What do you call a game with no graphics that you can play while eating your tea? The answer's Championship Manager: Season 01/02, the newest in the football management simulation series that has reduced legions of grown men to pallid husks of their former selves as they obsessively assemble a virtual football kingdom.

The game's transfer from PC to Xbox is as smooth as David Ginola's hair. It plays as good as it ever has done, with no noticeable differences.

The reasons why Championship Manager is so far ahead of the field are numerous, and include the user-friendly, intuitive interface, the obscene and unparalleled attention to detail and the extraordinary realism of the football world that it creates.

People often talk about parallel universes in games, but no goblin-ridden fantasy land has ever been this convincing.

So how does it do it? For starters, it does it without the aid of 3D graphics, something that provides the game's detractors with their main gripe - that it's merely an overexcited spreadsheet full of football numbers.

Ironically, the lack of match graphics is one of Championship Manager's great strengths. Whereas other management games have attempted to represent match action via a highlights engine, the game relies solely on text commentary, describing the action in short descriptive sentences.

It works superbly, conjuring up far more excitement than observing cartoon footballers playing out pre-determined moves ever could. After all, graphics are generally for playing, not watching. What this method does is enable you to use your imagination, and added to the genuine crowd noise, it's a bit like listening to a big match on Radio Five Live.

Championship Manager's masterstroke is that you really do feel that you're in charge of a football team, not a football club. Managerial duties focus solely to the team, and thankfully don't include setting the price of the half time Bovril, a pitfall of inferior management games.

To a non-football fan, this might sound like the dullest thing on Earth, and to give Champ Man your best shot, having a passing acquaintance with the majesty of God's game is recommended. But if you're the kind of person who checks Ceefax page 302 before you get dressed then you could be ready for it.

As you would expect, the core of the gameplay concerns buying and selling players, picking the team and overseeing the tactics before and during the match.

Admittedly, it is initially bewildering, and you're presented with reams of statistics. However, as you get drawn into the game, it becomes apparent that you're merely one of hundreds of managers, no more or less significant than any of them. The game makes no concession to the human player(s) in creating a self-contained world in which you are simply part of the machine. It's like The Matrix, only with fitness levels and transfer fees.

But it's the fact that you can make a difference that lures you in - be it signing a promising youngster or throwing three up front for a last-minute winner. Every action has an effect, and as such you need to think carefully about each decision.

The level of detail makes you genuinely care about your team, and it is this that leads to worrying levels of addiction. If you lose a game, you desperately want to put it right in the next match. And if you're on a winning streak, you want to keep it going, and there always seems to be time for one more game.

Hours become days, days become weeks, and it's no exaggeration to say that months can pass without Champ Man losing its grip. There are occasional moments of clarity when you can't face any more, but generally, without any time restrictions, you could feasibly play it all day, every day.

Championship Manager: Season 01/02 is a sickness, and unless you're a student, unemployed or serving a custodial sentence, you should think carefully about getting involved. You have been warned.

1. Extremely realistic
2. Totally absorbing
3. Highly rewarding

1. Can be hard to find
2. Doesn't leave time for anything else if you get hooked!

Power
No great shakes in the graphical department. Unless you have a penchant for spreadsheets.

Style
Near-BBC standard menus and captions give the game its distinctive look.

Immersion
Total. There are documented cases of people applying for real management jobs after playing

Lifespan
Indefinite. Just remember to open the curtains occasionally. And take that dressing gown off.

Summary
If you buy this game now, you'll still be playing it at Christmas. Easily the best game of its kind.