It's a funny old game, football. Recently there have been trillions of soccer games released on the Speccy. Does this mean that the winter will see dozens of cricket games? Oh well, at least MUFCE offers a great deal more than most of the latest slew of footie games.

Manchester United are one of those teams you either love or hate, and everybody still sympathises with them because of the plane crash many years ago (1958 to be exact) that wiped out most of the team, plus the manager Matt Busby. But does that mean that the game will be all it's cracked up to be?

Most soccer games currently appearing on the Speccy tend to be bogged down in reams of statistics, with transfer tables, training, fixtures, ad infinitum and ad nauseum. Man United Europe avoids all this by concentrating on the main event - the games themselves. Easily-manipulated menus guide the player through the options available, but still give the opportunity of getting straight into the action.

There are four major competitions in this game - the UEFA Cup, the Cup Winners' Cup, the European Cup, and the Super Cup (the winners of the Cup Winners Cup and the European Cup) The quality of the opposition varies tremendously, from two left-footed Albanian league sides to the sexy Italian and French teams (well, maybe not sexy, but you know what I mean).

The action scrolls from left to right, and back again once you've managed to get the ball from the opposition. The teams are represented by coloured sprites. Actually, sprites is a bit generous as they are little more than blobs of colour, but with this sort of game it's the playability that counts (I agree, Brian). There's another blob for the referee, but he only tends to appear for the kick off and special events such as corners and goal kicks.

The length of each match can be altered to suit your taste, and of course it's a game of two halves (and whichever team scores the most goals wins, Brian). The action is fluid and exciting although the other team (when playing solo) seem to have an unerring knack of never conceding vital points. The sound is spartan to say the least, with the whistle being one of the few effects - with the obvious exception of the sound of the ball being booted around the pitch. Oddly enough, the same sound is used for throw-ins!

Other options available for the budding Man U manager include changing players' positions and improving statistics. Still, it's the ability to wibble that joystick that counts in the end, as otherwise the other team gets in the goals. The matches are played over two legs (those of a dead team-mate, ho-ho), so disaster in one match isn't necessarily the end of the world.

MUFCU is lots of fun to play, especially with a human opponent (or your sister). Although the graphics aren't particularly interesting to look at, they usually manage to convey all the relevant info at a glance. The gameplay's good and that's what really counts in any game. As Krisalis have managed (pun intended) to avoid bogging down the game with reams of statistics, it plays smoothly. My only real gripe is that it's a little too easy, but as there's so much to do in Man United Europe, you won't exhaust its potential quickly.

More good sporty stuff from Krisalis to complement their excellent Jengir Khan Squash.

Let's hope they'll be producing some more games for the Speccy soon!

Label: Krisalis Memory: 48K/128K Price: £11.99 Tape, N/A Disk Reviewer: Matt Regan

Despite a few graphical problems this is a fun footy game that delivers a real kick and I recommend it to all soccer fans.