Ultimate Soccer Manager 98
Description official descriptions
Following on the footsteps of its predecessor, USM 98 brings the series to a new level while keeping the same presentation and style characteristic of the series.
The biggest change when compared to USM 2 is the implementation of all leagues in the same executable, which allow players to jump between England (all five nationwide leagues), Scotland (four), Germany (both Bundeslligas and the Regionaliga), Spain, France and Italy (two divisions each). Signings were also changed, and now require a number of faxes between the clubs and the player, which can delay a transfer by two weeks. Players now also have positions, defined by skills. A player with high tackling is a defender, both high tackling and passing is a defensive midfielder, and so on. By intensive training a player can be adapted successfully to a new position, and there's also a favorite side, which makes the difference between an attacking midfielder and a winger. On the downside, players no longer have a personality trait. With the exception of the player's potential (which defines the speed a player, particularly young, increases his abilities), everything can be edited using the in-game editor.
The rest of the game remained mostly unchanged, from the interface, composed by static pictures of several offices where options are reached by clicking on hotspots (like a TV for the teletext, where in-depth statistics can be consulted) to the financial options, where the player is given the lot of land close to the stadium to build stores for both marketing and merchandising.
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Critics
Average score: 67% (based on 10 ratings)
Players
Average score: 2.6 out of 5 (based on 9 ratings with 1 reviews)
A decent addition to the world of soccer managment sims
The Good
The main thing I liked was the number of options available, as USM98 lets you do pretty much whatever you want. This includes things like setting up new hot-dog stands, designing custom moves and formations, scouting for new players and so forth. The overall design is good and simple, and USM98 refrains from drowning you in heaps of unncessary details. Another plus is the statistics editor, which you can use to update or otherwise edit the players. Quite handy, if you disagree with a player's skills.
The Bad
As with most games of this kind, the AI is simply not good enough. Even though you can do alot of changes before a match is played, the results still feels too random. Besides this common complaint, the players names and skills could really benefit from more in-depth research. Especially in regard of the players in the non-English leagues.
The Bottom Line
Though not as statistically detailed as Championship Manager (the main competitor), it's much faster and more easy-going. All in all, it's good fun for soccer fans.
Windows · by faceless (438) · 1999
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Contributors to this Entry
Game added by faceless.
Additional contributors: Rantanplan, Zolansilverspear, garkham.
Game added December 14, 1999. Last modified January 22, 2024.