Italian league football enjoys an increasingly high profile now that Channel Four broadcast three shows a wekk, and without that coverage, it's unlikely Championship Manager Italia would have seen the light of day. How much did anyone know about the players and teams two years ago? Little more than nowt I'd wager.
Serie-A is the most glamorous of all European leagues and let's face it, if you're a footie fan, you wouldn't turn down the chance to manage Internazionale or Juventus.
CMi (well I'm not going to write Championship Manager Italia every two minutes) is virtually identical to Championship Manager '93 in format and contains detailed info about Serie-A and B teams as well as Serie-C player details.
Pasta ball to me
Everything is beautifully laid out leaving you to think about what to do with the team rather where you're supposed to click the mouse next. From career histories to individual statistics and transfer history, CMi has everything the boss could ever need bar a sheepskin coat. The attention to detail is meticulous.
For those unfamiliar with footie management sims, the idea is to guide a squad of players through a season and beyond. You can buy and sell players, loan them, insure them, fine them, in fact, do everything Big Ron or Harry can. All the players have ratings for skills such as passing, tackling and shooting and you must get them to gel as a team.
You don't actually get to see the lads out on the park doing the business, but each team has a set of three moving bars denoting defence, midfield and attack, and a series of on-screen comments provide information on how the game is progressing. Sounds a bit naff, but it works well.
Pizza the action
Management sims are amazingly popular, with five entering the Amiga Format top 30 last month - two in the top 10. The long-
The major benefit Championship Manager Italia has over CM '93 is that it runs a good deal faster, thus eliminating the frustrating periods of waiting around.
If you enjoy footie management or if you have more than a passing interest in Italian League football Championship Manager Italia is excellent value.