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Given that SNK's first Super Sidekicks game was one of the least inspiring football sims ever, universally scorned because of its haphazard gameplay, it comes as a pleasant surprise to find that the sequel is actually quite good. For once, the '2' in the title is justified - this game represents a clear progression.

For a start, it looks much better than the original. The pitch scrolls around much more smoothly and the scaling is so slick that you'll hardly notice the screen zooming in and out while the players run up and down the pitch. The sprites are well animated and there are lots of neat intermission screens that help create that 'big match' atmosphere.

The crowd noise has also been improved. Gone is the irritating klaxon noise, to be replaced by clear, event-driven sampled sound. The result is that this is possibly the best-sounding sports game on the Neo-Geo: the crowd scream when there's a goal mouth scramble, taunt the opposition when their team is winning, and 'Ooh!' and 'Aah!' when a shot goes wide or is tipped over the bar.

But these cosmetic improvements wouldn't mean diddly squat if Super Sidekicks 2 didn't play a decent game of footy. Thankfully, it does. In fact, it's by far the best arcade soccer game on any system, with a simple, intuitive control system that allows you to string several passes together with relative ease. Add to that the unique 'chance' feature that puts you in a one-on-one situation with the goalie and what you have here is a very polished and playable football game.

There are two criticisms. Firstly, the teams don't change ends at half time. Secondly, and more worryingly, it costs £175 - a ludicrously high price for any game. If it weren't for those drawbacks, Super Sidekicks 2 would be pretty much perfect.