HOT BOARD GAMES OF 2016 PRO
HOT BOARD GAMES OF 2016 SERIES

You could score screamers from 40 yards or tap-ins after a goalmouth scramble. Not quite as frantically insane as Sensible Soccer, not quite as gloriously detailed as FIFA 18, but instead a wonderful mid-way between the two extremes. On the gameplay side, it was as fluid and playable as football games get.

The Master League had by now developed into a proper four-division set-up, with promotion, relegation and a Champions League equivalent and there were even, finally, proper player names. What made it so special? JustвЂ¦ everything.

HOT BOARD GAMES OF 2016 SERIES

But that would be silly, so instead weвЂ™ve picked the probable highest point in a series of very high ones. Frankly, we could have had all of them in this list.

HOT BOARD GAMES OF 2016 PRO

We could have picked any of the four games from Pro Evo 2 to Pro Evo 5 and made a case for its inclusion. That its standards did eventually drop was inevitable, but it doesnвЂ™t make the glory years from 2002-2005 any less special. Well, Pro Evolution Soccer managed the same feat.

The Simpsons did that from about season 3 to season 9, for instance, but itвЂ™s pretty rare. But then it does вЂ“ for year after year after year. There are times in popular culture when a thing вЂ“ band, TV series, game, whatever вЂ“ reaches such a peak, you think it canвЂ™t possibly stay there. But in truth ISS Pro Evolution was already creeping ahead of FIFA by this time it was more realistic yet also more playable вЂ“ and thatвЂ™s a winning combination in any game. While the Master League was a great addition to the series, it would have meant nothing if the gameplay hadnвЂ™t matched up to it. Instead, it gave you the chance to shape the team of your dreams, packing it with attacking midfielders if you chose, or instead making sure you had a Mourinho-solid defence. You could buy and sell players, but you used points earnt by winning games, rather than money, and there was none of the complicated day-to-day running of the club that youвЂ™d have to endure in Championship Manager. And it was here that it first appeared.ДЄlthough at this stage a relatively basic affair, the Pro Evo Master League still bolted a decent career sim on to an already superb football game. Ah, the Master League: just how many hours have we spent cocooned in your comforting embrace, steadily building up a team of honest pros and turning them into world beaters? Probably several thousand вЂ“ and thatвЂ™s no exaggeration.

Hot board games of 2016