The pinnacle of the CM2 engine
If you ask an avid soccer manager gamer why anyone would be playing anything other than the latest and greatest Championship Manager game, the answer would have to be the following: nothing is more interesting than the Championship Manager 2 engine, and the 97/98 edition was the last and greatest to use it. Well, the latest and greatest for a very specific niche of players, those that prefer the rather more personal and with a mind that could be read by the experts even from the way the hard-disk roared. Of course, not many will be able to get that weird and gut wrenching experience on the new machines of today, but, without a doubt, CM 97/98 is still a bad-ass manger. Along with the 97/98 database, the game also came with a set of tools that allowed for user editing and even users imputing entire new teams. This came with a host of new customization options that hinted very strongly at the modern managers of today. But at the time, they were simply unrivaled. The leagues that the game portrays include England, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and a few other well performing leagues of the time. Each team has its own notable players and, given the ability to edit the database, the game could closely replicate the performance of the real players, extending the replay value indefinitely. If you feel a nudge to experience some football of yore, CM 97/98 does an extraordinary job of taking you back in time. What's even more exciting that the interfaces and controls will feel immediately recognizable if you've played a few recent football managers. And that is why this game is such a special one in the soccer managment genre.
