Football Manager 2012 Handheld Review

August 18, 2012 John Reyvaldi Apps

Football Manager is a popular managerial based game on PC platform. Developed by SEGA team, this game is manage to gain it’s popularity in the past few years. I am a great fan of this game. I can’t tell you how much hour that i spend on this game to get sign my favorite players, save my team from relegation, or just get promoted to higher league division. That is why i was literally jump on my feet when i know that SEGA decided to release Football Manager 2012 handheld for Android.

Football Manager 2012 handheld allow you to play in 12 different leagues around the world. However, you shouldn’t expect to experience the same managerial simulation to the PC version of Football Manager 2012. There are huge cutdown on this Android edition. However, i am still quite confident to say that this is the best football simulation game that i ever play on my smartphone.

You should be able to see the downgrade as soon as you wath your first match. The 3D pitch and players are now replaced by the old flat-field. Players are now represented in circles. If you have play Football Manager 2008, you should now what i am talking about right now. However, i still can live with that. Besides, if i was looking for better graphics, i will play PES or FIFA instead right? However, i cannot tolerate how SEGA team decided to remove player and stadium photos on this handheld edition. There is no squad number system as well, which i usually use to boost a player’s morale. Football Manager 2012 handheld also don’t require you to register player. This is mean that all of your rooster are eligible for any league and tournament. Make the game easier but not realistic at all.

Luckily, SEGA team still manage to retain the strongest point of Football Manager series on this handheld edition, crowded tactical settings. There are lot of different strategies and set ups that you can try to win the game. You need to review your strategy from time to time, because you will face different opponent with different characteristics. It also better if you manage to come out with backup plan, just in case if your ace player is not in his top shape condition.

But there is a major drawback in Football Manager 2012, there is no training mode! In the PC version, you can assign player to do different portion of training to improve his natural strength. For instance, you may ask player A to improve his speed, while player B should train each day to work on his shooting accuracy. On FM 2012 Handheld, you will only ask to set the player on a training and that’s it. There are no deep training menu to pick. Boring.

Off course you can still assign your training staff and make personal talk to boost player’s morale, but that is not good enough for me. There is no way that you will be able to see the reserves team unless there is something wrong happen with your regular team player (eg: long-term injury or suspension).

But i can’t deny the fact that i really enjoy the new touch control system on FM 2012 Handheld. I manage to swap players and change tactics in seconds. It feels like i was holding an actual tactic board! Creating new game is easier too. This is kind expected since the interface was made for handheld device. As soon as you open the game, you will be presented with five different modes: Club, Manager, Competitions, Search, Options and Continue. If you purchase the full version of the game, you will also get a personal alert system, which help you to stay updated to latest news in the virtual football world.

Overall, Football Manager 2012 Handheld quality is worse that it’s Windows sibling. There are no deep menus to choose, but that is not the case since we’re talking about mobile version here. But if you’re looking for a great football sim game, you better download this game now. It is simple, easily access, and quite addictive.

Download Football Manager 2012 Handheld here.

2012, Android, APK, Download, Football,