Sega's arcade soccer hit is heading for the Dreamcast early next millennium, so we sent the lads out for a kick about early doors....

Harrah! Another footy game for the Dreamcast!
Steady on, there are people watching.

Ahem. Sorry. It's just that the DC inventory isn't exactly bulging with footy titles yet.
Mmm... I'll grant you that. But then quantity is no substitute (if you'll forgive the pun) for quality as far as videogame soccer is concerned. The PlayStation library, for example, is packed to the rafters with duff rip-offs like (spit) Michael Owen's World League Soccer, and it would be a shame if the Dreamcast went down that same route.

It's always the paying fans that suffer, isn't it.
Quite. Currently there are two soccer titles available on the Dreamcast - Worldwide Soccer 2000, which is less than ordinary, frankly; and UEFA Striker, which would be a half-decent sim if it weren't for its slightly dodgy shooting.

But now we're about to be offered Virtua Soccer 2, though, which has to be good news. The arcade game was rather good, anyway...
Virtua Soccer 2 version 2000.1, actually. And yes it is good news. Probably. Maybe. Depending on what you want from your computer football.

Sigh... Just when I'm looking forward to a game, you always have to sound a bloody 'note of caution', don't you. Go on then, slag it off before it's even been released...
We're not going to slag off! It's just that you should know from the off that this is not going to be a game for purists; and nor is it, in the proper sense of the word, a simulation. Just like the arcade game, it's an end-to-end, kick-and-rush affair, with plenty of spectacular goals but little in the way of finesse or options. It has a control system that makes you feel like you're watching a football match rather than actually taking part in one.