Customer Reviews
It's good, but nothing new. - By: James Grange, 02 Dec 2008 
SI's 4th instalment of Football Manager on the PSP has arrived, & was it worth it?
Well for those you who played Football Manager 08 on PSP will be asking is it an improvement? I would say...not really. Omitting a few `new' features the game is identical.
Except this year we can run 4 countries instead of one, which is fantastic, however it's only top tier, which means, yes you can run four countries, but three of which only the top league. You can't run all the leaguesin those three countries,
But you have to remind yourself, this is PSP this is a scaled down version of its PC counterpart, it's not going to be asin depth or detailed.
So what else we do we get this year, new 2d match mode, ok, its ok, it's nothing special really, after four or five games, I just found myself staring at the TV during a match & occasionally glancing to see the score, just like I did with the text mode. With the limitations of the PSP, it's going to get repetitive; your cycle of habit will no doubt emulate that of all the previous management games you have played on the PSP (if any). We also get a choice of changing from a light skin, to a dark skin, great, while not so much as a ground breaking feature, you can now as it says, change skins. That's it, that's all the new additions you get, yes the international management is still there, yes it's multiplayer (adhoc only), yes all the stats for teams & players have been updated, but aside from all that, what we really got, is not anything new, just an extension of the previous game, an expansion pack if you like. However, speed is not an issue here, the loading times are acceptable, with no notable slow downs. The database of players is acceptable, would have been nice if it had been a bit bigger, but again limitations. The general feel of the game is acceptable, yet after your first blitz of the game, its probable life span will bein 10 minute (possibly less) intervals. Is it a good game? Yes, againin 10 minute intervals. But it is generally a nice game, the transfers are realistic enough, the results seem fair, tactics do have sayin the outcome, information is pretty spot on for the players, no stadium names arein the game, which is a let down, in-fact the subject of the stadium is missing from this game altogether. Control is pretty easy enough, it's not rocket science. Player retirementsin those other countries is a problem, as once they retire, that's it, that club will never generate a new youth player.
Bearingin mind with the limitations of a PSP, it's the best Football Management game on the PSP, nothing does come close, although Championship Manager 2007 PSP is a good (ish) game also. As the developers designed the game, for a on the move gaming experience,in which its small, its light & it will fit into your pocket, & anytime you feel the need to break out a football management game, no fuss, no hassle, no loading slow down times, then bang it's there. And that's what you'll get.
Still addictive as hell..... - By: The New Mike Newell, 17 Nov 2008 
After reading about all the grief with the PC version, it makes a nice change just to drop thisin the PSP slot & away you go. Ok, what's changed since 08? Firstly the 2D match engine, to be honest this does seem a bit 'so what'? & could quite easily do without, at times it is very slow, even on 'very fast' speed setting, but once you are into the game you hardly notice this, although frustratingly there isn't an option to switch the match engine off for some strange reason (2010 version perhaps?) & annoyingly whenever you switch to player ratings screen or any other of the options while the 2D match is active the game pauses, a minor annoyance, but surely one that could & should have been ironed out during testing. The new skin is much improved over the previous version (which always looked unfinished to me, pale & washed out blue & white?) & the game feels more 'complete'. This is still purely the best & most addictive game on PSP that you can pick up & play for 10 mins or 10 hours. (Won't get it on PC as I know it will take over my life, wife wouldn't be too keen on that). Highly recommended.
