Pro Evolution Soccer 2016: this year, PES really is back

It's become a cliche to herald each edition of the Fifa rival as a return to form - but with added skill and aggression and a Euro 2016 tie-in, it's hard not to this time

The Pro Evolution Soccer series has had a rough time of things over the last decade. Confused aims and a focus on areas that didn't deserve attention saw the series slip from the top of the football simulation game league to be just solidly mid-table. But that has been changing since PES 2014, and last year's effort was the soccer title of choice for a lot of players. PES 2016 is even better.

You start a match and can see from the very first kick of the ball that this is a much-improved beast. It's snappy, offering an immediacy even the current king of the genre, Fifa, has seen fall by the wayside in recent years.