Following the usual, annual FIFA vs Pro Evo debate has been a fascinating sport in itself this year, not least for the fact that many seem to now be rooting for FIFA as the underdog.

After all, last year's Pro Evo was criticised for slowing the game down, for bogging many matches down in midfield battles, and for making it a real test to play the kind of free flowing football that'd justify a Sky Sports subscription. FIFA, meanwhile, used to be the huge, corporate beast of a game, never matching the seemingly unstoppable gameplay that Pro Evo had to offer. All gloss, not enough substance, they said.

This year though, it seems that FIFA has had a resurgence in people's hearts. It's quite tricky to see why, at least through this reviewer's eyes. It's still the fun, long-lasting game it was last year, with a few neat new touches, but it can't hold much of a lantern to its rival.

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That's not to say Pro Evolution Soccer 6 is without problems. Ever since Konami switched the game to an annual release program, there's always been an element of three steps forward, one step back. And that's the same again here.

Let's do the good stuff first. The primary improvement is that the matches themselves are that bit quicker and zippier than last year, with tempered improvements to the through ball. The problems with defender AI have been corrected well, and the game feels slightly tougher as a result.

And now let's do the great stuff. The master league remains a single player challenge to behold, as you try to take a team from the bottom to the top, using your skill and a notoriously tough transfer market. It might lack most of the real team names, and the leagues aren't FIFA-accurate, but it's a proper, hardened challenge, the kind which should rightly delight the true football game aficionado.

On the slight downside? Accepting that the best changes to Pro Evo tend to be the subtle touches, there's really not much discernible difference this time round, with some of the more notable improvements being the undoing of some of the silly damage that PES 5 inflicted.

Again, this all needs to be contextualised, as Pro Evo remains a great, intelligent sports game - possibly the best one on the planet - yet there is a little element of taking our cash for granted. There's the usual moan too that it would be great to bring together the FIFA licensing and league structure and the Pro Evo engine. It'll never happen, we guess.

But, ultimately, it is the best of its kind, and with the PC version already being discounted down to under £20 in some online quarters, there's little doubt that anyone who takes their sports games remotely seriously will be getting ample reward for their investment. Because no matter what anyone has been telling you, it really stands apart from FIFA, and by a good distance. Again.

Still the best. Still not improving as much as we'd like it to with each new version. Still utterly compelling and time-consuming. Bah.