Ultimate Soccer Manager '98

"The Best Football Management <b><i>EVER</b></i>"

Gameplay

Ultimate Soccer Manager 98 is a brilliant example of a football management game. There is so much to do in it, it's unbelievable. This was the first football management game I played and I'm glad that it was. The game has a very steady learning curve; there are seven different game difficulties, ranging from Grandmother, where you start with 20 million pounds in the bank, to Real Hard, where you start with no money in the bank. You can play in 6 major countries, in over 25 different leagues.
The game is so simple and yet so complex because at the beginning there doesn't seem to be a huge amount in the game but the more you play the more you discover.
Ultimate soccer manager 98 boasts the most impressive archive of real players and stats. There are updates released every year on various WebSites, so even though the game is nearly 5 years old it is still looking fresh. The player transfer options are hugely impressive. It has never been so easy to find that new 10 million pound striker. Although you still have to negotiate the contracts, which is a lot harder than in other games because the agents are really picky about who their players will play for. There are the majority of the major trophies, both domestic and European to win. Which is good as a lot of games don't include all of the smaller domestic competitions.
Overall in football management terms I think that the gameplay is second to none and that it is one of the most comprehensive management sims available.

Gameplay 9/10

Story

Well, lets see in Ultimate Soccer Manager 98 you are a football manager who has to take his chosen club to domestic and European success. (As you can see there isn't much of a story.)

Story 3/10

Sound and Graphics

Ultimate Soccer Manager 98 does not boast amazing graphics in the matches. But since a lot of football management games are text only it is still acceptable. The match graphics have been matched on the megadrive (think of World Cup Italia 90). This is one of the games weakest areas. But the menu system is ingenious. It is like a really good first person point and click adventure (think of a first person Monkey island with football), it makes it so much easier to control how many burger bars there are and how much you charge per season ticket.
The sound is really good in the game. During the matches you can listen to lots of commentary with player and club names in Scottish and English leagues. In the menu system the sound is also good because every time you click on something a sound will play. If you click on a newspaper it will rustle as the pages turn and if you click on the shop you will hear things being sold.

Graphics 5/10 (The match graphics bring the score down)
Sound 9/10 (The commentary is better than in world cup Italia 90 and in most other management games)

Replayability

If you like this kind of game then it will take you ages to get bored of it. There are just so many options, you can adjust the price of tickets, season tickets, pies, scarfs, flags, programmes, you can sell and buy players, gamble and rig matches read the paper and watch replays of your team's performances. It is even possible to create your own formations and tactics and then trade them over the Internet with your friends. If this doesn't sound like enough the I can assure you that there is a lot more in the game that ill let you discover for yourself. Even after around 3 years I still come back and have a few matches every now and then.

Replayability 10/10

To Buy Or To Rent

Since you cant rent this out I would have to say that since it is only around £10 to buy. If you are even remotely interested in football that you should get it if you get the chance. Although it is sadly getting rarer and rarer by the day.

Overall Rating 9/10 (if you like football)
7/10 (If you don't)

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 09/28/02, Updated 09/28/02