Active Soccer 2

Much like today's Premiership footballers, today's footy game players don't know they're born.

In a modern FIFA or PES game first touches are instant and assured, shots are automatically directed towards goal, and turning on a six-pence is as simple as changing direction.

In the old days you had to work to make progress, and that's just the sort of approach Active Soccer 2 takes.

We've seen this brand of iOS football before, of course, in Active Soccer, but its true heritage goes back to Sensible Soccer and Kick Off.

Games are top-down and played at a frenetic pace, while the ball is tough to bring under control even with the default semi-automated set-up.

Shots still need directing properly, and you can only turn with the ball during the appropriate stage of your player's running animation. Good luck doing even that if you turn the dribble assist off.

It plays very similar to the first game in this respect, and in truth the game has the same scrappy failings as before. It's better looking, but still not GOOD looking, and the UI is basic to say the least.

The aforementioned increased emphasis on partial automation seems to have improved accessibility here, but there's a frustrating unpredictability to which player the computer chooses to put you in control of, leading to a few too many cheap concessions.

Active Soccer 2 still offers an appealingly raw approximation of football, however, and every goal feels satisfyingly hard won.

There's also an appreciably improved career element, with the presence of club teams (though not licensed of course) letting you play through a proper football season. Online play still figures, too.

Active Soccer 2 represents an improvement over the first game, despite addressing few, if any, of the original's faults.

If you want to learn how people used to play video games in gritty pre-FIFA times, it acts as a decent guide.