WELCO METOT HENEX TLEVEL - Championship Soccer '94

Publisher: Sony Imagesoft Developer: Sensible Software Released: 1994

Anyone who really follows soccer (sorry, football) will likely look at the screenshots attached to this article and quickly realize it's simply the Sega CD version of Sensible Soccer, which was a long-running – and quite popular – footie series across the pond.

Back during the mid-90s, every other publisher had a sports game label, and Sony Imagesoft was one of the most prolific during the 16-bit years. Their big thing was an ESPN license (a load of these games appear on the Sega CD, so I'll be getting to them, soon). But Championship Soccer '94 really stood out from their regular offerings, not only in that it didn't feature ESPN in the title, but because the game looked and played so damn primitive!

And for those of us who had never even heard of Sensible Soccer, it was really jarring. It's not like the graphics in 16-bit sports games were amazing (though Sega's baseball games in particular were pretty fantastic looking), the characters in SS are ridiculously small and poorly animated.

This was actually a “thing” for Sensible Software, as they did other games that featured the same tiny characters. When you know that, the visuals in SS really work well. When you don't know that, you're simply left wondering what kind of shit Sony was shovelling out on the Sega CD.

But if you really took the time to play it, it was a refreshingly fun and easy game of soccer. Considering that this sport mystified a lot of North Americans, having one that was so easy to pick up and play was actually a very welcome thing. Plus it had loads of game options, weather settings, and team customization available for those players who really wanted to dig in. The only thing Championship Soccer '94 was missing was any sort of affiliation with real leagues, teams or players.

For a system that didn't last all that long, the Sega CD had a good range of sports totally covered.

If you're interested in giving Sensible Soccer a go and you have an Xbox 360, you're in luck. Head onto marketplace and search for SWOS (Sensible World of Soccer) and download the demo. You might have a lot of fun with it.