Super-League - by Cross Software
This game was a hidden gem. I don't think its a very well known game though because it was never released by a publisher. You couldn't buy it in many shops. I think one of the only ways you could get it was by sending a cheque or postal order to the guy who wrote it.
I remember seeing a tiny add in the corner of some ZX Spectrum computer magazine, back in 1983. You had to send payment (I think it cost £6.50), and a week later your cassette tape would be delivered!
But it was worth the wait. This game was really good, and much better than the original Football Manager from the previous year. Football Manager sold hundreds of thousands of copies but this little gem called Super-League probably only sold a few hundred despite being far superior.
What made it so good? Well it recreated a full league for the first time. Previous games (and many that came after it) only had small leagues of a dozen teams in each (in the case of the Boss, just 6 teams per division!). With Super-League you had a full 22 team league, 42 fixtures per season. Although the graphics were just little 2D stickmen, you had a full 11 v 11 a-side representation of the match that you could sit and watch. And the "skill" level of each player on the pitch was evident too. You could see who were good runners, good passers, and good shooters, compared to the poorer players. This was something games before it and many after it failed to do. You never saw skill represented on the pitch until years later. Super-League was the first in that regard.
I remember seeing a tiny add in the corner of some ZX Spectrum computer magazine, back in 1983. You had to send payment (I think it cost £6.50), and a week later your cassette tape would be delivered!
But it was worth the wait. This game was really good, and much better than the original Football Manager from the previous year. Football Manager sold hundreds of thousands of copies but this little gem called Super-League probably only sold a few hundred despite being far superior.
What made it so good? Well it recreated a full league for the first time. Previous games (and many that came after it) only had small leagues of a dozen teams in each (in the case of the Boss, just 6 teams per division!). With Super-League you had a full 22 team league, 42 fixtures per season. Although the graphics were just little 2D stickmen, you had a full 11 v 11 a-side representation of the match that you could sit and watch. And the "skill" level of each player on the pitch was evident too. You could see who were good runners, good passers, and good shooters, compared to the poorer players. This was something games before it and many after it failed to do. You never saw skill represented on the pitch until years later. Super-League was the first in that regard.