Sensible Soccer 2006 review

Wednesday 7 June 2006
Oh, dear. It was only a month ago that we said Sensible Soccer is "a big bag of fun". And, at first, it is. 'Cos, you know, it's Sensi - the best football game of the '90s. But then, after a few matches, the nostalgia blindfold falls off and you realise that, actually, its only Sensi in the loosest of senses. All it really has in common with the peak of last decade's gaming is its overhead viewpoint. Aside from that, it's not much like Sensible Soccer at all.

You see, Sensible Soccer (the Amiga version, that is, not that PSone thing that masqueraded as Sensi), was joyous - the epitome of 'one more go'-ness, keeping us all glued to our screens, desperate to beat our mates and claim the coveted title of 'Greatest Sensi Player Ever Ever Ever'.

And the reason it was so glorious? Because it only needed one button to do everything - and that one button did it brilliantly. Here, while passing works well - jabs of X will almost always see the ball find its target, allowing for a crisp game - and the ball sticks to the players' feet, making for some nice and easy dribbling, the other aspects of control are fudged.

Tackling is pretty much redundant. All you need to do to dispossess an opponent is run into him, and he'll immediately surrender possession. Sliding tackles? Well, those are there, yes, but they're a much less effective method of gaining possession.

There are two consequences to this - firstly, you can go for games on end without seeing a free-kick, and secondly, it leads to penalty box scrambles that are just bizarre. As you sprint into the area, a defender will probably step up and take the ball away. At which point, your support striker will be on hand to reclaim the ball, another defender comes in to get the ball from him and the second striker falls over, a midfielder arrives...

And this goes on, possession switching every two seconds until, eventually, the ball pings away and everyone chases after it. This means the only way to score is via a slick passing move followed by a tap-in, or a long-range blast. Except...