Player Manager
| Developer: Dino Dini | Graphics: |
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| Publisher: Anco | Sound: |
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| Year: 1990 | Difficulty: |
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| Genre: Soccer-Management | Lastability: |
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| Number of players: 1 | Rating: |
8/10 | |
A title related to Kick Off, but complementary, as it adds a touch of substance to the “solo” mode, while the former shines for quick matches between friends.
You’re the manager (or player-manager) of an English third-division football club. Through shrewd tactical choices and your business acumen, you might just climb the ranks all the way to the top…
The tactics editor lets you define each player’s position on the pitch individually and for every phase of play (attack, defence, set pieces). Then, you can assess your team’s performance during a match—one you’re free to participate in. In addition to overseeing training and player recruitment, you can take control of the matches “for real”: either managing the whole team or playing as a single individual. If you choose the player-manager role, be warned that your on-pitch abilities will deteriorate with age. That said, you’re free to keep playing well into your granddad years—you’re the boss, it’s your call.
As the icing on the cake, you can export your winning tactics and customised teams to Kick Off 2, either for two-player fun or to humiliate the computer…
Compared to other management games, this one is far less detailed, especially in financial aspects. However, blending it with a proper football game breathes fresh life into the genre. In that sense, I’d call it more of a single-player variant of Kick Off than a full-fledged management sim.
Player Manager 2 was released in 1995.
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