Sensible Soccer: European Champions

The Good
The control is precise, slick and responsive, and brilliantly designed. The level of skill involved is enormous. There may be few ultra-flashy manouvres available, but this greatly increases the emphasis on skill and the satisfaction of scoring. Learning accurate close control and finding the shooting range is well worth it.

The overhead view represents the action effectively,and has the added bonus of displaying a wide range of the pitch without requiring a scanner.

The computer teams offer a wide range of skill levels, and play in a realistic way. The AI is impressive to the point that there are no moves which work every time, and teams score in a variety of different ways. Multiple formations are available, working like real life, and the star players add variety to each match.

There are a wide range of tournaments and competitions, with great scope to set up your own. 2 or 3 points for a win, 1 or 2 legs with Away Goals, replays, extra time, penalty shoot-outs, and the wonderful touch of being able to play with seasonal weather (the likely weather conditions changing as a long tournament progresses) It makes Kick Off 2's basic leagues look rather sad.

There's a much-needed touch of humour in the names of the custom teams and players - particular favourites include Speling Mistaiks and Old Dear's Menu (in which every player name is a piece of food, preceded by the word 'nice').

The sampled crowd chants enhance the sound effects greatly, and add a flavour of atmosphere to the occasion.

The Bad
It's a shame there are no 'skill levels' per se; instead, the national teams are stronger than the club teams, who are both stronger than the custom teams, as this limits the number of tournaments you can realistically challenge for. At first, you want to play as a national side but will end up losing to San Marino; later, the custom teams could add variety, but you'll be beating them all 10-0.

The different pitches don't have much difference on the play, the referee doesn't hand out enough yellow cards, and penalties are saved a little too frequently.

The Bottom Line
A detailed recreation of football, not easy to learn but yielding hidden depth and a natural addictive nature, especially with 2 players.