Format reviewed: PC & Switch (version reviewed)
Other formats available: PS5 & XBOX (at some point in the future)
Developer: Sociable Software Ltd
Price: £19.99
Website: Official Website
Players: 1-2 (local and online – Switch online support pending)

Back in 1992, Sensible Software released Sensible Soccer on the Amiga and I was instantly hooked. I was ten years old at the time and loved football, so this fast-paced arcade take on the sport with cute graphics and easy-to-master gameplay suited me perfectly.

The game was hugely popular, leading to multiple sequels, including arguably the finest iteration, Sensible World of Soccer, which included rich management options on top of the fast and furious match play.

Over the years, however, as gaming tastes changed to favour more graphically impressive and complex games, Pro Evo and FIFA took over the football sim landscape and the latter, which became EA Sports FC, dominated in more recent years.

I always preferred the simplicity of Sensible Soccer over these modern counterparts though. So, with that franchise effectively disappearing as we entered a new millennium, on top of my losing interest in the sport, I stopped playing football games in general.

My interest has been reignited though recently after I heard word that Jon Hare, one of the co-creators of Sensible Soccer, had created his own modernised version of the game under the title Sociable Soccer 24, which is out now on PC and Nintendo Switch and will soon be released on PS5 and XBOX too.

I eagerly got hold of a Switch copy of the game and my thoughts follow.

Like Sensible Soccer, Sociable Soccer 24 keeps gameplay relatively simple, with only 3 types of kicks – shoot, pass and chip/lob. I found it hard to tackle without fouling at first, as I thought it was a slide-tackle-only system. I found myself getting mountains of yellow cards. However, I soon realised you can just run into the ball to get it off a player.

For me, it felt just like playing Sensible Soccer, with gameplay that’s fast-paced and controls that are simple to learn but have enough nuances to keep things interesting. Most notably, and much like Sensible Soccer, curling is easy to pull off and essential to becoming a better player. You can curl passes too, which is a nice touch.

I think the computer-controlled player selection is fairly effective, certainly better than in some other arcade football games I’ve played. There are occasionally moments when it doesn’t anticipate who I plan to use next but you can switch between close-by players with a button press.

There’s a sprint button that is important to use. Players get tired if they sprint too often though. There’s a nice clear indicator of their fitness around each player when they’re selected on the pitch.

Matches are kept short, which makes it easy to think “just one more game” and end up playing ‘past your bedtime’. It would have been nice to have had the option to play longer matches though.

During matches, there are five different camera angles to choose from, including a couple similar to Sensible Soccer’s classic overhead vertical view. One is full-width and another mimics the slightly zoomed-in look I remembered. I leaned towards this and I felt it replicated the Sensi feeling very effectively, even if we have more realistically proportioned players, rather than pixelated micro characters.

You can play matches in 3 different ways. One, ‘coach’, is when the players are controlled by AI and you can just change the formation, call on subs and shout encouragement between plays. This didn’t interest me too much, to be honest, and it’s pretty basic for those looking for a true management sim.

The second mode is ‘casual’, which has ‘assisted targeting’. I played with this setting most of the time as I thought it suited my skill level (I stopped gaming for a decade or so, making me a bit rusty).

The third is ‘hardcore’, which loses the assistance. I avoided this for a while, but when I eventually braved it I actually liked it a lot. It means you have to be more accurate when aiming your passes but it makes it a little more realistic and challenging. Also, more importantly, it allows for through-balls.

You can change these control settings mid-game, which is a nice touch, particularly if something is distracting you but you want to finish the match. You can simply switch to coach mode and hope the AI gets the job done.

In terms of wider game modes, you get a few options. As soon as you load the game you’re asked to pick a manager, given some money and asked to choose a team. This sets up the primary mode, ‘career mode’.

In this, you gradually improve your management level and team strength by gaining xp. This can unlock players at certain intervals. You also get credits and earn stars by playing games (getting more when you win, of course). All of these allow you to improve your team. It makes the game a little like a football RPG, where the more you play, the stronger your team gets. As you progress, you move on in the leagues where you have to play tougher opponents to suit your stronger team.

As mentioned, you can add players to your squad throughout career mode but there’s a maximum allowed. You can sell players you don’t want to keep though, to further develop your team.

There’s an extra way to improve team performance in the tactics window. Each player has a score that adds to the team’s overall score but if you play them in their favoured position, you get extra bonus points.

Whilst the way you get some of the new players is visualised by earning cards, this isn’t a game that requires micro transactions like a lot of sports games these days. I appreciated that a lot as I’m rather ‘old school’ in feeling if I’ve paid for a game, I should get everything with it, not have to keep paying more to progress.

You get to choose the difficulty of each career game but you get more kudos for harder difficulties, allowing for better bonuses to develop your team. I won my first career match 6-1 on medium which suggests the settings might be a bit low. However, as you move up the leagues, the matches can get more challenging, particularly if you’re playing a team much stronger than yours.

I found career mode to be quite addictive from an XP-building stance but it’s far from a football management sim – rather just a ‘play more and you can collect more cards’ affair. As such, those seeking a deeper management experience may be disappointed.

The ‘world’ play mode is fantastic though, allowing you to play in dozens of different worldwide tournaments. With the short game times, these can be whizzed through pretty quickly too.

A huge number of licenced players are included to help these matches feel like the real thing. 12,000 FIFPRO licensed professional players are included at launch. However, team names haven’t been licenced, sticking largely to town/city names without the ‘FC’ or what have you. That didn’t bother me too much, but dedicated football fans might be disappointed.

The other play style is ‘friendly’ which, as you might guess, allows you to set up your own matches against either the computer or a friend at home.

Sadly, online play isn’t yet available for the Switch, so I was unable to test this. It has been promised further down the line though and is available for PC players. I can see this being a lot of fun.

There’s a sense of humour to the game too, particularly with its broadly caricatured range of coaches and referees (you can choose the latter in friendly games – they’re picked at random for others). You can send messages to the other coaches and your players during the matches too. I’m not sure this actually does anything to enhance play, but I found myself doing it quite often, regardless. I guess it’s more fun in multiplayer matches.

Everything in the game is designed to be simple and enjoyable. I was thinking of calling it the ‘Mario Kart of football games’ but, whilst this shares that game’s simple, fun, pick-up-and-play arcade sensibilities, Sociable Soccer 24 doesn’t throw in wacky powerups and weapons. It’s still, at heart, a pure football game. It’s just stripped back the bells and whistles that adorn most football games these days. Whether or not you think that’s for the best is a matter of personal taste. It works for me, that’s for sure.

Sociable Soccer 24 is out now on Steam and Nintendo Switch and will be released on other PS5 & XBOX further down the line.

Sociable Soccer 24 - Switch
4.0Overall Score
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Editor of films and videos as well as of this site. On top of his passion for film, he also has a great love for music and his family.

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