Pro Evolution Soccer 2010

When English teams were finally allowed back into European football in the mid 1990s, one of the biggest draws was how our particular brand of hack-and-slash soccer compared to the then superior, sophisticated variant they played on the continent.

Such differences are rare these days, the average line-up of a Premiership team like a veritable UN meeting. Football sims, however, still come with a fair amount of variety.

If you're something of a connoisseur, you'll already know that Pro Evolution Soccer on mobile is the thinking man's footy game. This year's outing does nothing to meddle with that, only serving to embellish the solid base that was already there.

In terms of the matches themselves, Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 is virtually faultless. Notably slower than both FIFA and Real Football, players seem to have a bit more space on the pitch, encouraging you to hold onto possession until you can pick out the right pass.

This means that rather than totting up cricket scores, most matches are fairly closely run. Taking the few opportunities presented to you is key.

Controls are also a differentiating factor, Pro Evo again offering two versions - 'one touch', where the '5' key is used for each and every move, with double-tapping and holding changing the action depending on the context, or 'standard', which employs the kind of set-up anyone who has tackled football on a mobile will be familiar with.

Either way, Konami continues to make scoring a more complex affair than simply turning up in the box and having a thwack at the ball - finding space and approaching from an angle remains the best way to hit the back of the net, resulting in some truly stunning Arsenal-esque team goals.

Not content with simply playing better than its rivals, however, Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 also has the UEFA Champions League (complete, in cute fashion, with its now infamous score) and UEFA Europa League to fall back on. The only downer is the lack of a full club roster, the usual and often amusing variants on team names popping up instead.

But when that's the only fault to pick on, you're onto a pretty good thing. Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 is probably the most intelligent, realistic and - most importantly - enjoyable football sim to ever hit mobile.

Like Barcelona taking on Bradford City, its brand of football is a league or two above everything else on offer, making victory over its rivals this season all but inevitable.