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Soccer management games have been around almost since the dawn of computing (it is widely believed by those in the know that the first silicon chip designed by Texas Instruments incorporated a special 'view league fixtures' function). Kevin Toms' Football Manager is the great granddaddy of them all, but of course, that was yonks ago.

By now we should be witnessing the very apex of management games, the culmination of footballing strategy sims, the top of the evolutionary ladder, so to speak. Yes?

Well... no. In evolutionary terms, Multi-Player Soccer Manager is still wallowing around in the mud, wandering whether to nip out on to dry land for a quick rummage round. Apart from the sociable multi-player option and a nice front end (fnar, etc) - it's pretty much the same as its now-prehistoric ancestors.

The plot is this: you (and up to three chums) play the manager of a football team. You have control of the bank account and have the power to hire and fire team players, the coach, the physio and even the talent scout. You have the say on whether your stadium needs improvements and you're the one who gets the sack if you spend all the gate returns on your own private jet. Welcome to the tough world of sport.

Taking control by joystick or keyboard, you launch yourself into the zany, madcap world of soccer managing. There are loads of options but, to be honest, you only ever need a few of them. Train your players, pick the team, have a swift bid on the transfer market and play a game. That's all you really need to know. You can examine a huge database of league fixtures and opposing team stats, but the action really revolves around getting as a good a team as possible, balancing the books and watching the exciting highlights. By highlights I really mean... erm... the result.

There isn't even a late night edited version to get adrenalin pumping. The main difference in multi-player games is that a season can take up to four times as long to play. So there you have it. An eight-year-old game style, with eight-year-old gameplay. No graphics, no sound, no instructions (!) and there's even the odd bug or two and even a total bomb-out at the start of my second season. I have a sneaking suspicion that die-hard soccer management freaks will still get a kick out of this. Me? I took a whole month's takings and immediately retired to Rio.

1. Tidy option icons, and neat screen fade used throughout.
2. Save game helps to keep your career prospects alive.
3. Playing with like-minded friends ups the playability level - slightly.

1. Despite its apparently complexity, gameplay revolves around only three or four main options.
2. No sound. None. Not a sausage.
3. Little room for financial experimentation - overspend and you're immediately sacked.
4. Very little to keep you going, except the thrill of being promoted or winning a cup.
5. Lack of animated graphics is a real downer. It's text, text and more text.
6. Occasional, but unforgivable bugs.