Sensible Soccer 2006

EA and Konami have had the footy market so tightly sewn up for so long it's embarrassing. Cast your mind back over recent years and the list of casualties is staggering: Take-Two's infamous Champions League efforts, Infogrames' deluded Ronaldo V-Football, Sega's unholy trinity of Worldwide Soccer/UEFA Dream Soccer and Virtua Striker releases, Virgin's awful European Super League, Acclaim's brief and pointless attempt to revive the Kick Off brand, and Codemasters' own ill-fated Club Football efforts. Sony has come closest to breaking the FIFA-PES duopoly with This Is Football, but even that hasn't built on a promising start it enjoyed in the early days of the PS2 (World Tour Soccer's PSP bundle success aside). Throw in the frantic five-a-side titles like Sega Soccer Slam, Mario Smash Football and Midway's Red Card and it seems as if every major publisher has had a crack at footy at some time or other - with limited commercial success.

EA and Konami have had the footy market so tightly sewn up for so long it's embarrassing. Cast your mind back over recent years and the list of casualties is staggering: Take-Two's infamous Champions League efforts, Infogrames' deluded Ronaldo V-Football, Sega's unholy trinity of Worldwide Soccer/UEFA Dream Soccer and Virtua Striker releases, Virgin's awful European Super League, Acclaim's brief and pointless attempt to revive the Kick Off brand, and Codemasters' own ill-fated Club Football efforts. Sony has come closest to breaking the FIFA-PES duopoly with This Is Football, but even that hasn't built on a promising start it enjoyed in the early days of the PS2 (World Tour Soccer's PSP bundle success aside). Throw in the frantic five-a-side titles like Sega Soccer Slam, Mario Smash Football and Midway's Red Card and it seems as if every major publisher has had a crack at footy at some time or other - with limited commercial success.

It might only take a second to score a goal, but it's taken eight ponderous years for Jon Hare and co to make a new Sensible Soccer game. You might ask: Why now? What's the point? EA and Konami have had the footy market so tightly sewn up for so long it's embarrassing. Cast your mind back over recent years and the list of casualties is staggering: Take-Two's infamous Champions League efforts, Infogrames' deluded Ronaldo V-Football, Sega's unholy trinity of Worldwide Soccer/UEFA Dream Soccer and Virtua Striker releases, Virgin's awful European Super League, Acclaim's brief and pointless attempt to revive the Kick Off brand, and Codemasters' own ill-fated Club Football efforts. Sony has come closest to breaking the FIFA-PES duopoly with This Is Football, but even that hasn't built on a promising start it enjoyed in the early days of the PS2 (World Tour Soccer's PSP bundle success aside).

It would take the most elitist of football purists to dislike Sensible Soccer 2006. What it ignores in terms of technical football staples it more than makes up for in pure fun. As such, it’s one of the most enjoyable sports games in recent memory and that’s what gaming is all about, isn’t it?

Sensible Soccer is a game that surprised us. Kuju has done a fantastic job bringing the classic game series back for a new generation while keeping it fun and one of the most pick up and play football games around. If you go in expecting FIFA you will be disappointed, but for a quick kick around at high pace, it's the best choice around.

Sensible Soccer is a game that surprised us. Kuju has done a fantastic job bringing the classic game series back for a new generation while keeping it fun and one of the most pick up and play football games around. If you go in expecting FIFA you will be disappointed, but for a quick kick around at high pace, it's the best choice around.

Het is even wennen aan de kinderlijke eenvoud maar Sensible Soccer brengt de voetbalfun van de klassieker terug naar de pc.

Originally released on the Commodore Amiga, Sensible Soccer was a top-down arcade-style game that was immensely popular with football fans. Ironically, for a series that eschewed realism, the greatest entry was Sensible World of Soccer, which offered a wealth of teams from around the globe and even basic management features. After a couple of roster updates to SWOS, and a mediocre PlayStation and PC update in 1999, the series was abandoned and gamers moved on to the realism of FIFA and Pro Evolution Soccer. But after well-received mobile phone and TV-game versions of Sensible Soccer, a proper update was announced by Codemasters under the supervision of original designer Jon Hare. That version is here in Sensible Soccer 2006, and for better or for worse, it travels familiar roads.

Originally released on the Commodore Amiga, Sensible Soccer was a top-down arcade-style game that was immensely popular with football fans. Ironically, for a series that eschewed realism, the greatest entry was Sensible World of Soccer, which offered a wealth of teams from around the globe and even basic management features. After a couple of roster updates to SWOS, and a mediocre PlayStation and PC update in 1999, the series was abandoned and gamers moved on to the realism of FIFA and Pro Evolution Soccer. But after well-received mobile phone and TV-game versions of Sensible Soccer, a proper update was announced by Codemasters under the supervision of original designer Jon Hare. That version is here in Sensible Soccer 2006, and for better or for worse, it travels familiar roads.

Originally released on the Commodore Amiga, Sensible Soccer was a top-down arcade-style game that was immensely popular with football fans. Ironically, for a series that eschewed realism, the greatest entry was Sensible World of Soccer, which offered a wealth of teams from around the globe and even basic management features. After a couple of roster updates to SWOS, and a mediocre PlayStation and PC update in 1999, the series was abandoned and gamers moved on to the realism of FIFA and Pro Evolution Soccer. But after well-received mobile phone and TV-game versions of Sensible Soccer, a proper update was announced by Codemasters under the supervision of original designer Jon Hare. That version is here in Sensible Soccer 2006, and for better or for worse, it travels familiar roads.

Ich mag Spiele, die mein Fingerspitzengefühl aufs Äußerste fordern. Genau das tut Sensible Soccer 2006. Schnell reagieren, den Drall perfektionieren - ich war überrascht, wie viel sich aus dem scheinbar so simplen Spiel tatsächlich herausholen lässt. Dauerhaft motivieren kann mich das aber alles nicht. Sensible Soccer 2006 ist das perfekte Spiel für eine Halbzeit-Pause. Um damit allerdings einen ganzen Nachmittag verbringen zu können, fehlt die Substanz. Ich wünsche mir vor allem mehr taktische Feinheiten, gerade was das Verhalten meines Teams angeht. Dann wäre das Actionspiel unter den Fußballsimulationen garantiert weit mehr als "nur" ein Pausenfüller. Ein extrem spaßiger Pausenfüller allerdings, gerade im genialen Mehrspielermodus.

Hare Hare! Spieldesignerlegende Jon Hare hat es wieder getan! Vor 14 Jahren landete der Brite mit Sensible Soccer einen Mega-Hit für den Amiga - jetzt versucht er mit einer modernisierten Version das alte Flair aufleben zu lassen.

Welcome to 1992, a year England played Sweden in an international football competition, and Sensible Soccer ruled the computer gaming world. It was the definition of what a game should be - fast paced, fun, highly addictive and endlessly re-playable. Fourteen years on, England still do badly against the Swedes, but thankfully, after being absent since 1998, Sensi has returned to help lift our spirits a little.

I wondered how long it would be before someone dusted off the Sensible Soccer name for another outing. It might not have been realistic to look at, but a little under 15 years ago Sensible Soccer was the only football game for the discerning gamer. While most football games superglued the ball to players' feet, Sensi let the ball run almost free, with the ball rolling away from players if they got up too much speed or tried to change direction when moving quickly. Played at a lightning fast pace, Sensi was chaotic, but huge fun.

Mindestens genauso spektakulär wie David Odonkors WM-Nominierung ist das PC-Comeback der schon ins Spielemuseum abgeschoben Pixelkopf-Kicker von Sensible Soccer. Fans des 1992 erstmals veröffentlichten Fußballtitels fühlen sich unter Garantie sofort heimisch. Denn am klassischen Vogelperspektiven-Look, der simplen - aber gewöhnungsbedürftigen - Steuerung sowie dem rasanten Spieltempo hat sich überhaupt nichts geändert.

Sensible Soccer 2006 slaagt erin om de sfeer en gameplay van het ondertussen prehistorische origineel te vatten en is ideaal voor de op actie gerichte voetbalfanaat die FIFA en Pro Evo ondertussen wel gezien heeft. Jammer van de (niet bestaande) online optie en de grafische middelmatigheid.

Voilà un titre qui rappellera de bons souvenirs aux plus vieux joueurs parmi nous. Sensible Soccer (ou, mieux encore, Sensible World Of Soccer) était un mythe sur la planète Jeu. Assiste-t-on aujourd'hui à une résurrection, ou bien à une pâle imitation ?

As much as you want something to be true, you often can't delude yourself forever. I believe that Spurs will make the Champions League next season and finally become a force in European football. I'm really hoping it turns out like that, but chances are that reality will come crashing down on me mid-way through the season. This is Spurs after all. Anyway, this rambling has a point. Sensible Soccer 2006 is exactly like Spurs: you'll think it's great and then some stupid plonker will go and ruin it for everyone.

As much as you want something to be true, you often can't delude yourself forever. I believe that Spurs will make the Champions League next season and finally become a force in European football. I'm really hoping it turns out like that, but chances are that reality will come crashing down on me mid-way through the season. This is Spurs after all. Anyway, this rambling has a point. Sensible Soccer 2006 is exactly like Spurs: you'll think it's great and then some stupid plonker will go and ruin it for everyone.

Even in its mid-90s heyday, Sensible Soccer was a game so austere, so reductionist, so masculinely unfrivolous (yet ironically dainty) that to profess genuine adoration for it is deemed wholly acceptable among gamers of a certain age and understanding. Like Frequency, WarioWare and Katamari Damacy after it, it was a game that recalled the style and simplicity of trailblazing arcade games from the 70's and 80's, and yet felt effortlessly dynamic when viewed next to its own bloated contemporaries.

What is football without a little controversy? A dry butter-less toast affair, that's what. Sensible Soccer 2006 managed to create enough pre-match buzz to parallel that of the England side going into World Cup 2006, only for the initial signs of excitement to fade away into distress and concern once early examples of play were shown. There's no doubt Codemasters' throwback to videogame football legend has picked up some rather mixed press so far. In our preview of Sensible Soccer 2006 we posed the question of whether it was a brave or stupid move to try and revisit the cherished past. The answer is here, and to be frank, it's not particularly pretty

At one time or another it's happened to almost all of us. It's a beautiful day and you should be with your mates but instead your parents have decided that today is the day that your family is going to visit your elderly relatives. What follows is an extremely boring and uncomfortable three hour car journey, which seems to last more like three days, and sees your Dad announcing that he has only brought one cassette for the stereo, which strangely turns out to be Genesis' Greatest Hits or whatever other favourite he has, which he then proceeds to sing along to for the entire trip.

As much as you want something to be true, you often can't delude yourself forever. I believe that Spurs will make the Champions League next season and finally become a force in European football. I'm really hoping it turns out like that, but chances are that reality will come crashing down on me mid-way through the season. This is Spurs after all. Anyway, this rambling has a point. Sensible Soccer 2006 is exactly like Spurs: you'll think it's great and then some stupid plonker will go and ruin it for everyone.

Was habe ich mich auf das Remake meines absoluten Lieblings-Fußballspiels gefreut! Und wie sehr bin ich jetzt enttäuscht! Dabei hat Codemasters vieles richtig gemacht: Die Cel-Shading-Grafik schafft perfekt den Balanceakt aus Retro-Charme und moderner Technik, das Züchten eines selbst erstellten Spitzenteams würde langfristig motivieren. Würde - wenn die Entwickler nicht die KI so gnadenlos in den Rasen gesetzt hätten. Was bleibt, ist lediglich ein hübsch unkomplizierter Multiplayer-Kick für Sensible-Fans.

Comme pour une réédition ou une compilation de classiques, il est compliqué d'attribuer une note à ce genre de titre. Pourtant, même pour un amateur qui est resté collé des heures sur le premier Sensible Soccer, la copie manque singulièrement de fraîcheur et de nouveautés. Quand on dispose d'un gameplay un peu fou-fou, autant l'exploiter au maximum et pousser le délire à son paroxysme en apportant des petits plus à la jouabilité. Sinon, la tentative n'a pas vraiment lieu d'être.

Comme pour une réédition ou une compilation de classiques, il est compliqué d'attribuer une note à ce genre de titre. Pourtant, même pour un amateur qui est resté collé des heures sur le premier Sensible Soccer, la copie manque singulièrement de fraîcheur et de nouveautés. Quand on dispose d'un gameplay un peu fou-fou, autant l'exploiter au maximum et pousser le délire à son paroxysme en apportant des petits plus à la jouabilité. Sinon, la tentative n'a pas vraiment lieu d'être.

Codemasters wants to bring back the good old days with Sensible Soccer 2006, but fails.