Classic Computer Games- Sensible Soccer.




Sensible Soccer was possibly one of the most addictive and playable football games of the 1990's. It was developed by Sensible Software, who were the same team that created the 'shoot em up' game Cannon Fodder.
The Amiga Version of Sensible Soccer.
Long before the rise of the Electronic Art's FIFA and the Pro Evolution series of games. Sensible Soccer was the computer game that most followers of football tended to play.
The game was massive on the home computer market. It was a huge hit on PC, Amiga and the Atari systems. It was also released on the Nintendo and Sega consoles. The Game Boy version proved to be very popular as the simplicity of the controls worked well on a hand held device.  On the home computers, the game was often played using the joystick and it was a game that was incredibly easy to pick up. The game did not need detailed graphics or motion capturing. It was a bird's eye view kick about with the ability to customize teams to your heart's content.




 The game was first released in 1992 and spawned a number of sequels until the series stopped in 2007. It is estimated that Sensible Soccer sold over 200,000 units of the original game. Since the games initial release and with subsequent re-releases and sequels, perhaps as many as two million copies have been purchased.

 There were a few niggles with the game. One of the most annoying for me was the inability for the game to remember the skin colour of the players after editing. But given that the game added that detail when earlier games were often unconcerned by this, I should allow them a free pass.

One feature of the game that split opinion was the after touch feature after you shot on goal. It was possible to shoot from a position by the sideline in your own half and beat the keeper. To arcade players, this feature was a hoot but to those who wanted a more realistic simulation- it sometimes became a bone of contention.

Teams Awaiting the Start of the Game.


Later versions of the game appeared on the consoles but the graphics on offer could not compete with the proper football simulations. The new breed of game player wanted game play, realism and detailed graphics. Sensible Soccer and the sequels could not offer the same experience.
Although the game still exists on many modern platforms, it is currently unable to recapture the same buzz that it used to generate.



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