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"Robson picks up possession deep in his own half. He passes out to Barnes on the left, past one player, past two, down to the byeline and floats in a tantalising cross. Hoddle volleys the ball from the edge of the area and as the net ripples with the impact of the ball, the crowd goes wild. Wade sinks back in his chair realising he isn't going to come back from 20-0 down".

You won't actually see any volleying or net-rippling in this game but if you play the computer there will be plenty of defeats by more than 20 goals early on! Even once you've got some practice it will be difficult to hold it to single figures. These footballing annihilations take place on a horizontal pitch that scrolls left and right in sections and is packed with 22 thin but blocky players.

If you don't want to get massacred you can play against another budding Pele or watch the computer battling it out with itself.

The games can be of three different lengths: eight minutes, 16 minutes or unlimited. These are split into two halves, except of course for the unlimited game which just keeps going till you want to stop. Within 8 or 16 minutes though an awful lot of goals can be scored. The computer has three skill levels but all three are immensely difficult to beat.

The kick-offs are more like a basketball jump ball as the two players race each other to the ball. Even after goals the scorer may get to the ball first - somebody hasn't been reading their rule book lately. Once in possession, you control the player with the ball and can run with it, try to pass it or shoot. If you aren't in possession you can either just use the fire button to get the nearest player to chase the ball or chase after it with a player under joystick control. The player under your control has a different colour pair of shorts but these are often difficult to notice in the heat of action.

The ball can travel in the air or along the ground and if a player runs into a loose ball he picks up possession, or blocks it if it's in the air. To score, you just kick or dribble the ball into the net past a goalie who doesn't dive (saves on the laundry bills) but just tries to block like any other player.

If the ball goes out of play anywhere else a corner, goal-kick or throw-in are awarded but these are taken automatically and you have no control over the ball's direction or strength. This usually results in you gaining little advantage from them and often gives the ball away in an inconvenient position.

The computer plays an incredibly fast game and has rather too many built in advantages for a competitive game to be achieved without long hours of practice. Even while playing with two players, it is difficult to string together moves with so many players wandering aimlessly about all over screen. The lack of control over them, set pieces and most of all the kick-offs often leave you frustrated and although it may prove a long term challenge many people will be extremely disappointed by the more immediate unplayability of it.

This is a game that give 100% effort but is distinctly short on skill. It's nowhere near as good as Match Day. The control is appalling, and the graphics are equally bad. The sound features what seems to be a noise of waves slowly breaking on a pebbly beach. In short, not a shred of Glenn's silky skills are on view here.

P. A very tough computer opponent.
P. One or two player option.

N. Small, indistinct graphics.
N. No control over kick-offs, corners, throw-ins or goal kicks.
N. The action is too fast for good moves to be built up.
N. Identity of player you control is hard to spot.