European Super League

European Super League is a football simulation game released 20 years ago in 2001. It's naturally very simple and basic compared to modern games, but back in 2001, it was widely regarded as one of the best sports games around for many reasons. There are various features for me to talk about but let's start with the teams that are present in the game.

An international roster

Teams from nine different nations feature in European Super League, including teams from the UK, France, and Spain. A lot of these teams are even still popular and well-known today, such as Chelsea, Bayern Munich, and Real Madrid, which is pretty awesome to see.

The players that you see on the team squads are actual players, too, so if you're a long-time football fan you may recognize a few names. Don't expect to recognize too many faces though, as video game graphics were pretty terrible back in 2001, and every face is super pixelated.

Bird’s-eye view gameplay

As is the case for most football simulation games, European Super League features bird’s-eye view gameplay, though the camera is admittedly a lot closer to the pitch than what you see in Fifa and PES. Watching the game from above is typically best for football games as you get a complete view of the pitch and player locations, allowing you to set up elaborate plays and spot incoming attacks more easily. It’s no surprise that this kind of gameplay view has stuck around in football games for so many years and is still seen today.

Two control modes

European Super League was designed with both new and experienced players in mind, hence why there are two different control modes. The first mode is called novice mode and helps new players settle into the game by limiting the controls and keeping things simple – you may want to try this mode out first if you’re going to download European Super League and try it out for yourself.

The second mode is more advanced and gives players access to a whole host of new controls that grant more freedom over movement in the game. This second mode is complex and more difficult to get the hang of, but once you get to grips with it, it’ll be 100% worth it as you’ll be able to pull off some intricate plays.

Pros:

• Real teams and real player names are present in the game
• There's both a simple control mode catering to new players and a more advanced one catering to more experienced players
• Authentic football sounds and crowd chants

Cons:

• The graphics are super outdated
• There’s aren’t a lot of different playable teams to choose from
• The game could do with a few more gamemodes

A bit of a tricky one this. Initially dismissed as unplayable rubbish, a surfeit of spare time allied to an almost perverse degree of professionalism has, some days later, yielded the verdict: vaguely playable rubbish.

It's at times like this we're glad we don't have to buy games. Imagine the scene. You like football, you like football games, and you've had European matches pumped into your brain on an almost daily basis throughout the season. What more could you ask for than a game that enables you to take charge of any of the continent's 16 finest clubs? A game that works perhaps? A game that wasn't a glorified version of blind football? If we'd got back from the shop with this, we'd be absolutely spewing, particularly if we already owned the long-forgotten Viva Football, of which this is little more than a buffed up European version (with England oddly represented by Liverpool and Chelsea).

Despite its lofty pretensions, the player AI is more school ground than European. Defenders will back off a player until he reaches a certain distance, at which point a few of them will lunge in like Roy Keane on downers. Oddly, this can be used to your advantage, as luring the entire defence to the edge of the area before passing to any one of the three or four unmarked teammates in the area gets results. Passing to feet works most of the time, although players will sometimes simply turn their back on the ball as if it isn't there.

Perhaps they should have fitted a bell on it. With practice, ESL does perversely verge on compelling, although the main incentive for playing it is that it's insulting to be beaten by a game so flawed.