Premier Manager 3

Last updated

Premier Manager 3
Premier Manager 3.jpg
Developer(s) Realms of Fantasy
Publisher(s) Gremlin Interactive
Designer(s) John Atkinson
Paul Atkinson
Alex Kewin
Tony Casson
Composer(s) Patrick Phelan
Series Premier Manager
Platform(s) Amiga, MS-DOS
Release 1994
Genre(s) Sports simulation
Mode(s) Single-player, multi-player

Premier Manager 3, also known as PM3, is a football management simulator video game for the Amiga and MS-DOS platforms. It was released in 1994 by Gremlin Interactive. The objective of the game is to manage a football club successfully within the top 5 divisions in the English football league system, starting from the 1994–95 football season. The game was re-released a year later to include updated teams and player details for the 1995–96 football season. Gremlin also released Premier Multi-Edit System, a software that allows the user to edit the statistics of football players and teams in Premier Manager 3 to their liking. Premier Manager 3 followed Premier Manager 2 . There is an AGA version of Premier Manager 3 as well as a standard version for all Amigas.

Contents

Gameplay

Premier Manager 3 is a football management video game that puts the player in charge of a football club. The player has to manage not only the team and tactics to win football matches but also the club's finances, such as applying for bank loans, organising advertising boards, and scheduling stadium improvements. The primary interface is made up of 12 main sections. These are team settings, telephone, fax machine, sponsorship, ground improvements, business case, club finances, transfer market, history, league tables, cup competitions, and the option to play the next match. From this interface, the player can access all the settings necessary to manage the football club. [1]

Premier Manager 3 featured updated match graphics. Premier Manager 3 game.gif
Premier Manager 3 featured updated match graphics.

When the game starts, the user takes control of a Conference League team of their choice. If the user manages the team poorly and finishes in last position in the league, the team will not be relegated; in real life, a team finishing in the relegation zone would have gone down to what is now Level 7 in the English football league system at the time, although since 2004 two leagues were added between these leagues and the Conference National. To be successful, the user must not only win football matches, but also manage the finances of the club well. If the player is in too much debt then the player can be fired even if he had good results.

The user can change the club he manages by taking job offers from other clubs at the end of the season or applying for a position at a club where a manager has been fired mid season. The managerial rating of the user affects whether or not this application is successful. Premier Manager 3 can be played by two players, although they have to take turns accessing their teams. In a new feature to the series, the users can attempt to outbid each other. Previously in Premier Manager 2, the second user had the advantage of bidding after the first user.

In 1996, Premier Manager 3 Deluxe was released which included the updated league, team and player statistics for the 1995–96 football season. [2]

Development

The tactics system in Premier Manager 3 was the biggest new development in the game, allowing the user to set tactics for individual players during football matches. [3] The team and player statistics were updated for the release to the 1995/96 football season. Premier Manager 3 was re-released again in April 2004 by the holders of the Premier Manager trademark Zoo Digital. It was released on CD ROM with the warning that it will not run on Windows 2000 or Windows XP operating systems. [4]

Reception

Critics received Premier Manager 3 well. Amiga Format rated the game 85% and observed that the game is difficult enough to challenge even experienced players of management sims. [5] CU Amiga rated the game 85% and praised the game for the user friendly interface but also criticised how similar the interface and game in general was similar to Premier Manager 2. [6] The review from Amiga Computing gave the game its "Gold Award" and recommended readers purchase Premier Manager 3. The review also observed how similar the game is to Premier Manager 2, and suggested it may not be worth buying if the players already own the previous two games in the series. [7] Amiga User International magazine did not like Premier Manager 3. The review wrote that it is too similar to its predecessor and the improvements were minimal. The review also attacked the method of playing the game as flawed due to not being able to compare tactics against the opposing team's players. [8] The game was re-released as part of a budget set called Soccer Stars 96, which contained FIFA International Soccer , Kick Off 3 , and On the Ball: League Edition. The collection received good reviews in general but it was observed that none of the games, including Premier Manager 3, were as good as more recent football games at the time. [9]

Multi-Edit System

After the release of Premier Manager 3, Gremlin Interactive developed and released the Premier Multi-Edit System. This was separate software that would allow the user to edit statistics of teams, players, stadia, and other in game details. Players can be swapped from team to team, managers could be changed and the football strips altered. This was so the user could update the game as the seasons progressed. This was further emphasised with the subtitle of the software being "You'll never need another management game ... ever!" [10] As a stand-alone product, the Multi-Edit System was received well and received a rating of 86% from CU Amiga. [11] The Multi-Edit System was bundled with the Premier Manager 3 Deluxe release in 1995. [2]

Related Research Articles

<i>Zool 2</i> 1993 video game

Zool 2 is a side-scrolling platform video game originally developed by The Warp Factory and published by Gremlin Graphics for the Amiga in November 1993. It is the sequel to the original Zool, which was released earlier in 1992 on various platforms.

<i>Premier Manager</i> Association football management simulation video game series

Premier Manager is a series of a football management simulation video games started in 1992. Published by Gremlin Interactive, it was first developed by Realms of Fantasy, later passed to Spanish company Dinamic Multimedia. The later games were later published and developed by Zoo Digital Publishing, who bought the rights from Infogrames and hired some members of the original Gremlin staff. The latest releases in the series were developed by Urbanscan Limited, a company established by Gremlin founder Ian Stewart.

<i>Soccer Kid</i> 1993 video game

Soccer Kid is a 1993 side-scrolling platform game developed and published by Krisalis Software in Europe for the Amiga. The player assumes the role of the titular main protagonist who travels across several countries around the world to repair the World Cup by retrieving pieces that were scattered by the alien pirate Scab, the main antagonist who failed to steal and add it to his trophy collection in a robbery attempt. Its gameplay mainly consists of platforming and exploration elements, with a main single-button or two-button configuration, depending on the controls setup.

<i>Space Hulk</i> (1993 video game) 1993 video game

Space Hulk is a 1993 real-time tactical video game for MS-DOS, Amiga and PC-98. The game was based on Games Workshop's 1989 board game of the same name. Set in the fictional Warhammer 40,000 universe, the player directs squads of Space Marines, genetically enhanced armoured soldiers, in their missions to protect the human race from deadly aliens. Space Hulk was developed and published by Electronic Arts, with support from Games Workshop.

<i>Switchblade II</i> 1991 video game

Switchblade II is a 1991 side-scrolling action-platform run and gun video game originally developed and published by Gremlin Graphics in Europe for the Amiga home computers. It is the sequel to the original Switchblade, which was solely created by Simon Phipps at Core Design and released earlier in 1989 across multiple platforms. Despite being primarily developed in the UK, its graphics had a distinctly Japanese style similar to anime or manga.

<i>Premier Manager: Ninety Nine</i> 1999 video game

Premier Manager: Ninety Nine is a football management simulation video game for PC, PlayStation, Microsoft Windows, and Nintendo 64. It was released in Europe in 1999, and was developed by Dinamic Multimedia and published by Gremlin Interactive. It is part of the Premier Manager series and was endorsed by then England national football team manager Kevin Keegan.

<i>Ruff n Tumble</i> 1994 video game

Ruff 'n' Tumble is a 1994 platform run and gun video game developed by Wunderkind and published by Renegade Software for the Amiga. An Amiga CD32 version was planned but never released. It was the only game made by Wunderkind. It stars Ruff Rodgers, embarking on a quest across an alien planet to reclaim his marbles after one of them fell into a portal inside a rabbit hole while playing with his collection in the park, and free the planet from Dr. Destiny and his Tinhead army. Through the journey, the player explores and search through each level for items and power-ups, as well as fight enemies and defeat bosses.

<i>Premier Manager 2</i> 1993 video game

Premier Manager 2, also known as PM2, is a football management simulator video game for the Amiga, Atari ST, and DOS platforms. It was released in 1993 by Gremlin Interactive. The objective of the game is to manage a football club successfully within the top five divisions in the English football league system. It is preceded by Premier Manager and followed by Premier Manager 3.

<i>Premier Manager</i> (video game) 1992 video game

Premier Manager is a football management simulator video game for the Amiga, Atari ST, Acorn Archimedes, and DOS platforms. It was released in 1992 by Gremlin Interactive. Later the game was converted to the Sega Mega Drive. While the Amiga, Atari, and MS-DOS versions were all similar, the Mega Drive version more closely resembled Premier Manager 2. The objective of the game is to manage a football club successfully within the top five divisions of the English league system. Premier Manager is the first game in the Premier Manager series.

<i>Liverpool</i> (video game) 1990 video game

Liverpool is an association football video game released in 1990 for the Amstrad CPC. In 1992, versions were released for the Atari ST, Amiga and MS-DOS platforms. A Commodore 64 port was released in 1993. The game was developed by Arc Developments and published by Grandslam Entertainment. Liverpool is based on the Liverpool F.C. football team. One or two players can play Liverpool.

Football Manager is a video game series published and developed by Addictive Games, the label set up by the game's creator Kevin Toms. The first game was released in 1982. The game started a whole new genre of computer game, the football management simulation. It was then ported to most home computers during the 1980s and spawned several sequels, starting with Football Manager 2 in 1988, followed by Football Manager World Cup Edition in 1990, and finally Football Manager 3 in 1992, the first without Toms' involvement. Football Manager 3 sold poorly, and as a result the series came to an end. The series was claimed to have sold over a million copies by 1992, and close to two million copies overall.

<i>Fun School</i> Video game series

Fun School is a series of educational packages developed and published in the United Kingdom by Europress Software, initially as Database Educational Software. The original Fun School titles were sold mostly by mail order via off-the-page adverts in the magazines owned by Database Publications. A decision was made to create a new set of programs, call the range Fun School 2, and package them more professionally so they could be sold in computer stores around the UK. Every game comes as a set of three versions, each version set to cater for a specific age range.

<i>HeroQuest II: Legacy of Sorasil</i> 1994 video game

HeroQuest II: Legacy of Sorasil is an isometric role-playing game that was released on Amiga 1200 and CD32 in 1994 by Gremlin Interactive. The game is the sequel to the 1991 video game HeroQuest, both inspired by the adventure board game Hero Quest from Milton Bradley.

<i>Blob</i> (video game) 1993 video game

Blob is a puzzle-platform game with more gamemodes developed by Jonnathan Hilliard and published by Core Design for the Amiga. It was released in the United Kingdom on September 1, 1993.

<i>Switchblade</i> (video game) 1989 video game

Switchblade is a 1989 side-scrolling action-platform run and gun video game originally developed by Core Design and published by Gremlin Graphics in Europe for the Atari ST home computers. The first installment in the eponymous two-part series, the game is set in a dystopian future where players assume the role of Hiro from the Blade Knights as he embarks on a journey to defeat Havok, the main antagonist who broke free from his imprisonment after the sacred Fireblade was shattered into several pieces. Its gameplay consists of run and gun action mixed with platforming and exploration elements, with a main single-button configuration.

Scetlander was a software publisher which released titles for various 8- and 16-bit home computer systems in the 1980s and 1990s.

<i>Brutal Sports Football</i> 1993 video game

Brutal Sports Football is a 1993 sports video game developed by Teque London and originally published by Millennium Interactive for the Amiga. It was re-published for MS-DOS and Amiga CD32, and later became the first third-party title published for the Atari Jaguar. The first entry in the Brutal Sports series, the game is a fictional style of football played against human or computer-controlled opponents. It features a different take on american football by emphasising the violent aspect of the sport.

<i>Marvins Marvellous Adventure</i> 1994 video game

Marvin's Marvellous Adventure is a 1994 platform video game developed by Infernal Byte Systems and published by 21st Century Entertainment for the Amiga. An Amiga CD32 version was later released in 1995. It stars Marvin, a pizza delivery boy transported into another dimension embarking on an adventure to defeat an evil being known as Dark-One and rescue a professor who ordered a pizza. The player must traverse through 60 levels and search for items and power-ups, while defeating enemies along the way.

<i>Pinkie</i> (video game) 1994 video game

Pinkie is a 1994 platform video game developed by Data Design Interactive and originally published by Millennium Interactive for the Amiga. A Super Nintendo Entertainment System version was released by Piko Interactive in 2018. In the game, the player assumes the role of Pinkie, who is tasked with collecting dinosaur eggs through the galaxy to prevent their extinction. The player controls Pinkie and his "Pinkie Pod" vehicle across 50 levels featuring their own variety of enemies and obstacles divided into five planets. The Pinkie Pod can perform various actions, and the player can obtain upgrades to augment its features.

<i>Red Zone</i> (1992 video game) 1992 video game

Red Zone is a 1992 racing video game developed and published by Psygnosis for the Amiga.

References

  1. ↑ Calpin, Martin (1994), Premier Manager 3 manual, Gremlin Interactive
  2. 1 2 AD (April 1996). "Premier Manager 3 Deluxe CU Amiga review". CU Amiga . EMAP.
  3. ↑ Maddock, Jonathan (December 1994). "Premier Manager 3 preview". Amiga Computing . Europress.
  4. ↑ "Premier Manager 3 on Zoo Digital Publishing" . Retrieved 12 March 2008.
  5. ↑ Bradley, Steve (December 1994). "Premier Manager 3 Amiga Format review". Amiga Format . Future Publishing.
  6. ↑ Broughton, Matt (January 1995). "Premier Manager 3 CU Amiga review". CU Amiga . EMAP.
  7. ↑ Maddock, Jonathan (December 1994). "Premier Manager 3 Amiga Computing review". Amiga Computing . Europress.
  8. ↑ "Premier Manager 3 AUI review". Amiga User International . AUI Limited. February 2005.
  9. ↑ Maddock, Andy (March 1996). "Soccer Stars 96 Amiga Computing review". Amiga Computing . Europress.
  10. ↑ Calpin, Martin (1995), Premier Manager 3 Multi-Edit System, Gremlin Interactive
  11. ↑ Skews, Rik (May 1995). "Premier Multi-Edit System CU Amiga review". CU Amiga . EMAP: 56.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.