Anyone who can remember playing Sensible World of Soccer back in the 90’s on their Amiga should also remember how much they thoroughly enjoyed it, after all at the time this was the game to play, but is it still as good as it used to be or like many arcade games does it not age well?

As with most of the re-released arcade games you can either play with the original 96/97 graphics or the new HD graphics, which offer widescreen, zoom options as well as a sharper pitch, using the enhanced version also gives you the added bonus of burger vans, TV crews and an enthusiastic chanting crowd, so you will probably find yourself using the updated graphics version the majority of the time, as the original one really does not offer anything new.

But what about the game play? Well those that are expecting something that plays like FIFA or PES may as well give up now, this is a footy game in a league of its own (excuse the pun). The controls could not be more simplistic to use, the left analogue stick moves the player while the A button to do everything else like tackle, pass, header and shoot, you can also add some after touch to your shots, but just because the controls are simple does not mean that this is an easy game to play, oh no, Sensible World of Soccer is a tricky to master as it always was and it will take quite a few games before you master the passing and shooting.

One of the great things about the game is that you have loads of options for the types of games you can play, these include friendlies, competitions, and create your own DIY leagues, and there is also career mode, which offers a lot of depth as well as a multi player option.

Unfortunately Sensible World of Soccer has the same problems as Pro Evolution Soccer when it comes to licensing, so although there are a wide range of teams from all over the world for you to play as/against do not expect the names of all the clubs or players to be correct, though fortunately it can be quite humorous when you are trying to work out who the players and clubs are meant to be.

All is not positive though, because once you start to play online a few problems begin to crop up, one of the biggest of these is lag, however there is another, for some reason the game will allow someone to quit in the last minute if they are losing which is very frustrating, this is something that really needs to be fixed so hopefully a patch will be out shortly to fix this.

Sensible World of Soccer is a great addition to the arcade, if you know, and have played SWOS before then you will not be disappointed, but a SWOS virgin may wonder what all the fuss is about with today’s classic footy games available. Sensible World of Soccer may be a rehash of yet another “classic arcade game” but it’s a good one, so download and enjoy.