Football Manager Handheld 2013

I have been a fan of the Football Manager games for many many years. Back before it was Football Manager even. One thing Sports Interactive has done well is get me to buy their game over and over again from Championship Manager (can't recall which one), Football Manager 2007 on the Xbox to Football Manager 2009 and Football Manager 2011 on PC and Football Manager Handheld 2013 on iOS. This review is for the handheld version, which I have found easier to sit down with and get into than finding time to crank up the Mac at home and fire up the full blown Football Manager game.

Football Manager Handheld 2013 is a football management simulation game and by football I mean soccer to those of us in the United States. You take control as manager of a team in one of the many leagues provided in the game and try to lead your team to glory. As manager you will be able to buy and sell players, set the starting lineup and tactical decisions for your team. What you won't be doing is playing an arcade style soccer game.

Football Manager in general is about picking the right team, putting them in the right formation, setting the right strategy to beat your opponent. You will have years (in game or out) to perfect your team unless the board of your club decides to fire you for not meeting their expectations as you simulate season after season. You may even be asked to take over management of an international team to try for World Cup success.

One of the hallmarks of the Football Manager set of games is its ability to often mimic real life in its simulation of the top leagues in the world. In my game the following two events happened (only about a year off the real events of this past season at Chelsea:

Only about a year late

And again 

It's always a pleasant surprise when things like this happen and help to add to the "realism" of the game. Football Manager Handheld 2013 is also a streamlined version of its big brother in that you have all the key elements of a Football Manager game - multiple leagues, lots of players to pick from, challenges to pit your skill against - but not the same depth you get with the PC version of the game. Here you don't have to deal with the media much or set pre-game and half-time talks, player interactions are limited as is the depth of the training system and in match graphics are 2D only - very old school flavor. The only thing I found myself missing was some of the player and media interaction as I found my players getting discouraged with little I could do to pull them out of their funk. That didn't stop me from being in my third season coaching Sutton United.

If you like management simulations and want something with depth that you can play in bite-sized pieces, I recommend you get a copy of Football Manager Handheld 2013. It is available for iOS, Android and PSP. FMH2013 gets four Mick Happies with a warning that it is a bit pricey at $9.99. Now if only this would happen when Sir Alex retires (or maybe Ole will take the job):

As Man U fans dream... 

P.S. For those who think that Lionel Messi never produces for his country, my game of FMH2013 only has this to say to you:

Messi has no problems scoring for country in the future