World Championship Rugby

Acclaim and Swordfish Studios bring us Johnny Wilkinson and the boys for the most entertaining digital rugger game yet.

Many moons ago, a British developer called Swordfish Studios created a game for Codemasters called Jonah Lomu Rugby. It was the most playable and fun rugby game released in the 32-bit days, and despite the efforts of EA, remains the best rugby game available, full stop. Until now, that is, as Swordfish has returned to the pitch again with Acclaim's World Championship Rugby.

If you played the original Jonah Lomu Rugby and are worried that this latest rugby game will not be on a par with that game you needn't worry. Because, apart from a change of name and a graphical spruce-up, World Championship Rugby is identical in gameplay terms to that old classic.

World Championship Rugby, as its name suggests, centres on the international game. So there are no club teams and the action is union only, rugby league fans will have to get their fix somewhere else. With only the international teams in there it does feel a little sparse, especially as there's little scope for team management. It's obvious WCR is a game created on a limited budget when compared to EA Sports titles, but as you'll se as we move onto the pitch, the game has got it where it counts.

For a sport that can often seem complicated, the controls are simplicity itself. Fans of the Jonah Lomu game will instantly feel right at home as the controls are almost the same. On the default PS2 set-up, the left analog stick is used to run around with one of the shoulder buttons adding some extra pace via sprint. Tapping R1 passes the ball out to the nearest player on the right, while a double tap plays it to the next closest. L1 repeats the procedure in the opposite direction.

Like much of the game, the controls are simple yet the complexities of the sport have to be handled carefully by the player. For example hitting R1 may pass to the closest player on the right, but what if he is forward of the passer? The resulting pass with is penalised. In such a situation, it's up to the player to spot these moments and double tap to bypass the forward member of the team. I like this approach, where one isn't mollycoddled through the game.

Rucks and mauls are a lot of fun and the control system is the same as Jonah Lomu, but if something aint broke why fix it? Once a melee develops from a tackle, a couple of icons appear over the action. One shows the balance of the conflict via a simple coloured bar, the other looks like a top down view of bowling pins and shows how many players have been added to the ruck. The player may tap a button to add or remove players. Another button makes the players dig in, or tapping makes them push. The tapping adds a stamina element to the gameplay, not unlike those 8-it athletics games of yesteryear. An icon appears around the closest back when that team has control of the ball and can move it on to the next phase of play.

Sometimes it's possible to move the ball on right away from the tackle. But if a more complicated battle ensues then it may often require some more players and some hard pushing. Not reacting in time when the opposition throws more manpower into the battle can mean being turned over. The rucks and mails have been extremely well handled in this game and manage to be exciting moments in the game rather than dull elements that could slow down play.

Scrums work equally well, with a button press to dig in and tapping to push. In certain positions, it's better to dig in and let the opposition win the ball after they've put in. At other times in very defensive situations, it's worth wearing one's fingers out trying to push as hard as possible.