Sensible World of Soccer

aka: SWOS
Moby ID: 2945
Amiga Specs

Description official descriptions

Sensible World of Soccer is an enhanced version of Sensible Soccer. Virtually every important soccer league in the world is included in this game, with some countries not only having premier / first division, but 2nd, 3rd, and more divisions. All important international competitions are also included (club- and national-team based). The game has a career mode, where you may play up to 20 seasons as player manager or manager only. During a career as a coach you're not tied to one club / national team, meaning if you're good enough one (or more) big clubs make offers to you to coach their team.

All teams featured in this game have real players (names, strengths, weaknesses, etc.) from the 1994/1995 season. The management part of the game allows you to buy any of these players (which number 24,000 in total) if you have enough money and a free slot in your team. Besides the player manger career, you may play friendly matches, single season of any competition, and custom competitions, which can be made from scratch or based on a real one. Teams participating in these competitions can be chosen from any country. All the teams may be played by human player or computer.

The DOS version is based on Amiga version 1.1 with the data of season 1995/1996. 1.1 adds the ability to switch between player-manager and manager-only status before each match of a career and improved on-pitch skills enhanced for the player teams. Also the athlethes' statistics improve by consistent goal-scoring.

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Credits (DOS version)

36 People · View all

Original Game Design
Additional Design
Program code by
Graphics
Programming (PC version)
Enhanced Graphics (PC)
Wave rendered sequences (PC)
Music & Sound Effects
Original Soundtrack
Vocals
English Commentary
Recording Co-ordination
Video Direction
Design & Implementation (Video Scenes)
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 85% (based on 18 ratings)

Players

Average score: 4.0 out of 5 (based on 50 ratings with 3 reviews)

Absolute classics amongst football games.

The Good
In Sensible World of Soccer it is possible to take over 100 leagues out from 50 countries of entire world and a lot of national teams! And everything original thanks for fans at present already free (as a result of the bankruptcy of the Sensible company) game. A mode of the career, in which we are leading the team chosen by us to the victory, is available well under way like for the normal football game. The game is characterized by an incredibly fast pace of the game and with the very high level of difficulty.

The Bad
Unfortunately, the game has the awful, archaic audio-visual cover. Apart from that the level of difficulty can quickly discourage players from it. Because of that the mating call is drifting with mustiness.

The Bottom Line
This game use the Sensational engine, which was in XXI century used in games, an example New Star Soccer 3.

DOS · by Filip Jankowski (2) · 2007

Great fun, and a worthy successor to the original, but not flawless

The Good
The sheer scope of things is amazing - thousands of clubs to manage, through all their competitions in a single season or a 20 year career. The chance to sign players, which generally worked well, with part-exchanges being especially lucrative. The satisfaction of progressing up the leagues is always immense.

The action gameplay stuck to Sensible's loose-control style, which makes mazey runs require real skill and makes precise passing moves much more profitable. There are 16 preset formations on offer, as well as the chance to customize these in almost every way, with players taking particular positions when the ball is in particular parts of the pitch.

The DIY tournaments were impressive - any number of competitions can be set up, with each round working in different ways, either as a knockout stage or a group stage.

The Bad
The initial release was quite bugged. Your player values fell gradually, even if they were scoring a goal a game.

The management side of things was quite limited beyond the tactics. The other clubs didn't transfer players with each other, the players didn't age or retire, the emergence of new players was a bit fiddly, and the squads of 16 were too small. It's definitely better to think of it as an arcade game with management aspects, and nothing more.

One thing was missing form the game's tournaments - you can't set them up so that teams from different levels enter in different rounds, which is an integral part of many real-life cup competitions.

Unlike the original, the custom teams were quite bland, with lots of self-congratulatory ones, and too many references to journalists.

The Bottom Line
A combination of playing and management, SWOS features thousands of teams from around the world, both club and national. These can be combined in any way you like, to play individual matches or arranged tournaments.

The real meat of the game lies in the Career mode, in which you start by taking charge of a team. This give you full control over transfers and tactics, as well as playing or managing for every match. If you do well, you may get offered jobs by other teams. If not, you may be sacked and have to take a job at a lower team.

Amiga · by Martin Smith (81669) · 2004

Unsurpassed gameplay

The Good
There is nothing more satisfying than taking a small club from the depths and slowly working your way up the leagues. The gameplay is so well balanced that this is a challenge without getting frustrating. You get just enough money at the end of each season to strengthen your team for that promotion push. The fact this game is so popular even today reinforces the fact that gameplay is what makes a classic game, not fancy graphics or sound.

The Bad
Relies too much on speed and not enough on passing.

The Bottom Line
One of the few games I would label a true classic.

Amiga · by Neepie Lantern (524) · 2004

Trivia

1001 Video Games

Sensible World of Soccer appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

German version

According to the German magazine Amiga Joker (issue 04/1995), it was originally planned to release the German version with Otto Rehhagel, at the time a successful coach of Werder Bremen, as its namesake. However, in the end the game was still released under its original name.

Awards

  • Amiga Joker
    • Issue 02/1995 – #3 Best Sports Game in 1994 (Readers' Vote)
  • Retro Gamer
    • September 2004 (Issue #8) – #56 Best Game Of All Time (Readers' Vote)

Analytics

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Sensible Soccer '98
Released 1997 on Windows
Sensible World of Soccer '96/'97
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Sensible World of Soccer '95/'96
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Sensible Soccer: European Champions
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Sensible Soccer: European Champions
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  • MobyGames ID: 2945
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Rebound Boy.

Amiga added by Famine3h. Antstream added by firefang9212.

Additional contributors: Jony Shahar, Patrick Bregger, FatherJack.

Game added January 11, 2001. Last modified August 6, 2023.