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After watching England's dismal exit from Euro 2000, you may have felt that you could have done better yourself. Well, now's your chance. Featuring all 51 European national teams, UEFA 2000 lets you play a full European tournament (as well as custom leagues and cups). You can even play the qualifying groups if you want, or go straight to the finals. Either way, it's an enjoyable challenge.

The first thing you'll notice about the game is the astonishing inclusion of detailed photos of the England squad in action. The high level of polish extends to the easy-to-use menus used for altering your team line-up and tactics. Whichever side you eventually pick, you get a squad of 22 real players with full statistics for various abilities.

After viewing the rival squad, you may want to change your tactics. For an arcade game, the selection here is mighty impressive (almost on a par with O'Leary Manager reviewed on the next page) - you get a choice of sixteen formations, three attacking settings and three winger options.

Never mind managerial options though, where this game really excels in on the field. The side-view scrolling pitch with impressively animated players is in a different league to O'Leary. Even better is the superb control system: although easy to pick up, it gives you access to plenty of different skills including power shots (with aftertouch or swerve), headers (power and diving), crosses and volleys. With practice you can even do one-twos and first time shots to score great goals - it's just a shame there are no action replays.

The icing on the cake is the realistic way the ball bounces and deflects off players. When defending, unlike in O'Leary, there are very few occasions when you have no players on-screen, so it's easy to get contol of the nearest player (automatic selection) and get in tackles (standing or sliding).

At the end of the day, UEFA 2000 is skilful, great fun and utterly addictive. What an excellent game!

Graphics 100%
Well-animated.

Sound 80%
Cheerful tunes and simple FX.

Playability 100%
Easy to pick up and play.

Lastability 100%
Offers a great challenge.

Overall 91%
Fantastic footballing fun!