This soccer game has already spent a few weeks bobbing about above the murky depths of the Amiga charts which, one presumes, has less to do with the somewhat dubious licence than with the quality of the game itself.

It's simple enough. The idea is to pick the best players from the squad, give them the benefit of your tactical prowess and, with adepth joystick waggling, stuff some opposition. While it is pitched as a mish-mash of tactics and action the most appealing aspects of the game will tax the reflexes and subtlety of movement rather than any heavy duty teasing or grey matter.

There are more options than you'll ever find useful - you decide how long matches are, whether to play auto-goalie (a good idea at first) and other such domesticities.

Let's say, just for the hel of it, that you fancy running the England show. You're presented with the opportunity to practice with some friendlies, or enter a cup and league competition with classy opposition. The players have the kind of bland names one expects but it doesn't take long to change the likes of Green and Jones into Gascoigne and Lineker. The names of international opposition are inane enough (Cousteau and Bleriot play for France) to merit being left alone.

Each player has various attributes indicated on an extremely simple table and you can manipulate these to suit any requirements. Once all this fuss is over you can get down to som e real fun. Everyone knows that a good game is simple to play and difficult to master. Emlyn Hughes starts off with the right idea. It doesn't take long to learn how to win the ball and distribute it. Scoring, and therefore beating the opposition, is a wholly different ball game.

Tricky joystick manipulation will give you the power to put the ball any place you please, but these skills need time and practice to be developed. The way to win is to get the measure of the pitch and work from there. The players will do the rest, at your command.

Unlike so many soccer games the offside rule has been included and it seems impossible to find players in an offending position.

No doubt everyone who brings this home will have a good fiddle with the match options. But the game is essentially a knock about, and a jolly good one at that.

GRAPHICS AND SOUND

You can sense that this game has graduated from the 8-bits - the visuals are 'functional'. Players, while a tad stiff, do not suffer chronic arthritis. The crowd sound is cheerful and wonderful so despite being merely a random bag of muffled crowd cheers, beeping horns and unintelligible chants, it adds to the atmosphere and should be turned up. But kill the music at the earliest opportunity.

LASTING INTEREST

Definitely one of the more durable footie games mainly because of its wide range of shots and passes. Victory over all the computer opponents will take time and there are enough surprises to make it a good wheeze for two players.

JUDGEMENT

It lacks speed, tactical difficulties are virtually non-existent and shouldn't be taken too seriously, but nevertheless it's a lot more fun than a Saturday afternoon at Wycombe Wanderers.

The fact that this game is endorsed by media celeb and former England and Liverpool player, Emlyn Hughes, should be enough to set the tills ringing in softshops nationwide. However, the ever-grinning one's endorsement may also put off many hardcore soccer fans from purchasing the game. I bet many people will see the endorsement as the kiss of death. If the game was any good, surely it would sell regardless of any 'star-name' endorsement. Maybe so, but there's certainly a glut of soccer products on the market so anything helps to get a game noticed.

The 64 game was one of the best football games available. Its only problem was blocky graphics. The Amiga version has better visuals, but I cannot help feeling that some of the game's character has been lost as a result. A bit like dressing mutton up as lamb - the old graphics were perfect for what it was.

The main game is strict arcade, but not so instantly appealing as Kick Off. The view is from the side of the pitch using a classic forced 3D perspective, the same as old fave Match Day, and as a result you don't feel like you're playing on a full width pitch. Audiogenic insist that all the pitch dimensions are accurate, however, so I'll have to take their word for it.

The control system can be as complex as you want. The more complex the set up, the greater the ball control. There are (deep breath) 28 different strengths of kick along three different heights (lob, body, and ground level), up to five different kick directions (forward, 20 and 70 degrees either side from forward) and optional back-kicks. That may sound a lot, but there's more. From basic choices such as editing team names and colours, through to selecting extra time, the number of points for a win, the skill level of computer opponents and the choice of a cup, league or knock-out competition, the wealth of options is impressive.

The game plays well, although I found the response concerning things like changing direction while running to be a little sticky, which leads to mistimed tackles, missed shots and off target throw-ins. It does take a while to get used to, especially after playing Kick Off for so long, but it soon becomes second nature and you'll find yourself pulling off some pretty natty moves.

The graphics and sound complement the game. For some reason, though, the fluid animation that made the 64 look impressive has warped into three frames for running and one for kicking. What happened? The soundtrack is fairly impressive. Consisting mainly of distorted samples of crowd chants and shouts from players, the overall effect is very atmospheric.

International Soccer was football king on the 64, but on 16 bit it'll have to relinquish its crown to more deserving titles.