Way back in the mid-1990s, when most videogame consoles needed additional hardware in order to support four players simultaneously, some of the sharper corners of trickier deadlines were smoothed off with a round or two ofKonami’s PS1 sports sim was hardly the most in-depth multiplayer pursuit of its day, but that simplicity was fundamental to its appeal: anyone, from junior designer to wizened sub editor, could pick it up and get involved. We’ve never really found another sports game that stands up to that original experience, and were looking for ward to being regaled with what would surely be equally fond memories from its director, Keiichiro Toyama, in this issue’s Collected Works (p78). So we were a bit disappointed to discover that his passion doesn’t quite match up to our own – but then perhaps that is inevitable given that his career also includes a game that will always demand more attention in the grand scheme of things.
