Video game archival site Games That Weren’t (GTW) has unearthed a near-complete version of Sensible Soccer for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), a find that’s been lost for 32 years!
In fact, it is so near-complete, that it is now playable.
If you’re like me and you lived and breathed the fast-paced, top-down action of Sensible Software’s Sensible Soccer in the early 90s, this is huge. “Sensi” (as we called it) was the forerunner to the more expansive (and still updated) Sensible World of Soccer. With addictive gameplay and in-depth tactical options, the became became a legend on platforms like the Amiga and Atari ST.
Ruud Gullit, Euro 92, and the Xbox 360
Memory lane time now. After seeing the initial review of Sensible Soccer in a magazine (possible The One), I headed out to buy the game from our local independent computer game retailer. While a massive Kick Off 2 and Player Manager fan, a new highly playable arcade soccer game getting great reviews in the mags was exactly what I needed, and I grabbed the Ruud Gullit-adorned box from the shelf, paid, and almost ran home to play it.
1992 was a big year for football in the UK. The country had been buoyed by reaching the semi-finals of the 1990 World Cup, the Premier League was about to begin in August, and the Euro 92 competition had been blown open by the explusion of Yugoslavia due to its civil war. Naturally, England fans thought they were in with a chance, but had not reckoned with Thomas Brolin, nor the chances of outsider minnows Denmark…
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Yeah, one of the 30 years of hurt right there.
I’d played Microprose Soccer (also by the Senible Software team) on the C64, so had high expectations. I was not disappointed. In fact, I often played Sensi in place of SWOS, as I felt the sequel over complicated things. Its “management” feature didn’t work as well as Championship Manager for me, which made the upgrade a little pointless.
Years later, I visited a colleague in Liverpool who surprised me by booting up Sensible Soccer on the Xbox 360. I was terrible at it, failing to get to grips with the modern controller — I was very much a Competition Pro joystick user — which left me feeling pretty embarrassed…
Sensible Soccer NES: a surprise
8-bit systems were less fortunate when it came to Sensible Soccer, but a playable version for the NES has surfaced, and it’s a revelation. 8-bit system conversions for the Nintendo Game Boy and Sega Master System were completed, but the it seemed the publisher was more keen on targeting the Amiga and other 16-bit systems.
The recovered ROM has been carefully coerced into running by the GTW team, and the results are quite surprising.
The GTW state that “Surprisingly – the game was essentially complete, but had some glitches and bugs still to iron out before it was in a state to release. Unfortunately, as a result of the cancellation the title would lay dormant for around 32 years.”
Although some bells and whistles are missing, the game is surprisingly intact and clearly playable, as you can see in the video above.
While other abandoned conversions probably do not exist, fingers remain crossed for a C64 version. After all, MicroProse Soccer was great, and this NES build — along with the published Sega Master System version — demonstrates that a colour 8-bit version was viable.
You should read the full account of the find at Games That Weren’t. That’s where you will also find the download, ready to run on any NES emulator, and presumably imageable to an EverDrive cartridge or other method of loading ROMs.
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Christian Cawley is a writer and editor who covers consumer electronics, IT, and entertainment media. He has written for publications such as Computer Weekly, Linux Format, MakeUseOf.com, and Tech Radar.
He also produces podcasts, has a cigar box guitar, and of course, loves retro gaming.
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