International Soccer logo

MICRODEAL

Here we go, here we go, here we go... Where? Hundreds of soccer games have sailed off to that great football pitch in the sky but is Amiga Soccer here to stay? When the socks are down what makes it any better than the rest?

GAMEPLAY

With two 12 a-side teams and options to decide everything from wet or dry pitch states to wind strength and night play, the game soon becomes a great challenge. In addition to the usual player-vs-computer option, you can attach a 4-player adaptor which allows control over several team members at once. This permits competition against either the computer or a multi-handed octopus who doubles as a friend - the 4-player widget costs ¨5.95 extra.

To change the player under your control you pres the fire-button with the joystick targeted on the lucky person. An arrow above the designated player then shifts around to other team members currently on screen.

Pressing the fire-button with the ball in your control allows you to kick. The longer you hold down the button, the further and harder your kick will be. Hold it down for a full second and you'll think you have a tennis ball on the end of your foot. To tackle, you press the joystick button without having a player sighted under the cursor. If there's a throw-in or a corner, the action waits until you press the space bar so giving you time to move your team into the right positions.

There are nine levels of difficulty when you're playing against the computer - these make the difference between crucifying or being crucified. The former is far more fun.


GRAPHICS AND SOUND

Running with the ball might look realistic but it's about as superfast as a classic spring by a snail. However, given that the task of controlling twelve players on a scrolling pitch is a fairly mammoth one, Microdeal have handled the problem fairly smoothly. Tackling lacks inspiration but running around the pitch is well done - at least the players actually look as if they're running. With the 'wet pitch' option a quick change in direction results in slip-ups to rival even some of Neil Kinnock's.

The three different tunes included in the game are inspiringly uninspired, but with the option to replace music by sound-effects the game improves vastly. Cheering crowds can then pass comment on your action - not an altogether wise opportunity if you value your pride.


CONCLUSION

Brilliant game, enhanced by a few amusing faults - players have this weird anatomical structure which lets others walk straight through them! The computer opponent option is great when your friends are too busy picking their noses to pop round. Grinding the computer into the turf is easy on lower levels where the goalie has a brain the size of a boot stud.

Amiga Soccer might lack the off-field tactics of Football Manager II but the adaptor for four players almost resolves the problem of representing a team game on computer. Effective graphics sequences make it realistic although you can't help feeling that things might have been improved by having the spectators regularly invade the pitch and start eating the grass. Who said that football was just a game?.


ST v AMIGA
The goal-keeper fault in the ST version has been resolved with the Amiga - players can't wander up to the goalie and blindly kick the ball at the chap forever. The graphics are identical but it is the four-player adaptor which really separates the two games - no such option is available in ST Soccer.

International Soccer logo

Microdeal, £19.95 disk

It's Saturday afternoon and crowds of two-legged mammals are thronging the terraces to watch 22 hairy legs converge on a leather bladder. Football, eh? Fantastic!

Up to four players can take part simultaneously (using a special adaptor - from Microdeal, surprise, surprise) footballing against each other or the computer. Having decided on match and weather conditions, the players run to the pitch.

Moves include kicking, tackling and heading. Throw-ins, corners, goalkicks and penalties are awarded by the referee. 'And that's about it, isn't it Greavsie?' 'Yeah - until ther next time, Saint'.


Gordon Houghton I haven't laughed so much at a football game in ages. The players wobble about like those 50km walkers you see staggering into the arena at the Olympics. Maybe they've all caught some terrible joint-wasting disease. Either that or they come from Fling (ho ho). Er... that's great if you've got 20 quid to spare just for a laugh; if you're actually after a football game, you've had it. The controls are so awkward you never really feel in charge of your team and there's no real scope for developing any soccer skills. Unless you're a masochist, give this a miss.
Gordon Houghton I wonder if Microdeal have seen Microprose Soccer and Emlyn Hughes yet -if they have, I bet they're going really red. International Soccer on the Amiga is pretty pathetic compared to both those excellent 64 footy games. I could put up with the really badly drawn menus and the absence of the kind of league and world cup draw options that make Emlyn and Microsoccer so good, as long as the actual gameplay was something to write home about. It's not. None of the controls are obvious, it's a real pain switching players and most of the time you have so little influence on the team you might well be watching a demo.