''Sensible Soccer'', often called ''Sensi'', is an association football video game series which was popular in the early 1990s and which still retains a following. It was developed by

Sensible Software Sensible Software was a British software company founded by Jon Hare and Chris Yates which was active from March 1986 to June 1999. It released seven number-one hit games and won numerous industry awards. The company used exaggeratedly small sp ...

and first released for

Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers produced by Commodore International, Commodore from 1985 until the company's bankruptcy in 1994, with production by others afterward. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16-b ...

and

Atari ST Atari ST is a line of personal computers from Atari Corporation and the successor to the company's Atari 8-bit computers, 8-bit computers. The initial model, the Atari 520ST, had limited release in April–June 1985, and was widely available i ...

computers in 1992 as well as for the

IBM PC compatible An IBM PC compatible is any personal computer that is hardware- and software-compatible with the IBM Personal Computer (IBM PC) and its subsequent models. Like the original IBM PC, an IBM PC–compatible computer uses an x86-based central p ...

s. The series was created by

Jon Hare Jon "Jops" Hare (born 20 January 1966) is an English computer game designer, video game artist, musician and one of many founder members of the early UK games industry as co-founder and director, along with Chris Yates, of Sensible Software, on ...

and Chris Yates, as a successor to their previous football game '' MicroProse Soccer'' (1988), which in turn was inspired by the

arcade video game An arcade video game is an arcade game that takes player input from its controls, processes it through electrical or computerized components, and displays output to an electronic monitor or similar display. All arcade video games are coin-oper ...

Tehkan World Cup originally released as in Japan, is an association football video game released to arcades in 1985 by Tehkan, the former name of Tecmo. It features multiplayer gameplay and trackball controllers. It was released in both upright and table ar ...

'' (1985). It uses a zoomed-out

bird's-eye view A bird's-eye view is an elevated view of an object or location from a very steep viewing angle, creating a perspective (graphical), perspective as if the observer were a bird in flight looking downward. Bird's-eye views can be an aerial photog ...

(the majority of games until then such as '' Kick Off'' and '' Match Day'' used a closer top-down or side view), editable national, club and custom teams and gameplay utilising a simple and user-friendly control scheme. One of the defining gameplay elements was the "aftertouch" feature, which enabled effective but unrealistic swerves. The game topped charts such as ''

Amiga Power ''Amiga Power'' (''AP'') was a monthly magazine about Amiga video games. It was published in the United Kingdom by Future Publishing and ran for 65 issues, from May 1991 to September 1996. History The first issue of ''Amiga Power'' was publi ...

s "All Time Top 100". The graphic style of the game was used in other Sensible Software games, such as ''

Mega-Lo-Mania ''Mega-Lo-Mania'' is a real-time strategy video game developed by Sensible Software. It was released for the Amiga in 1991 and ported to other systems. It was released as ''Tyrants: Fight Through Time'' in North America and ''Mega Lo Mania: Jikū ...

'', ''

Cannon Fodder Cannon fodder is an informal, derogatory term for combatants who are regarded or treated by government or military command as expendable in the face of enemy fire. The term is generally used in situations where combatants are forced to fight agains ...

'' and '' Sensible Golf''. For its innovation and influence on the franchises that would dominate football games, such as

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

and

Pro Evolution Soccer ''eFootball Pro Evolution Soccer'' (''eFootball PES''), known as in Japan, is a series of association football List of association football video games, simulation video games developed by Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd. and published ...

, the original title has been cited as one of the greatest video games by various publications. A "spiritual successor" to ''Sensible Soccer'', '' Sociable Soccer'', was announced by Jon Hare in November 2015, and early versions for

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

, mobile, and

virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a Simulation, simulated experience that employs 3D near-eye displays and pose tracking to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video gam ...

were shown at nine different public venues across Europe, including

Gamescom Gamescom (stylized as ''gamescom'') is a trade fair for video games held annually at the Koelnmesse in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Gamescom is the world's largest gaming event, with 370,000 visitors and 1,037 exhibitors from 56 ...

in Cologne and the

London Science Museum The Science Museum is a major museum on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, London. It was founded in 1857 and is one of the city's major tourist attractions, attracting 3.3 million visitors annually in 2019. Like other publicly funded ...

in 2016, with development continuing despite an initially unsuccessful crowdfunding campaign on

Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...

. ''Sociable Soccer'' was released on

Steam Early Access Early access, also known as alpha access, alpha founding, paid alpha, or game preview, is a funding model in the video game industry by which consumers can purchase and play a game in the various pre-release development cycles, such as pre-alph ...

on 12 October 2017, with

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013, in ...

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was first released in North America, parts of Europe, Austra ...

Nintendo Switch The is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the Eighth generation of video game consoles, eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the ...

iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...

and Android versions to follow in 2024.

History

The basis for ''Sensible Soccer'' was '' MicroProse Soccer'', released for

home computer Home computers were a class of microcomputers that entered the market in 1977 and became common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a s ...

s in 1988. It was designed by

and programmed by Chris Yates, who adapted the gameplay format of

'' (1985) while adding their own elements to create ''MicroProse Soccer''. Hare and Yates went on to use ''MicroProse Soccer'' as the basis for ''Sensible Soccer'' in 1992, making further improvements to the gameplay. ''Sensible World of Soccer'', commonly referred to as ''SWOS'', was released in 1994. The game was almost published by

Virgin Games Avalon Interactive Group, Ltd., formerly known as Virgin Interactive Entertainment, was a British video game distributor based within Europe that formerly traded as the video game publishing and distributing division of British conglomerate the V ...

, but they insisted on it being called Virgin Soccer. It became a first in video games when it attempted to encompass the entire professional footballing world into one game. Featuring many divisions in many countries around the globe, it featured a twenty season career mode which allowed players to manage and play as thousands of different clubs from across the globe, many of which were very obscure.

Next generation

The series would make a return in the summer of 2006, with a full 3D title released for Windows,

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...

and

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand that consists of four main home video game console lines, as well as application software, applications (games), the streaming media, streaming service Xbox Cloud Gaming, and online services such as the Xbox networ ...

Codemasters The Codemasters Software Company Limited (trade name: Codemasters) is a British video game developer and former publisher based in Southam, England, which is a subsidiary of American corporation Electronic Arts and managed under the EA Sports ...

, the holders of the licence, released the game across all

PAL Phase Alternating Line (PAL) is a color encoding system for analog television. It was one of three major analogue colour television standards, the others being NTSC and SECAM. In most countries it was broadcast at 625 lines, 50 fields (25 ...

territories, with the design capabilities overseen by

, the original designer of the game. ''Sensible Soccer 2006'' was released on 9 June 2006.

Xbox Live Arcade

In 2006, Codemasters announced a new version of '' Sensible World of Soccer'', developed by Kuju Sheffield, for the

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the Xbox (console), original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, with detail ...

to be released in summer 2007 on

Xbox Live Arcade Xbox Live Arcade (or XBLA) was a video game Digital distribution in video games, digital distribution service that was available for the Xbox (console), Xbox and Xbox 360 consoles. It focused on smaller downloadable games from both major publisher ...

. It features both the classic "retro" visuals of the original SWOS, as well as new improved high definition graphics, and retains the exact gameplay of the ''96/97'' version of ''Sensible World of Soccer'' for the Amiga, along with the music from ''Sensible Soccer 2006''. Due to problems with the game's network performance, the release was delayed in order for "significant proportions" of the network code to be rewritten. After missing several previous release dates, the game appeared on Xbox Live Arcade on 19 December 2007 but was quickly pulled. A statement from Microsoft confirmed that an incorrect version of the game had been made available, in which online play was not possible. The fixed version of the game was released two days later on 21 December. The Windows version was never released.

Development

Reflecting Sensible Software's devil-may-care approach to game design, the developers decided to make ''Sensible Soccer'' after playing around with sprites from ''

'' and deciding to use them in a football game.

Games in the series

All versions developed by Sensible Software except as stated.

Coverdisk games

* At Christmas 1993, a free Sensible Software minigame was included on an ''

Amiga Format ''Amiga Format'' was a British monthly computer magazine for Amiga computers, published by Future Publishing. The magazine lasted 136 issues from 1989 to 2000. The magazine was formed when Future split '' ST/Amiga Format'' into two separate pub ...

'' cover disk. Called ''Cannon Soccer'', it was essentially two bonus levels of ''

'' (one of

's other titles) in which the soldiers fought hordes of ''Sensible Soccer'' players in a snowy landscape. * On the ''

'' Coverdisk 21 one of the demos was ''Sensible Soccer: England vs Germany'', also known as ''Sensible Soccer Meets Bulldog Blighty''. This featured a mode of play that involved replacing players with soldiers from ''Cannon Fodder'', and the ball with a hand grenade. The grenade would randomly begin to flash eventually exploding, killing any nearby players. * ''Sensible World of Moon Soccer'' a free

covermount Covermount (sometimes written cover mount) is the name given to storage media (containing software and or audiovisual media) or other products (ranging from toys to flip-flops) packaged as part of a magazine or newspaper. The name comes from th ...

disk included with an issue of Amiga Action magazine in the UK. Play as Moon United, featured low gravity, a cratered pitch and hordes of alien players to trade. * The developers released a humorous spin-off called ''unSensible Soccer'' which consisted of apples vs. oranges instead of men. It was released as a free

disk with Amiga Action in March 1993.

Reception

Computer Gaming World ''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American Video game journalism, computer game magazine that was published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 199 ...

'' in June 1994 wrote that "in the debate over the best football action/tactical game, there is no doubt that Sensible is in everyone's top three, no matter what format ... The game is fast and responsive ... a class act". The magazine added that the "Gameboy version is one of the best games" on the handheld. The original Amiga version sold 175,000 copies by the end of 1993. ''Sensible Soccer''s first release sold roughly 200,000 copies, according to company founder Jon Hare. He estimated that the series overall had sold 2 million copies by 2002.

Awards

From the time of its release, '' Mega'' placed the game at #1 in their Top 50 Mega Drive Games of All Time. The Mega CD version of the game was #2 in their Top 10 Mega CD Games of All Time in the same issue. ''Sensible World of Soccer 1995/96'' received review scores of 96% from both ''

'' and ''

'', the joint highest mark given for any game by either magazine. In 2017,

Gamesradar ''GamesRadar+'' (formerly ''GamesRadar'') is an entertainment website for video game-related news, previews, and reviews. It is owned by Future plc. In late 2014, Future Publishing-owned sites ''Total Film'', '' SFX'', '' Edge'' and ''Computer ...

ranked the game 50th on their "Best Sega Genesis/Mega Drive games of all time" In 1996,

Gamesmaster ''GamesMaster'' was a British television programme which originally aired on Channel 4 from 1992 to 1998. In 2021, it returned for a new series on YouTube and E4. It was the first UK television programme dedicated to video games. Dominik Di ...

rated the Mega Drive version 7th in their "The Gamesmaster Mega Drive Top 10". In 1995, ''

Total! ''Total!'' was a video game magazine published in the United Kingdom by Future plc. It was published monthly for 58 issues, beginning in December 1991 (cover-dated January 1992), with the last issue bearing the cover-date October 1996. A "1993 ...

'' listed ''Sensible Soccer 7'' on their "Top 100 SNES Games". They praised the gameplay writing: "''Sensible Soccer'' has the speed and fluidity to perfectly replicate all the speed, excitement and strategic complexity of the real game". In March 2007, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' reported that ''Sensible World of Soccer'' (1994) was named to a list of the ten most important video games of all time by

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

Professor Henry Lowood and the four members of his committee – the game designers

Warren Spector Warren Evan Spector (born October 2, 1955) is an American role-playing and video game designer, director, writer, producer and production designer. He is known for creating immersive sim games, which give players a wide variety of choices in how ...

and Steve Meretzky; Matteo Bittanti, an academic researcher; and Christopher Grant, a game journalist. This list was also announced at the 2007

Game Developers Conference The Game Developers Conference (GDC) is an annual conference for video game developers. The event includes an expo, networking events, and awards shows like the Game Developers Choice Award for Game of the Year, Game Developers Choice Awards and ...

. ''Sensible World of Soccer'' (1994) received recognition as one of the Ten Most Important Video Games of All Time, the so-called

game canon The game canon is a list of video games to be considered for preservation by the Library of Congress. ''The New York Times'' called the creation of this list "an assertion that digital games have a cultural significance and a historical signific ...

, by the History of Science and Technology Collections at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

Legacy

* ''Sensible Soccers'', a Portuguese chillwave band named themselves after the game.

References

External links

*
The Making of ''Sensible Soccer'': Jon Hare and the Sensible team on the creation of their football opus
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sensible Soccer 1992 video games Acorn Archimedes games Amiga games Association football video games Atari Jaguar games Atari ST games Amiga CD32 games Cancelled Nintendo Entertainment System games DOS games Golden Joystick Award winners Sega CD games Sega Genesis games Sensible Software Super Nintendo Entertainment System games Video games developed in the United Kingdom Video game franchises introduced in 1992