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Hi, my name's Chuck Cheefer and welcome to the all Mean Machines playoff featuring tonite, Unnecessary Roughness from the Accolade coaching school. We're coming live and direct to you for what promises to be one of the most in-depth and informed reviews this side of the great divide.

Well, the chaps are out on the field limbering up, ready to face the tackles of the opposition defense, Playability and Lastability. But, as we all know, the real challenge comes from the ultimate in quarterbacks, the old pro Overall Score. Well, as I speak, the crowd are beginning to cheer the start of play and the cheerleaders are calling out the chants for the stacks of stats, the inclusion of every player from the NFL, and the four-player facility. So let's get down to the sidelines on the road to the bowl.

Once you've gone through all of the players and their specific statistics, it's time to hit the field and do the job you've come here to do. The view is taken from above the goalposts, covering the field from sideline to sideline and scrolling to follow the action, but when the action gets intense the view zooms in on the area to allow you precise control of the players.

All of the players from the 48 teams in the American National Football League are included in the game. The combined statistics from each individual player have been used to build up an overall team racing - allowing you make your games as evenly or unfairly matched as possible. Plus, in the fine tradition of Accolade titles you can admire the digitised images of all of the athletes in their glory.

The one thing I cannot bring myself to do this month is be kind to this game. Many have tried and failed to capture the genius of Park Place's Madden's football series (even Park Place fumbled a couple of the sequels) but this is nowhere even near the acceptable alternative mark.

It's a sorry slip-up for Accolade who seemed to have cracked it with recent form. Now we're back to abysmal graphics and animation and shambolic gameplay. Hiding behind an impenetrable wall of stats is a thoroughly bad game of American Football, but the game's most off-putting feature is its unbelievably crap appearance. Although it has been said elsewhere, the choice of title for this game couldn't haev been more grimly apt.

Recognising the Madden series as the benchmark for all console American Football games, Accolade have tried to break away from this style.

The inclusion of every player from the NFL with their photos and their abilities follows the tradition of providing games for the stats nuts. But unfortunately the stacks of stats are at the expense of the rest of the game. Graphically it's nowhere as good-looking as Madden, lacking refinement and detail.

And in the playability stakes, it suffers from a distinct lack of pace and some way-off collision detection. If you consider yourself to be a top football fan, hungry for statistics and set patterns, this may well be for you, but if you want a game you can plug in and play, then I'd stick to Madden.

Graphics 53%
The zoom feature is a nice idea. But the field and players look extremely basic.

Sound 59%
The sound in the game fails to match the quality of the intro speech.

Playability 50%
A huge variety of strategic plays, but slow and clumsy in execution.

Lastability 40%
Hours of endless fun for Mr. Logic. Hours of torture for the rest of us.

Value For Money 49%
You'd probably be better off buying one of those sports almanac book things!

Overall 46%
Acceptable for those interested in stats, but shabby in terms of entertainment value.