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While basketball, baseball, volleyball and tennis have all long since been converted to the PC Engine, football fans have been sadly neglected. Until now...

In Formation Soccer, up to four people can (using a joypad tap) play friendly matches or World Cup tournaments. Choose a country, then select your team formation and automatic and manual goalkeeper (the autokeeper follows the ball, but you have to hit the button to make him jump for it).

Whatever your team, the players are always an energetic bunch, legging it up and down the scrolling pitch, chesting and trapping the ball, slide tackling, scissors-kicking and heading in spectacular Maradonna style. The player nearest the ball is usually under joypad control, but you can select a new one by pressing the RUN button. The two-fire buttons control kick strength (pass or boot-up-the-field), as well as strength of throw-ins.

No aspect of the game has been ignored and as well as throw-ins, Formation Soccer can cope with free kicks, penalties, corners and goal kicks.

Mucho gracias, Spectresoft of Covent Garden for the loan of the Formation Soccer cartridge.

I remember the day Bill Shankley said to me, "Son, a console football simulation is a game of two halves, and at the end of the day it's the programmer who gives 110% that does brilliant."

How right you were, Bill, and if you were alive today I'm sure you'd agree with me when I say that Formation Soccer is the best console soccer game anywhere. The combination of fast gameplay and very realistic graphics (It may be coincidence, but the England goalkeeper even looks a bit like Peter Shilton) and instantly attractive, and the flexibility of the control method makes it very easy to set up moves and passing plays.

Beginners might be put off by the daunting abilities of the computer team (which is always Japan, not surprisingly), making them a difficult bunch to beat. If you have the facilities to play against someone else, though, the action is nothing short of terrific - really fast, action-packed, end-to-end stuff which you may find is even more addictive than watching the real thing during World Cup season!