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INTRODUCTION
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omark's Championship
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exciting leagues in the world - Italy. a
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Championship Manager Italia '95
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has full details on players in Serie l
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A and Serie B and contains all
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the major domestic and European
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competitions.
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Championship
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Domark exciting have taken their Championship
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Graphics are mainly table-based, l so it is
tManagement h game and given it an Italian
essential these are clearly set-out.
Fortunately, Championship Manager l
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has always been nicely presented with plenty of bright,
flavour. Tina Hackett has a taste of the action
colourful screens and an easy-to-access icon system. There's a
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background screen, showing a footballer, which can be
changed, along with the background colour - it's really just a
novelty aspect but does add some variety. The match is viewed with a series of bars
showing the performance of each teams defence, midfield and attack, and gives a
running commentary. This doesn't look as good as some of the matches in other
games but it still keeps the essential excitement.
Championship Manager won't blow you away with super high-tech visuals but
as management games have never really been under too close a scrutiny with
regards to graphics anyway, as long as they work well enough it doesn't matter
too much. The emphasis in the game is on good old-fashioned playability, but then
again it may look slightly dated against the latest Premier Manager.
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The match da y fina lly a rrive s -
watch how your team shapes up
PLAYABILITY
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OPINION 70%
There's a great deal to get to grips with in
Championship Manager_ It is a very in-depth
simulation but is still a great deal of fun and
remains as addictive as hell! There are plenty
of up-to-date stat3 available to ensure you
pick a winning team.
You can send your scout to look for new
players and give specific instructions on the
type of player you want and you have all
the other tasks to keep an eye on too,
whether it be player fitness or arranging
friendlies.
As this is the Italian version you get to
play in the Italian League which simulates
Serie A and Serie B. In Serie A, 18 teams play
each other twice (home and away). Serie
has 20 teams, who again play each other
twice. You also get to play in the Italian Cup
(La Coppa Italia), This starts with 32 teams
with two from Serie A, 20 from Serie B and
10 from Serie C_ The second round takes the
16 winners of the first round plus 16 from
Serie A until it gets down to two for the
final You can also take part in the European
Cup, the UEFA cup, the Cup Winners Cup
and the Anglo-Italian Cup, so there's absolutely
loads to keep you occupied.
One thing to remember about this Italian
game is that the playing style varies enor•
mously. Teams in Serie A and Serie B have a
more continental style, with a far more tactical
element such as testing each other's
strengths and weaknesses, and it leaves you
with the dilemma of whether to bring your
knowledge of English football into the
game or adopt their style - so even experts
have a new challenge!
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Okay, the game is still basically the
original Championship Manager, so it
keeps the great addictive playability of
the first, but if you've played its predecessor
to death then whether you buy it
or not will depend on how much you 4
want to have a version with the Italian
League. Saying that though, it will provide a
new challenge and it's great to see a different slant
on the genre rather than just the English League.
There's going to be a great deal of competition around soon for
football management games and although this isn't as modern or
stacked full of new ideas, it sticks to its routes and remains as playable
as ever. This is still one of the most realistic and stats-packed management
games around, and if you've not experienced the joys of this title
before or you want to try your hand at the Italian League, it's
definitely worth giving this a try.