I won't pretend I know a lot about the world of football, because at the end of the day, sod's law says whatever team I support, they'll lose every match! So I go about my business, not supporting a team and cheering on the country when the big games come around. However, I do know what a good football game consists of. I can tell whether a football game scores a hatrick or an own goal., I think the reason I don't like football anymore is because I always used to get put in the net at school, every single match. "We'll make a good goalie out of you yet, Dex," my football-hooligan games teacher used to chuckle; he was just jealous of me because I had hair.

Regardless of if you like football or not, I think you'd be mad not to like Fifa 2005 for the N-Gage. I like this better than the console counterparts and that's certainly saying something. Not only that, but FIFA 2005 goes down, for me, as an essential quick-blast handheld game that deserves a place in any thin QD slot. Football is indeed coming home, it's coming home and just about everywhere else you go, too.

Playing football on the N-Gage QD has never been easier. It's fantastic fun to control and scoring is a complete breeze when you get the hang of it. I hate playing a football game when I cannot score, because I can't pull off fancy handstands or forward rolls. Fifa 2005 goes back to basics and delivers some old-school quality, mixed in with some modern features that really make this game stand out from the crowd. The button layout is extremely easy to get used to. The analogue stick really helps in a football game as it's very responsive and comes in very handy for moving in and out of the opposing players. Then, all the numerical keys do something different depending on if you're attacking or defending. There's a lot of actions, ranging from normal tackles to hard tackles, shoots, passes, sprints, lobs and changing players; all I can say is, thank God for all those buttons!

The game is in 3D, or thereabouts. The camera is always above you, set back a little to give you a clear view of the action, which also makes the graphics look nice. Obviously the camera adjusts when you're taking a free kick, a corner, or lobbing a ball in, but for the most part it's above your head and set back - similar to the console counterparts. I don't condemn this method at all; in fact I actually quite like it. It's simple and very effective, allowing you to see all the action and all your other players nearby, as well as the opposing team sneaking in too. The rest of the graphics are fantastic, the players being well rendered with their slightly detailed kit. You can just about make out all the actions too whether you're tackling, sliding, kicking or passing, the graphics and animation of the players really is spot on. The stadiums where you play have that nice mowed effect, which is visible and stands out well and on the whole, the graphics are great.

There are many modes on offer here; all the usual football ones like Career mode, and competition mode, where you compete for the season or the cup. The career mode stays true to the console version but you won't be able to experience the high level of customisation, such as firing and recruiting new players - but this doesn't matter in my eyes, I never was a man for stats and there's only so much you can expect from a handheld. All the basic options are here though; pick a team, a strip and play match after match till you reach the top! I was glad to see that the simulate mode was here, so you could just view a simulation in text, without having to play every single match - perfect for killing just a few minutes of time.

The other modes in the game include friendly match, which is just a quick game between any two teams you like. So you can pick your team, one of the best teams in the game and then pick the CPU's team, the worst team in the game. If you fancy a challenge, why not play as a low-ranked team, or make the CPU as a highly respected one? The choice is yours and whatever you do, you'll have fun. Aside from the friendly match, and just ignoring multiplayer for a second, the challenge mode is absolutely fantastic for a handheld. Challenges don't last long and the aim of most challenges is to pull back out of a losing match and draw or beat them in the last few minutes. While this might sound virtually impossible, after quite a bit of practice, the challenge modes are challenging but still possible. Some challenges have to be unlocked by doing other challenges to your very best and at the end of it all, you'll unlock custom challenges so you can set your own to beat, or let a friend feel the heat! Challenge mode is fantastic for a quick blast of tense action!

The actual gameplay, regardless of the mode, is a wonder to behold, especially in your hands, making Fifa 2005 a must take wherever you go. The players move fluidly with the responsive analogue stick; you're holding down number four, sprinting along as five white-wearing opposing team-members close in on you and there's no way out. Just then you see an opening in a diagonal direction, so you shoot pass through that opening easily with your analogue stick, your other team member successfully receives the ball and sprints off towards the goal. Meanwhile, everybody is chasing the new guy with the ball and more opposition are coming towards you. You quickly pass back, then down to the left and forward to the original guy who had the ball in the first place, who then scores at an angle! The crowd cheers and the opposition falls to the ground as your team dances around. A replay comes on, which shows the ball going in from all different types of angels. You stand up and roar, waving your N-Gage in the air; you are totally immersed in the gameplay. It suddenly goes all quiet and then you realise that you're not standing in the middle of the pitch cheering, you're actually stood up in the middle of the bus, receiving funny looks.

It's safe to say that the gameplay is rewarding, tremendously addictive and very enthralling in every respect. When it comes to tackling, you can manually switch between players using the number seven key; this is very handy, particularly when the auto switch lags behind, which it has done on numerous occasions. You are in for a great time with this title, especially if your friend has it too. The game supports a four-player mode, two on each team via blue tooth. Personally, I find two-player matches more enjoyable but it's nice that the game supports up to four people. This is great fun played with friends but I actually found myself going back to the single player challenges for the most part; I really couldn't get enough of them!

The sound in FIFA 2005 is of superb quality. There's not much distortion and there are actual music tracks that appear in the in-game menus, where you spend a lot of time if you're in career mode. This catchy music is welcome in most places, expect anywhere public! But I like it and it livens up the menu nicely. The immersive cheers, roars and whistles in the game are incredible too - everything is loud, clear and realistic - EA Sports have done a fantastic job where the sounds are concerned! You can even hear the crowd cheer things in the background and even noises for when the ball leaves your foot are apparent, in all their glory! If you don't want to be constantly told to turn it down, I think you'd be safer wearing the headset, that way you can enjoy your noise and the people around you can enjoy their peace!

If you're looking for an action-packed title for your N-Gage, you need look no further than FIFA 2005 - even if you're not a fan of football or sports games. You can go on for a quick match, challenge a medium match with friendly mode, or have a longer session with the deeper career mode and that's not to mention the competition mode, the unlockables and the multiplayer! In addition to all this, you can connect to N-Gage arena to upload instant replays and scores, although there is no multiplayer online option. If you enjoy rewarding gameplay, FIFA 2005 delivers like few others. I don't know how to spin a ball on my finger, I don't really know how to keep a ball in the air using my head and I still prefer not to dive across a goal at a speeding ball, but what I do know is that FIFA 2005 is goodness in the palm of your hand. Period.

Reviewed by Dexter Pearson for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).