The debate over which is the best soccer video game has been going on for decades.
Until now, there hasn’t been much choice on the Switch. There’s EA Sports FC (which thankfully is finally worth getting now), but with Konami’s eFootball (formerly PES) nowhere in sight, the other options are arcade-style indie games that vary wildly in quality.
On the face of it, Sociable Soccer 24 – which was originally tested for a possible Switch release seven years ago – is another one of these arcade indies, but to dismiss that would be to score a huge own goal, because that’s where the real pedigree lies here.
For those unfamiliar with it, Sociable Soccer is the brainchild of Jon Hare, co-founder of legendary British developer Sensible Software. For some, it’s a football game Sensible football – affectionately known as the Sensi by legions of Gen X fans – and its massive sequel The sensible world of football remain the greatest interpretations of video games in sports, EA and Konami be damned.
With the name Sensible Soccer seemingly no longer available to Hare, he went for a similar-sounding title instead. The game itself, however, clearly draws 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 focuses on arcade-style soccer gameplay enhanced by a brilliantly exaggerated after-touch system that allows you to bend shots with gusto. Aftertouch has even been added to ground passes this time around, allowing expert players to bend passes that roll around defenders to reach blockers.
However, despite the obvious source material, the game differs when it comes to dribbling. This was one of the more difficult things about Sensible Soccer – and one of the things that made it a joy once you mastered it – as a sudden change in direction would cause the ball to run away, whereas here it’s practically glued to your player’s feet. Players also run much slower than in Sensi, even with the addition of a sprint button. It’s not necessarily bad, it’s just different.
Sensible fans will also hope that Sociable Soccer’s default side-scrolling camera angle, which is perfectly usable, can be changed to something more like the game they grew up with. Fortunately, it actually can: of the five camera options available, the second is a clear attempt at recreating Sensible Soccer with a vertical camera that makes it a lot easier to capture those bendable shots.
On the pitch it’s a success – especially when playing against friends – but it’s in the game modes where Sociable Soccer is more of a mixed bag. The main career mode is a weird team building thing that feels a bit like FIFA Ultimate Team (or the Master League of the classic PES games) combined with a gacha mobile game.
After choosing your team, their usual players are replaced by a team of complete underdogs – each represented by a card – and the goal is to progress through the many divisions, winning matches and taking on streak challenges and the like along the way. As you do this, you’ll periodically unlock new player cards, which can be used to replace weaker ones on your team. Alternatively, if you don’t like the new player you get, you can ‘spend’ it on upgrading an existing team player of the same nationality or position (in, presumably, some sort of off-screen human sacrifice).
While the idea of building a team over time is nothing new, the random nature of it feels a bit overwhelming, especially considering the game creator’s past work boasts arguably the best soccer career mode ever in Sensible World of Soccer. Something as simple as the transfer market would make the process of improving your squad more appealing, but as it is, you literally have to play with the cards you’re dealt.
If you’re craving something a little less cheesy and just want to enjoy some indoor football, then World mode thankfully makes up for Career. Here you can choose from a bunch of real competitions (albeit with fake names), pick any team you like and try to win that trophy, with the overall goal of completely filling the locker with all 78 trophies.
There are seven national tournaments here (like the unlicensed equivalents of the Euros, World Cups and the like), seven club tournaments (Champions League etc), 37 separate leagues and 28 domestic trophies to win, so there’s a lot of play to be had here. Crucially, this mode can also be played offline, while Career requires an internet connection for reasons that aren’t really clear, so this is the mode you’ll be playing on your commute.
An astounding database of the game can also be found here. 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 around the world, meaning you can finally have the Kashima Antlers v Al Ahly match I’ve always dreamed of (although I would here instead it was Kashima vs. Cairo).
That’s the only real disappointment here, by the way: the game doesn’t have real team names, so if you don’t know about a specific league, you might struggle to find a specific team. Things like Glasgow Hoops vs Glasgow Blues should be obvious, but if you don’t know Mexican geography, you might not be able to tell that Aguascalientes is actually Club Necax. It’s easy to make a mistake, mind you.
Fortunately, the vast majority of player names are real, thanks to the FIFPro license. There are claimed to be more than 13,000 licensed professionals in the game, and we’ll take their word for it (we’re tired enough of counting teams). Many of them also have photos, adding some personality to the otherwise pretty basic character models.
The only other major downside to Sociable Soccer 24 as it currently stands is that there is no online multiplayer on the 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, keep in mind that despite the name of the game, any socializing you want to do with this game must be offline. What it’s great for, let’s be clear, is its pick-up-and-play nature.
