Playing against the computer or a friend, you can pick some pretty impressive teams from the line up for the European Cup and, using the joystick or keyboard, moving through the qualifiers and progressing towards the cup is superb fun.
As with many footie simulators, controlling your passing can be tricky at the best of times but, despite the overhead view being a little basic at times, the gameplay itself is surprisingly smooth and features all of the real-life on-pitch occurrences.
In fact, European Soccer Challenge is a joy to play, and should while away many a long hour as the excitement of the final draws near. An absolute must for footie fans.