So he's gone to Japan, has he? Britain not good enough for him, eh? But before he left, Gary Lineker gave us this parting gift - a box of games he personally coded while on the team bus. Lonely James Leach sits on the subs bench and has a go...

There is, as it says on the blurb, only one Gary Lineker. This much is undeniably true. But just think how good England would be if there were eleven of the blighters. Anyway, there are four (count 'em) games, all vaguely connected with the chirpy striker with the Japanese affiliations. '

First up (as you tear open the box with your teeth) is Italy 1990. Here you've got to, well, score lots of goals against various teams based around the world. It's called Italy 1990 because that's where the World Cup was held then. You don't actually have to play Italy if you don't want to.

It's a top-down, Euro Football Champ sort of game, but much older. But I have to say that it's still absolutely superb. It fast, it's clear and it's as smooth as an ice-rink which has been polished by a team of Hungarians.

The entire World Cup (from 1990, not very surprisingly) is here. You can play any of the countries, which takes the place of skill levels. Each country has its own skill and strength rating, so you can just choose Italy, Argentina or Brazil and select the computer (or the other human player) to play UAE or Scotland. You can't lose.

The game has all the control you could want, and there are tons of strange moves and approaches you can take in order to make everything more exciting. Graphics and sound are totally marv [I think he means marvellous - Ed] and controlling the ball is easy. Great stuff, and a rather brill football game.

Ding! Next! Right, Gary Lineker's Hot Shot is pretty similar to Italy 1990. It's a top-down viewed eleven-a-side footy romp with slightly worse graphics than Italy 1990. The emphasis is on riveting goal-mouth action (with never a foul in sight, just like our Gary). Again, it's a fast one, but the game's controllability isn't quite as impressive as in the Italy game. You can still put together some superb combinations, and the moves occasionally look and feel dead excellent when you get them right. And the feel is different enough to make you want to play them both, rather than just Italy 1990 (which is, has to be said, a better game).

Now, if you could move on down the bus, we could make way for the next game. Gary Lineker's Superstar Soccer is a different kettle of water-dwelling creatures. It has that extra vital dimension, for a start. In other words, you view it from the side of the pitch, and can see both the tops of the players' heads and their sides. The funny thing is that the players - small, smoothly animated 3D fellows that they are - seem to walk purposefully all over the pitch, rather than running anywhere. It's disturbing to see, and they remind me of some of the baddies from Doctor Who.

Controlling these ramblers is easy and responsive. You have a lot of time to make up your mind about what you want to do, but because the guys move slowly, getting them into position takes a while.

It's got to be said, though, that the ball moves in the most realistic way. It bounces, rolls and skips over the pitch just like in a real footy game. It's most amusing to see this ball rolling along, being chased by four blokes. stamping slowly and angrily over the grass.

Superstar Soccer is a weird game. It's got loads of detail, but it's a bit finicky to get into. The emphasis is on passing, marking and getting into position without anybody walking up behind you and punching you in the back of the neck. The skill is something you can develop, and, more importantly, it's also very funny to watch the stomping blokes, which makes up for a lot.

Finally, there's Gary Lineker's Superskills. The emphasis is on getting fit and skilful for the matches, rather than slamming banana-shot after banana-shot into the back of the net. Instead, what you do is get yourself into shape with some leg-warming, stretchy-leotard sort of dancercises. While all this is going on, Gary is presumably sitting in a deck-chair drinking sparkling spring-water and watching all the agonies being carried out in front of him.

The bad news is that this is a major-league waggler. You've got to prove to Mr Lineker that you're capable of waggling your joystick at such a rate that you are certain to score in the next friendly against Rumania. Sit-ups, press-ups, chin-lifts, back-stroke, breast-stroke, butterfly and crawl (actually these last ones aren't included. I was trying to be humorous). It's a refreshing change to find a game on a footy collection that doesn't have you trying to dodge the defenders and whip the ball between the keeper's legs.

Having said all this, it's the football games that are the best. And the best of those is Italy 1990. If you can live with the fact that it's all about a competition that took place a couple of years ago, you'll have a large and buiging amount of fun.

1. Superskills involves waggling, clicking, sweating and, er, no football.
2. Italy 1990 is a bit out of date.

1. Hot Shot is a fast and furious game with clear graphics.
2. Italy 1990 is an even faster and more furious game with even clearer graphics.
3. Italy 1990 has a brilliant team and squad selection sequence, with the proper World Cup feel to it.
4. All the footy games have excellent two-player options bolted on, so you and a chum can share the action.
5. There aren't any rubbish games on the compilation (despite Superskills being slightly, er, different).