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One of, erm, two of three football games that tried to cash in on the World Cup - though whether this is the Official Tie-in or one of the Blatant Rip-Offs is hard to say, Italy 1990 is a straightforward hack-the-ball around-the-scrolling-pitch affair. Playing the team of your choice - yes, now Uncle Dennis can fulfil that lifelong dream of captaining the United Arab Emirates - you have to, well, take your team through the tournament, beat your opponents and win the cup. Basically. As usual, you control (a) the player nearest the ball and (b) the ball itself by holding down Fire to build up kicking power.

Some stuff about player strength and team formation tops off the trifle, so quick passing is the order of the day.

Kick Off still has a lot to answer for. Italy 1990 is cursed with what appears to be a pitch over 700 feet long, with the players belting up and down at thigh-defying speeds. Any thought of tactical play vaporises as soon as you start the game - you rush about, thump the ball in a random direction and hope scrolling is going to reveal one of your players in a handy position. It's not much fun, even with two players, and there are at least sixteen identical footy games that are substantially better than this sorry affair.