FIFA 16 review: PS4 and Xbox One release date arrives... from addictive Ultimate Team to finessed features and new celebrations, EA Sports have delivered another classic 

For fans of a certain generation, there's only ever been one truly brilliant football video game.

With a birds-eye camera view and a set-up that moreorless mirrored Subbuteo, Sensible World of Soccer was a complete classic.

It was no frills, no fuss entertainment. No Twitter hashtags. And certainly, to our knowledge, never any endorsements from the professional footballer fraternity.

Barcelona phenomenon Lionel Messi take a penalty the latest version of FIFA's video game

Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson (right) share the front cover of FIFA 16 with Barcelona superstar Messi

FIFA 16 is the best incarnation yet - pictured is Cristiano Ronaldo (second left) celebrating for Real Madrid

A general view of the Emirates Stadium if you choose to play as Arsenal on FIFA 16

But when you overlook the glorious nostalgia (and it is glorious), today's market leader knocks the spots off of it. On every level and in every stretch of the imagination.

For Sepp Blatter and the executive bods in Zurich, Christmas comes early every September – after all, it's not too often you hear overly-complimentary things being said about FIFA (or ever).

So, enter this year's must-have for avid gamers: FIFA 16.

Over 13 billion hours were devoted to its predecessor, FIFA 15, by online gamers in the past year. A whopping 3.4billion goals were celebrated.

What's more, there were over 211million Ultimate Team sessions played. And statistically, Sunday was the most popular day of the week for people to grab their controllers (not joysticks as Sensible used to have it) and play - on average, over 232million matches. So much for Sunday being a day of rest!

This year's eagerly-anticipated offering - available to buy now – received over 500,000 pre-orders in the UK alone.  

Rio Ferdinand and Ashley Williams joined guests at the launch to battle it out for the FIFA 16 Celebrity Cup 

Kyle Walker (left) and Wilfried Zaha (right) were also among guests at the launch event in Gfinity Arena

Liverpool defender Nathanial Clyne was eventually crowned champion, beating Ferdinand on the way

Sportsmail understands that on day one of purchase last year, approximately one million copies were snapped up compared to the 25,000 shifted by its nearest competitor PES (pro Evolution Soccer). That toll is expected to increase further this time round.

Whatever way you look at it numbers are absolutely astounding. The computing monster that is FIFA continues to grow stronger as the game keeps on getting better.

This year's version is no exception. It is frighteningly good.

For starters, you can play as women’s national teams for the first time ever in the FIFA franchise.

There are 12 nations to choose from – including England’s Lionesses and world champions USA – and available to play in match day, online seasons and online friendly match mode.

Nine new stadiums appear from leagues across the world, taking the list of playable stadia to 50 – featuring all 20 Barclays Premier League clubs (plus last year’s three relegated teams with Burnley’s Turf Moor, Hull’s KC Stadium and QPR’s Loftus Road), Portsmouth’s Fratton Park, Wembley, the Nou Camp and more.

The new commentary is another pulling power for FIFA. Usual suspects Martin Tyler and Alan Smith continue to provide their expert in-game analysis. The addition of Alan McInally reporting on goals going in around the other grounds during your game adds to the bespoke experience. There’s a genuine Super Sunday feel about it in which you’d be forgiven for confusing virtual reality for reality.

The commentary even stretches to transfer rumours and delivering team stats.

Global superstars Ronaldo and Messi are unsurprisingly the two highest rated players on the game

The new graphics on FIFA 16 are detailed with a shot of Sergio Aguero - ranked 12th - taking a shot at goal

Female footballers are a notable inclusion in the newest version of FIFA, and there is improved slide-tackling

But all of that would be nothing without the eerily authentic aspect of player likeness and in-game atmosphere.

When West Ham are leading Norwich, for instance, a rousing rendition of ‘I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles’ booms across Upton Park.

Hundreds of stars from the Barclays Premier League and beyond were involved in the game makers capturing player likeness. So, when the camera closes in on Victor Moses celebrating the opening goal of the game, it could quite easily pass as the real deal. Of course, it’s just a game and the person playing tends to be sat on their backside in front of their TV. Yet the experience is so strong, it’s close to feeling temporarily immersed in a proper match.

Cleverly, on Xbox One, the game has been developed to enhance user experience – so, when Mark Noble puts in a crunching tackle to win the ball, the controller shudders with a deep vibration.

Above all FIFA 16 looks, sounds and feels like the part.

Wayne Rooney's boxing KO celebration (pictured) is the standout addition in this year's FIFA 16 celebrating list

Olivier Giroud's 'glamour slide' - where he confidently slides on the turf while holding his head - also features

Gameplay is important too and this game sticks largely to the principles of ‘if it’s not broken, don’t fix it’.

So it’s just like the last game then? No. Several main features have been finessed to make FIFA 16 even better than the last.

The no touch dribbling is a fine example. A tap of the LB button allows you to free yourself from the ball to buy time and feint past your defender just as Lionel Messi would for Barcelona.

Dynamic crossing has been introduced so that you can find team-mates in those PMOs (position of maximum opportunity). Attacking players run in behind the back line and attack the cross with intent. The clinical finishing (RB and X button) provides a variety of goals – although, the improved goalkeepers aren’t always easy to beat.

And don’t forget the celebrations. Rooney’s infamous KO (hold LB and tap X,X), Kevin Nolan’s funky chicken dance and the Messi trademark point up to the sky (hold LB and flick the RS button up and down) are some of the finest.

Liverpool midfielder James Milner sees a straight red card during the ultra realistic game play 

Arsenal forward Theo Walcott has been deemed the fastest player on the new game

Even if you haven’t played the game before, the new in-game trainer feature perfectly provides all the know-how you need. It offers a learn-as-you-play tool with graphic prompts to help you press the right buttons.

Ultimate Team is ever-addictive – it’s the draft manager mode where you buy packs of players to create a squad and play offline/online tournaments. You’ll need FIFA points to purchase the best players but can loan of a raft of legends this time. Andriy Shevchenko waits in the wings for yours truly.

The list of positives feels endless. Installing the game on Xbox One needs to be quicker, however. But the inspired music track list –featuring sounds from the likes of Foals, Disclosure and John Newman – makes up for the long wait once the games is fully loaded.

And as we marvel over this year’s work of gaming art, the creative and technical teams at developers EA Sports are already working on FIFA 17.

The planning teams for future editions work in parallel with the teams who are working on the next edition, so whilst the FIFA 16 team were working away, there was a team working on FIFA 17 at the same time.

Let’s enjoy this masterpiece for now though.

It comes a no surprise that social media is awash with footballers showing off their new goodies. They are all seemingly proud to be a part of what has to be considered now as the best football video game of time.

Sportsmail verdict: 9.5/10.