LMA Manager series
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LMA Manager is a football (soccer) management video game series developed and published by Codemasters. Developed primarily for consoles, the franchise differs from the PC-based Football Manager and Championship Manager series by focusing on visual details such as a fully 3D match engine, although still maintaining the realism and level of detail craved by fans of the genre - a unique combination when the series was first released.
The series has different titles in different regions: LMA Manager in the UK (named after the League Managers Association), BDFL Manager in Germany (Bund Deutscher Fußball-Lehrer, basically the German equivalent of the LMA), Manager de Liga in Spain, Football Manager Campionato in Italy, and FC Manager - La Passion du Foot in France since the 2006 edition (the French edition of the series was previously named Roger Lemerre - La Sélection des Champions after the former coach of the French national team).
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[edit] LMA Manager
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The first game of the series was released for PlayStation in late 1999, allowing players to take charge any any football club in the English Premier League or Football League Divisions 1 to 3. The game was notable for its intuitive control system, where the L1 and R1 shoulder buttons of the controller switched between different sections of the game (e.g. from the Transfers section to the Squad section), and L2 and R2 switched between sub-screens within a section (e.g. from the Select Team screen to Editing Tactics). This solved a common problem with earlier console management games of how to quickly traverse between options without using a Point-and-click interface (as had become ubiquitous on PC but difficult on console at a time when analogue joypads such as the DualShock were not yet widespread).
Another of the key features of both this and subsequent LMAs was the number of game modes available, to suit players of differing ability. In this first game, there were three options:
- Full Game, where all tactical, transfer and financial decisions are up to the user (although you can delegate tasks to AI assistants if you choose).
- Quick Start, which assigns most of the aforementioned tasks to the AI and focuses on the primary job of a football manager - making the right decisions during a match.
- Challenge Mode, where the player takes control of a club in a pre-set scenario (such as being placed in charge of a club bottom of their division halfway through a season and being required to avoid relegation).
At a time when many console football games contained spoof player and/or team names, LMA's combination of licensed content, colourful graphics and intuitive gameplay ensured the game was critically acclaimed (9/10 in the UK's Official PlayStation Magazine) and successful enough to spawn a sequel.
LMA manager had many aspects that could make gaming easier, even without the use of easily accessible cheats. Players such as Ian Wright and Paul Gascoigne could be easily bought, and were incredible performers. Also, with the glitch that no player would ever retire, the game got more and more complex through the seasons. Despite this, LMA manager set the bar for console managing games.
[edit] LMA Manager 2001
The second LMA game was released - also on PlayStation - in March 2001. Two versions were released, one for the English leagues as before, and another specifically covering the Scottish Premier and Football Leagues. The in-match action is presented by former footballer turned BBC analyst Alan Hansen. Sometimes this version gets caught in between the retro style of the original game, and the 2002 version. Although practically the same as the 2002 version, this contains some differences in the in-match play, and is famed for wingers cutting inside to shoot from ridiculous angles, and goalkeepers who tend to tip shots just inside the far post, making this an often frustrating game. There are also a few mistakes on the game, such as Birmingham City's Bryan Hughes being 29, instead of his proper age at the time, which was a sprightly 24. It is also occasional for defenders to pick up the ball in their own penalty box, and proceed to kick it out like a keeper, as well as people scoring from their kick-off.
[edit] LMA Manager 2002
LMA 2002 was the final version in the series to be released on PSone, launched in October 2001.
The first PlayStation 2 incarnation went under the same name when released in April 2002. A significant update from PS1, it allowed players to manage in one of six European leagues, all of which were processed by the game simultaneously (the top two divisions in Italy, Spain, Germany and France were added, in addition to the existing top four divisions in England and Scotland). On the PS2, matches played out in full in a 3D match environment, followed by post-match highlights voiced by famous BBC presenter Gary Lineker alongside the returning Hansen. The game play advanced in this game from the 2001 version, in particular the in-match style. Players tend to shoot early, from around 30 yards, rather than enter into the penalty area.
[edit] LMA Manager 2003
Released in November 2002, this was the first edition to be released on Xbox, alongside the PS2 release. The version added no additional leagues and contained minor enhancements from the previous game.
[edit] LMA Manager 2004
The next in the series was released in March 2004 on PS2 and Xbox, and added a variety of enhancements to the match, as well as new commentary in the post-match highlights voiced by renowned commentator Barry Davies and analysed by Lineker and Hansen as before. new 'Fantasy Team' mode (replacing the Challenges of earlier games) whereby users could build up a team from scratch using a preallocated budget, based loosely on the popular fantasy football game. Once the user had compiled a squad and selected a team name, stadium and kit, the newly-created club would compete in one of the leagues in the game. Another new feature in this version was the option (on Xbox only) of issuing tactical instructions to your team via the Xbox Communicator headset during a match. This was the first edition of LMA that players improved purely on training, instaed of the previous improvemenmt at the end of the season.
[edit] LMA Manager 2005
LMA 2005 was released on PS2 and Xbox in October 2004, and chief amongst the enhancements was the addition of the Dutch and Portuguese leagues and English Football Conference division, the first new playable leagues to be added since 2002. Another unique feature was the option to download a mid-season player roster update via Xbox Live or the PlayStation online service. PS2 owners with access to an EyeToy camera could take a photo of themselves, which would appear on various newspaper articles seen in the game (for example, a celebration photo after winning a trophy, or an unhappy image after being sacked by their club).
[edit] Manchester United Manager 2005
At the same time as the normal version of LMA 2005, a special themed edition was also released on PS2 and Xbox, entitled Manchester United Manager. As the name suggests, this version was tailored around Manchester United, and contained various photos and video clips of the club. However, the game itself was unchanged from of LMA, allowing players to manage any club, not just United.
[edit] LMA Professional Manager 2005
Released alongside LMA 2005 and Manchester United Manager, this version was notable for two reasons - it was the first game in the series to be released on PC, and the first developed externally (by Kuju rather than Codemasters). The change of platform required a redesigned interface, with the straightforward joypad-based navigation of PS2 replaced by a mouse-driven control system more similar to a graphical user interface such as Microsoft Windows. Each screen the user progressed to was housed on a separate window, which made finding one's way aihjhd from section to section rather awkward.
Content-wise, the PC version contained the same playable leagues, 3D match engine and transfer system as the console version, although there were extra non-playable countries added from around the world to bolster the transfer market.
[edit] LMA Manager 2006
In November 2005, LMA 2006 was released on PS2 and Xbox, with a further 3 playable divisions included from France and Germany, as well as further enhancements to the 3D match, transfer market and player training setup (including playable 3D Training Matches for the first time). In keeping with the series' visual roots, a new option allowed players to create a 3D model of their manager, who could be seen pacing along the touchlines during a match or featuring in one of the new video headlines (introducing a new transfer signing to the press, for example) included in the game world's TV station.
This game provided the most complex transfer processes yet, with the ability to swap players and give installments. However, the game limits you to only having 4 transfer done via contract clauses (ie 10% sell on clause). Using contract clauses, you can usually pick the player up for a cheaper transfer fee than what you would if you didn't use a contract clause, but after you've used all 4 and try to use another, it will say that the club who the player currently plays for cannot afford to let him go. Once you sell anyone you've used with a contract clause, you may then buy a player using another contract clause.
After the third-party conversion of LMA Professional Manager 2005, a second PC version was being developed by Codemasters themselves and was scheduled for release in Spring 2006 alongside the first seventh-generation iteration on Xbox 360. However, these versions' development slipped back, making LMA Manager 2007 a tri-format release.
[edit] LMA Manager 2007
This was released on 22 September 2006 on PS2, PC-DVD, and Xbox 360, with transfer updates available for download.
Some are a little disappointed with this year's game. Although it was to be expected, LMA '03 was not much different to '02, similarly '05 was easily likened to '04 and now '07 is said to be the same as '06 although this is an exaggeration, as both the PC-DVD and Xbox 360 versions have many new features including: more countries to buy from, player history which never resets, and cup winners history, which goes back to the start of the competition.
