Zzap


2 Player Soccer Squad

Publisher: Cult Games
Machine: Commodore 64/128

 
Published in Zzap #77

2 Player Soccer Squad

Eh? What good's a soccer squad with only two players? Oh, I see, two players can play the game!

It's another of those footy management games, a sort of cut-down version of Multi-Player Soccer Manager (45%, last ish). Here though, rather than start with a lowly Fourth Division side, both players get to manage the 'British Superleague' team of their choice (any of the top English/Scottish clubs). There's also a strange cup competition with four groups of five teams.

Main menu options are selected by pressing their initial letter. Selecting Squad Details brings up a list of all your players (including you if chose to be a player manager), showing their general skill level, goals, age and injuries. Here you can pick your team, sell players or give totally naff players a free transfer (to save on the wage bill).

Players aren't sold immediately but instead put on the transfer market the following week. Buying players involves bidding for any of the handful of players currently on the market. As their skill level isn't shown, the only way to estimate their value is to assign a scout to watch them: thus 'forthcoming transfers' are shown to allow you to do this in advance. It's all a bit laborious - the system in Multi-Player Soccer Manager was much friendlier with your scout giving you an immediate estimate before you make your bid for a player. Mind you, at least 2 Player Soccer Squad has some sort of match representation, albeit a crude one. The latest scores (and goalscorers) of all the week's matches are shown while a clock counts up to 90 minutes.

Erm, and that's about it really. There's the usual array of fixtures and tables to view, and you can also view other teams' squads, but there aren't many decisions to make. Apart from the two-player aspect, 2 Player Soccer Squad has nothing new to offer over previous primitive management games. Do yourself a favour and buy Tracksuit Manager instead.