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Marshal your eleven players in an effort to place the ball in your opponent's net. Meanwhile, prevent him from doing the same to you.

"Sit yourself down on the couch, Mr. Gascoigne. That's it, relax. Now I'm going to say wome words and you're going to tell me what associations come into your head. Right, Stanley Matthews"

(Chicken drummers)

"Bobby Charlton"

(Rock with Laughter)

"Glen Hoddle"

(Malt Whiskey)

"I see. It appears you haven't been playing football for some time, Paul, with that gammy leg of yours. I think we need to send you on a bit of a 'refresher' course. Here, take this prescription for a 'Sega Megadrive' and ask the chemist for a copy of Electronic Arts' new FIFA International Soccer game. Play three times a day, preferably with friends. I believe it's the ultimate replacement for the real thing; Four-Way-Play-Rippin', in fact. Oh, you're an NHS patient: Here's a Quickshot Supervision with Blocky Ball instead.

The 48 teams reflect the diversity of the styles and abilities within FIFA. As there are no difficulty options as such, handicapping yourself with one of the 'emerging' teams is a good way of upping the challenge. Here's a global overview of world football.

Europe has the highest concentration of soccer excellence in the World, and a huge variety in distinctive team styles. Doggedness and grim determination characterise those teams whose players are used to playing in tough domestic leagues.

1. England
   The English play a powerful game, even if they are often mocked for lack of sophistication. Their skills are improving.
2. Holland
   A brilliant and talented team, with an exuberant style which makes them highly dangerous when their effort is concerted.
3. Republic Of Ireland
   The level of their play is out of proportion to the size of their nation. Eire are constantly bringing down giants by deftly exploiting the gaps in their opponent's defence.

Regarded as the emerging nations of FIFA, and sure to provide World Champions soon. Africa's teams can be colourful, reckless, slapdash and awesome - all at the same time!

1. Cameroon
   Show stealers at Italia '90. Cameroon is a hard team to coordinate and control but they play lightning football, and have highly advanced control skills.
2. Morocco
   Up and coming, but still without the firepower or solid defence to make it at world level. Useful if you want to set yourself a challenge.

A tale of two hemispheres: the South is the undisputed Master of World soccer, with a clutch of dazzling teams. The North is still a backwoodsman in this particular game.

1. United States
   Once the laughing stock of soccer, these guys still have a lot to lean, but they're getting there.
2. Colombia
   A team of individuals, each must be counted as a potential goalscorer. An exciting team to get to grips with.
3. Brazil
   Brazil's incredible success story continues. Pick them for the strongest concentration of skill, power and control.

Stretching in a broad band from the Middle East to Japan, soccer is only now becoming of interest to Asians. Therefore, their teams are generally weak.

1. Qatar
   This Gulf state represents the first rung of the world ladder. Qatar are eager, but their skills are in infancy.
2. Japan
   One of Asia's stronger sides, these lads play by the book, and have a team attitude. They do lack some of the colour of some American teams.

EA Sports claim that "if it's in the game, it's in the game" (tm). This certainly seems to be the case with FIFA Soccer. Let's investigate how the programmers dealt with the sort of problems that recreating football poses.

The extent to which you control your men is a tricky one. When you instruct a player to pass, he will do it in the general direction of joypad movement, and with his individual skill in that technique. You can have your goalkeepers controlled by the computer if you wish, meaning fewer goals, generally. Players automatically select shots like bicycles and headers depending on their position and your command.

In league and Tournament first round, a draw is an acceptable results. In playoffs, a draw is decided in two stages: two periods of extra time, equal to half the length of a normal period; and failing that, sudden death, when the first score wins. There are no penalty shootouts. A FIFA policy change for the real game?

Set pieces, like free kicks, goal kicks and throw-ins, have a separate mechanism to allow you to control a shot over several screens. A yellow box is placed under the d-pad control, which represents roughly where the ball will land. For 'keepers moves, an alternative option is to throw the ball to a near defender.

Fouls are either off, or on at one of two levels of intensity. At the high level, there are many more bookings, and a few send-offs. It is still possible to commit fouls, even with this option off.

Showing all of the pitch is impossible, so a scrolling system based on keeping the ball central is used. The viewpoint is isometric 3-D, viewed from a high point in the bottom right of the pitch.

There is no scanner to show the positions of players, but players under control are marked with an arrow if they are off screen.

FIFA Soccer uses EA's Four-Way-Play adaptor. With this connected, anything from one to four people can take part, in any combinations: three-on-one, even four against the Megadrive is possible. Each player has their own distinctive colour, which marks their player.

1. Exhibition
   The simplest play option. Simply take on a human or computer controlled team in a one-off game.
2. Tournament
   This is, by any other name, the World Cup. This tournament option pits 24 of the 48 teams in a massive battle. The first round consists of six groups of four teams, who play each other. Two points are awarded for a win, one for a draw. The top two teams in each group, and the four best teams placed third go into the second round. From that point the tournament is a knockout competition.
3. Playoffs
   Playoffs are like the knockout stage of the tournament. You pick between one and eight teams, in single match battles towards a trophy.
4. League
   A league consists of eight teams, either picked by yourself or randomly drawn from the pool of 48. You play ever team in the league twice before the League Champion is decided.
5. Password
   You can save your progress in a playoff, tournament or league by noting the passwords given at the end of each game. Just use the restore option to continue.

The proficiency of each team is shown by bar graphics rating their skills from one to ten in Running, Passing, Tackling, 'Keeping, Defence and Overall.

When you score there is a little celebration. Players flip out and start doing handstands and slides and the screen becomes an animated dot matrix stadium monitor, showing a short congratulatory matrix.

EA have used god knows how much memory creating a realistic crowd. The range of convincing samples covers yells, roars and chanting. Although the action is often enough to get them on their feet, they don't shout obscenities or throw coins at the goalies, happily.

Soccer is an almost universal game, but for the sake of newly arrived Martians, here's a brief rundown of its principles.

1. Fact 1
   The game takes place on an oblong field, with netted goals placed at centrepoint of either end. Each goal is defended by 11 men - the team, with the specific task of covering the goal mouth given to 'keeper.
2. Fact 2
   Any of the eleven players may score by placing the ball within the opponent's net. However, all except the 'keeper are forbidden to use their hands to influence the ball. Other parts of the body; head, chest, feet and thighs are deemed legal.
3. Fact 3
   Standard games consist of two havles of 45 minutes. The field is officiated by three people. The referee keeps time, observes fouls (illegal manoeuvres) and supervises the entire game. The two linesmen watch for offside and the ball going out of play.

This game is as different to your average Megadrive football game as Roy Of The Rovers is to Billy the Fish. EA have pulled out the stops to create an experience rather than a mere game.

FIFA Soccer is one of those games where the marvellous atmosphere, created by the fabulous sound and animation really does have a bearing on the gameplay.

However difficult it may be grappling with the control sometimes, and whatever your doubts about building strategies, this is undeniably exhilarating and often nail-biting. Amazing athletic kicks, sizzling shots, zinging crossbars and agonising fouls. The clincher must be the use of the four-way. The game doesn't slow down and it's easy for players to work as a team.

The mechanics of football have been so well lubricated here, it's a palpable classic.

Here it is! The latest, greatest soccer game yet seen. FIFA Soccer has it all: stunningly animated, ultra realistic graphics, unbelievably good sound, fantastic gameplay, loads of moves, a great control method, options beyond your wildest dreams, full replays and up to four-player simultaneous action!

It is simply theasaurus-bustingly superb, fully capturing the tension, action and excitement of football and, with the marvellous sound, even the big match atmosphere. Crowds gather in the office to see people play it - even more queue up to have a go.

Just like John Madden's Football before it, FIFA Soccer is set to become a long-running classic. Buy the first instalment and experience sheer brilliance.

Presentation 96%
P. Superlative presentation of the game and global paraphernalia. More info than you could need.
N. No on-screen clock - major boo-boo.

Graphics 93%
P. The pitch is pretty much standard, though the viewpoint is good. It's the animation that's utterly amazing. Fluid, comical, most of all believable.

Sound 93%
P. The sampled noises of the crowd are realistically constant, but never irritating. A great sense of aural authenticity.
P. The title screen music is brill.

Playability 92%
P. Extremely easy to pick up and play. Always exciting. Feels like real football, but plays faster.
N. Passing seems difficult sometimes, and the response is not instant.

Lastability 90%
P. The four-player action is superb, making FIFA Soccer a game that will always be out of its box. A vast range of team levels. N. There is only one 'skill level'.

Overall 94%
The word 'classic' is used too much in this business, but anyone who plays FIFA Soccer must concede that this is football. In the Megadrive's sporting elite.