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Trimming down a successful franchise to fit onto a handheld platform must be a difficult process. It might look simple, but fans aren’t going to be too happy to see their adored epic, chopped off at the knees and left as a tiny stump, barely resembling what it once was. Not only do you need to make sure that you can create a faithful representation of the ‘big boy’ version, but also tailor the game to the system so it appeals to its users.
Of course, everyone’s well aware of Sports Interactive and their long line of remarkably addictive football management sims. The hundreds of thousands of players included, and the vast number of teams available to manage is a joy to behold, but all that comes at a cost. The vast amount of data required for these thousands of stats, and the huge amount of memory and processing power needed to push everything on at a reasonable speed, doesn’t particularly go hand in hand with a handheld version.
So, what have Sports Interactive done to cram their huge masterpiece onto a tiny little UMD? For starters, the number of countries that you can manage within has been cut way down to a mere seven. As tiny a number as this sounds, it still leaves you with a huge 354 separate teams to manage, including every major European club. For those supporters of a top team in the Mexican top division, or a Major League Soccer side it’ll be annoying, but it’s a necessary evil.
Also disappearing is the 2D top-down viewpoint of the match-time action. Instead we’re treated to flashes of text, giving you all the required info, much like the older Championship Manager titles that Sports Interactive worked on before changing to Football Manager. It’s a regular debate as to which system happens to be the ‘best’ and it’s incredibly difficult to say if this version is really missing out on a vital piece of the puzzle. The text itself conveys what’s going on very well, and also makes the game feel more realistic as a result of not seeing odd visual representations of goals. Plus it’s always nice to give our brains a work out, imagining just what that goal looked like.
The interface itself has obviously had to change to fit onto a much smaller screen, with chunks of info now discovered via flicking quickly between screens, rather than ogling everything at once on your huge PC monitor. Navigating between screens and menus is merely a case of tapping the PSP’s shoulder buttons, and performing an action on each page only requires a quick press of the specified face button – an undoubtedly simple and suitable method of control. Ultimately you never feel like you’re missing out on some vital information that you’d be able to get at in the PC or Xbox 360 versions of the game, which is very impressive indeed.
There do seem to be a few strange exclusions, however, particularly tactically. Developing your own convoluted tactical method for each game, tweaking as the situation called for it, was, and still is, one of the most rewarding sections of the series. Taking on a much more powerful team with your lower league side full of nobodies and journeymen players, and holding them a to a tight nil-nil draw thanks to your tactical know-how, is something that can’t really be expressed in words. For this handheld version the tactical freedom you’re given is drastically cut-down, forcing you to rely on an admittedly large number of pre-determined options. For most, these pre-created tactics will be enough to satisfy, but there’s a band of gamers out there who are certain to be more than a little distraught at the lack of customisation options.
Flying through games during those train journeys to work in the morning happens at alarming speed, with seasons passing by in a matter of hours, rather than the weeks of its bigger brothers. With matches rushing through in a matter of minutes, and progression to the next game almost happening instantaneously – as long as you don’t dip into the transfer market – it’s perfectly suited to play on the move. Concentration is obviously required during high profile matches, but leaving the game to ‘play itself’ during meaningless games can give your tired mind a rest. And considering how frequently you’ll be playing this handheld masterpiece, the respite is most welcome.
Sports Interactive need to be commended for even attempting to bring such a complicated title to the PSP, and doubly so considering how well the final product turned out. Even without the high profile name to back it up, this would easily stand as the best way for football fanatics to get their handheld managerial kicks. It’s a perfect example of how to port a franchise to a handheld without sacrificing what made the game so great in the first place.
