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The debate about which is the best football video game is one that has raged on for decades.
Until now, there hasn’t really been much of a choice on Switch. There’s EA Sports FC (which thankfully, finally, is worth getting now), but with Konami’s eFootball (formerly PES) nowhere in sight, the other options are arcade-style indie games whose quality varies wildly.
At first glance, Sociable Soccer 24 – which was originally being tested for a possible Switch release as far back as seven years ago – is yet another one of these arcade indies, but to dismiss it would be to score a huge own goal, because there’s a real pedigree here.
For those not familiar with it, Sociable Soccer is the brainchild of Jon Hare, the co-founder of legendary British developer Sensible Software. For some, its football game Sensible Soccer – affectionately known by its legion of Gen X fans as Sensi – and its enormous sequel Sensible World of Soccer remain the greatest video game interpretations of the sport, EA and Konami be damned.
With the Sensible Soccer name seemingly no longer available to Hare, he’s gone for a title that sounds similar instead. The game itself, however, clearly takes inspiration from the series that made his former studio one of the biggest names in Europe during the ‘90s.
Like its spiritual ancestor, Sociable Soccer is focused on arcade-style football gameplay enhanced by a brilliantly exaggerated aftertouch system which lets you bend shots with gusto. Aftertouch has even been added to ground passes this time, allowing expert players to bend passes which roll around defenders to reach the players they’re blocking.
Despite its obvious source material, however, the game does differ when it comes to dribbling. This was one of the harder things about Sensible Soccer – and one of the things that made it a joy when you mastered it – because a sudden change of direction would cause the ball to escape, whereas here it’s practically glued to your player’s feet. Players run a lot slower than in Sensi too, even with the addition of a sprint button. It’s not necessarily bad, it’s just different.
Sensible fans will also be hoping that Sociable Soccer’s default side-scrolling camera angle, which is perfectly serviceable, can be changed to something that more closely resembles the game they grew up with. Thankfully it can indeed: of the five camera options available, the second is a clear attempt to recreate Sensible Soccer with a vertical camera that makes pulling off those bendy shots a lot easier.
On the pitch it’s a success, then – especially when you’re playing against a friend – but it’s in the game modes where Sociable Soccer is more of a mixed bag. The main Career mode is an odd squad-building affair which feels a bit like FIFA Ultimate Team (or the Master League of classic PES games) combined with a gacha mobile game.
After choosing your team, their usual players are replaced with a squad of complete no-hopers – each represented by a card – and the aim is to work your way up numerous divisions, winning matches and taking on win-streak challenges and the like along the way. As you do, you’ll occasionally unlock new player cards, who can be used to replace weaker ones in your squad. Alternatively, if you don’t like the new player you got, you can ‘spend’ them on upgrading an existing squad player of the same nationality or position (in, presumably, some sort of off-screen human sacrifice).
While the idea of building a squad over time is nothing new, the random nature of it does feel a little underwhelming, especially given that the past work of the game’s creator boasts arguably the greatest football game career mode ever in Sensible World of Soccer. Something as simple as a transfer market would have made the process of improving your team more appealing, but as it is, you quite literally have to play with the cards you’re dealt.
If you crave something a little less gimmicky and just want to enjoy some no-nonsense football, then the World mode thankfully makes up for Career. Here you get to choose from a bunch of real-life competitions (albeit with fake names), select any participating team you like, and attempt to win that trophy, with the overall aim being to completely fill the cabinet with all 78 trophies.
There are seven national tournaments here (such as unlicensed equivalents of the Euros, World Cup, and the like), seven club tournaments (Champions League, etc), 37 separate leagues, and 28 domestic trophies to win, so there’s a lot of playing to be had here. Crucially, this mode is also playable offline, whereas Career requires an internet connection for reasons which aren’t quite clear, so this is the one you’ll be playing on commutes.
It’s also here where the game’s astonishing database can be found. Much like Sensible World of Soccer before it, the sheer number of clubs and players here is ridiculous, with a total of 237 international teams and 1,195 club teams from all around the world, meaning you can finally have that Kashima Antlers vs Al Ahly match you’ve always dreamt about (though here it would be Kashima vs Cairo instead).
Incidentally, that’s the only real disappointment here: the game doesn’t have any real team names, so if you don’t know your stuff when it comes to a particular league, you might struggle to find a particular team. Stuff like Glasgow Hoops vs Glasgow Blues should be obvious but if you don’t know your Mexican geography, then you might not be able to tell that Aguascalientes is actually Club Necaxa. Easy mistake to make, mind you.
Thankfully, the vast majority of player names are real, thanks to the presence of a FIFPro licence. It’s claimed that there are over 13,000 licensed pros in the game, and we’ll take their word for it (we got tired enough counting the teams). Many of them also have photos, adding some personality to the otherwise rather basic character models.
The only other major downside to Sociable Soccer 24 as it currently stands is that there’s no online multiplayer on Switch that we can find, despite the eShop and the back of the physical box claiming otherwise. [“Online play coming to Console soon,” according to PR.] For now, be aware that despite the game’s title, any socialising you want to do with this game has to be offline. Which it’s great for, to be clear, given its pick-up-and-play nature.