup Football Home Ground: Silverbird Graphics: 3/10 Sound: 2/10 Playability: 4/10 Value: 6/10 Fun: 4/10 Tot: 19/10 Title: Super Soccer Home Ground: Imagine Graphics: 5/10 Sound: 3/10 Playability: 3/10 Value: 2/10 Fun: 3/10 Tot: 16/10 Title: Roy of the Rovers Home Ground: Gremlin Graphics: 2/10 Sound: 1/10 Playability: 2/10 Value: 1/10 Fun: 1/10 Tot: 7/10 Title: World Cup Carn' Home Ground: US Gold Graphics: 1/10 Sound: 1/10 Playability: 1/10 Value: 1/10 Fun: 1/10 Tot: 5/10

Computer football - second only in popularity to computer Ninjas.

European Five-A-Side - budget footy smash.

Gary Linekar failed to score.

Microprose Soccer - is the one to watch,

Sega Soccer - C+VG's all time fave footy game.

Your Sinclair

Graphics 7/10

Playability 8/10

Value For Money 8/10

Addictiveness 9/10

Overall 8/10

Marcus Berkmann 8/10

Addictive £9.95 cass/£14.95 disk Reviewer: Marcus Berkmann And over to Barry Davies in the commentary box... 'There's nothing on here... oh, it's one-nil!' Yes, its footie time again, and as regular readers will know there's nothing that gets the old Berkmann pulse racing like a footie sim on the Spectrum. Football Director? Love it to pieces. The Double? Right result on the day Jimmy. Match Day 2? Work of flippin' genius Pedro. The mater and pater of all, though, is Football Manager, the game that absolutely everybody must have bought at some point or other. Well, either that or some clot's got a quarter of a million of 'em - which, come to think of it, is a distinct possibility knowing the way footie sim fans think. Originally released by Kevin Toms on his own Addictive label (since swallowed up by the mighty Prism corporation), way back in 1982, FM has sold consistently ever since - a unique achievement in the brief history of everybody's fave computerised tablemat. Mr Toms has tried many times since to repeat the feat, but entirely without success. New game after new game from Addictive came a cropper, but every time it re-released Football Manager, it leapt straight back up the charts again. That grinning bearded mush is probably the best known face in computer gaming - and if its ever cropped up in your nightmares, I can tell you you're not alone. Now six years later, things have moved on just a wee bit (machine code has superceded Basic, for one thing), and Mr Toms new bosses clearly decided it was time for a sequel. The game was in fact announced at last year's PCW Show, accompanied by cries of "And the three bears" from myself and Phil. But a mere nine months later here it is on my desk - and it's a ripsnorter. As he put this one together, Mr Toms clearly took notice of the new breed of footie management sims - the Football Directors and Doubles of this world. Both of these games radically overhauled the original blueprint of FM 1, though each chose a quite different approach. Footie Director, to the horror of programming snobs, did away with graphics completely, and instead supplied huge amounts of information (within a very tricky gameplay structure), which data junkies like me lapped up. The Double tried for more accurate representation of a footie season (and a manager's career) than FD: instead of presenting you with numerical info, it made you establish through observation, which players were any good and in which positions - meaning you worked by trial and error as well as by logic. FM 2, like the mass-market product it is, tries in part to combine both approaches, while staying essentially true to the basic (if not Basic) structure of FM 1. It's a fair old balancing act, but I think it works. The graphics, as you'd imagine, are much improved. The pitch is split into three screens - broadly defined by Attack, Midfield and Defence - and as the ball is punted about the field, so the game follows it about from screen to screen. You're given a squad of (on level one), fairly nifty players - Peter Beardsley and Clive Allen aren't bad for Division 4 - and you have to play them in the right positions on the field. The positions as you choose them represne the part of the field that player will attempt to dominate. Each player, on both teams, has a skill rating of between three and nine, and generally the more skilled player will win more balls. The other factor is fitness, measured between zero and 100. Players drop a little in fitness every time they play; if they drop below 50 they are considered "unfit" and are sidelined. Players who don't take part, though, increase in fitness, so you have to spend a lot of time juggling your players around and keeping a balanced squad, just in case a real nasty happens and someone snaps a pin. Youch! As with FM1 there is the option, only at the start, to choose a skill level from one (easy) to nine (very %$@&*$ hard). Level one (easy) is dead easy, but you'll only discover this when you've been playing for 40 minutes and won every game 5-0. I think I would have preferred the same system as in Football Director, which puts your skill level up automatically if you do too well. But sooner or later you do find your natural skill level, whereupon things get really interesting. Half time now becomes a particular boon. Here you can swop around your team, or bring on a substitute, if you feel that your tactics aren't working. If there's a weakness in your midfield, for instance, you can put a better player in the vulnerable position, or even bring in an extra player and drop, say, a striker. This means that watching the match is not the chore it always was, but both fascinating and absolutely necessary if you're going to learn from your mistakes. There are loads of other new features - a full transfer market, success points, sponsorship and the League Cup to name but four - but what makes Football Manager 2 work is that its structure is basically sound. Internal logic is the be all and end all of this sort of game - lose it and you lose all attempt at credibility. For connoisseurs, I'd say this is probably nearer The Double in feel, but that game's massively complex structure much simplified. It also has the ruthless logic that Football Director imposes (if not its loving detail), which'll make it a vital purchase for anyone hooked on that game. I'm delighted with it, as I imagine Kevin Toms is. As John Motson would say, 'You have to shay, Jimmy, he wash absholutely nowhere.' (Eh? Ed)

Read it at Your Sinclair Rock'n'Roll Years

Crash

Overall 85%

Phil King 85%

Armchair sports fans or strategy freaks. Call them what you will. One of the most prosperous products a mail order company could ever produce is a sports strategy game. Most of the majors have kept out of this genre (only Addictive Games continue), but what they're missing is one of the most dedicated and loyal computer gaming groups in the UK. Some of us dream of managing our own favourite soccer, American football or cricket team and with the aid of your Spectrum it's possible for your dreams to come true - well, almost. Ace sportsman and all round sports fan PHIL KING takes a look at the top sports strategy games around at the moment. FOOTBALL MANAGER 2 Producer: Addictive Games Price: £9.99 Only last issue (79%) CRASH looked at Kevin Toms's sequel to the all-conquering Football Manager. Football Manager 2's extra features include the exact positioning of players on the field and the option to make substitutions at half-time. The graphical portrayal of the match is a great improvement over the original, which was slow and unrealistic. Players may be bought and sold on the transfer market where bids are made. The finance screen shows the gate receipts, wages bill and overheads. In addition to the championship and FA Cup, the team also gets to play in the League Cup. Although there aren't that many more options, the general quality of programming and presentation is much better than the original's. The game really holds your interest and is definitely the best of the sports strategy genre.

Whatever is Whelan doing in goal?

The Games Machine

Overall 68%

Spectrum 48/128 Cassette: £9.99, Diskette: £14.99 Amiga £19.99 Hot on the trail of the Atari ST version reviewed last month (65%), come the Spectrum and Amiga updates. To begin, you choose a team from the available 92 which is placed in the fourth division with half a million pounds in the bank and companies clamouring to offer sponsorship. From here, the only way is up through the ranks to the first division, and to win the major division and league cups on the way. As team manager you have to make all decisions to get the best out of your men. As long as your club is solvent it remains in the league. If liquid assets fall into the red however, bankruptcy and defeat soon follow. The Amiga version is virtually identical to the ST game, no attempt has been made to enhance it . Control of the Spectrum version is easier than on the 16-bit machines, and the players are more independent - less likely to play follow the leader. Despite the lack of 'pretty' graphics, the Spectrum game is the most playable of all.

The players pitch into do their best for the manager - Amiga.

AMIGA Overall: 63%

Crash

Presentation 77%

Graphics 40%

Playability 80%

Addictive Qualities 79%

Overall 79%

Nick Roberts 72%

Paul Sumner 82%

Phil King 80%

Producer: Addictive Games Retail Price: £9.99 cassette, £14.99 disk Author: Kevin Toms Ever fancied being a Terry Venables or a Brian Clough? Well Football Manager 2 allows you to manage a football team of your own, buying and selling players and choosing tactics. The game has been written by Kevin Toms, the man who programmed the original some years ago. The player can choose to manage any league team, but no matter which, must start humbly in Division 4. The team for the next match is selected by moving players out of the reserve pool into various positions on the field where the opponents players are also shown. There are three team selection screens, one each for defence, midfield and attack; the way players are positioned allows for various formations. Each individual player has a skill rating: the higher the skill the better he can tackle and dribble. Each player also has a position in which he prefers to play. A player out of position has an arbitrary skill rating of two, reducing his effectiveness. Each player's fitness level is also shown. If it falls below 50%, he must be rested from match play to recover. As well as choosing the team, the manager must also choose two substitutes which can be brought on at half time if needed. The team formation can also be altered during half time. When the team has been chosen, the match action is displayed over three sections of the pitch, shown individually depending upon where the ball is. The players run around the pitch automatically, dribbling, tackling and shooting. If a goal is scored the name of the scorer is given. After the match the other results in the division are also shown, followed by a league table. Apart from playing league matches, the team also take part in the FA and League Cups. Each week some players come into the transfer market and the manager can make a bid for any of them. Players can also be sold to raise cash and reduce the wage bill. The finance screen shows the profitability of the club. Gate receipts, wages and overheads are shown along with the weekly balance. COMMENTS Joysticks: Kempston, Sinclair Graphics: poor, with colour clash, but purely functional Sound: limited spot effects for acknowledgement only Options: nine difficulty levels, choice of 92 teams

Defeat looms over West Brom.

Whatever is Whelan doing in goal with Chris Woods at left back?

Sinclair User

Graphics 68%

Sound 80%

Playability 99%

Lastability 99%

Overall 94%

Graham Taylor 94%

Label: Addictive Author: Kevin Toms Price: £9.95 Memory: 48K/128K Joystick: various Reviewer: Graham Taylor Football Manager was ridiculously successful. It was successful on the ZX81, successful on the Spectrum, successful on everything else and then it proved successful for a second time on budget. The thing is, in this age of multicoloured, high speed, ultra smooth sprites, it looked like complete dung. But it played brilliantly. What to expect then of FM2? Would it look better and play worse? Would they dare to get away with such dodgy graphics in 1988? Would it be glossy and naff? No! It's great! it still looks a bit tatty around the edges (couldn't you have redesigned the character set even Kevin?) and the actual football bit, though definitely improved - they don't look like sticks any more - is not exactly state of the art. However, actual gameplay is even better! Football Manager 2 it should be stressed, is, like the original, not actually a game in which you play football at all. You just make all the decisions for your team and then watch the events unfold in animated 'edited highlights' of the match. If this sounds dull then a) you obviously haven't played the original b) you underestimate the degree to which the matches really reflect your choices. At the start of the game you can choose whether to accept membership money. (Hold out for a better offer if you have the nerve). You pick your team, start in the fourth division and by wise buying, selling and training of players, plus a little luck you win matches, make money and buy better players and... you get the picture. If you're lucky, you make money and climb the divisions, if not... The differences between FM2 and FM1 are summarised elsewhere. The real difference is the way your decision over formation and player selection affects the match very directly. If, for example, you are forced to put a weak player in midfield you can 'see' the weakness in the play highlights. It's very impressive. This game has everything - injuries to cope with, players' fitness and passing styles to be analysed, finance reports (later on you can even invest in a new stadium if you have the dosh)!. You play both league and cup matches and have to plan accordingly... you might want to 'rest' a key player for a league match if an important cup tie is coming up - get him fitter and take your chances with the less important match. That the game takes this into account and that it really does make a visible difference is the reason the game is so good. FM2 is all FM1 was and more, the graphics are (a bit) better, although that would never be a reason to play this game, there are a few extra features but what is really astounding is the sheer playability. My favourite strategy game on the Spectrum, no contest.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THIS AND THE ORIGINAL You can choose players' positions. Play graphics are better. There are even more management elements - like sponsorship and improving your ground. You can play for both football cups. You can use substitutes at half time to replace weak players. You can specifically train players' passing skills and adapt them from match to match.

PLAYING TIPS Mark man for man - don't put a weak player next to a strong one. Don't play out of position - players only perform well when doing what they are best at. Match players to formation - if it is designed for a strong attack make sure you have one! When bidding for players don't underbid too much - you won't win.