Championship Soccer '94 is based on the computer game Sensible Soccer: European Champions. The gameplay is identical: a fast-paced, top-down soccer game with emphasis on fast passes and simple control system.

Players can choose between 40 national, 64 club or 64 custom (fantasy) teams and can assemble their own tournaments (cup or league) with them. The number of participating teams and some of the rules can be customized. The main difference to the original is the reduced number of pre-set tournaments: for national teams World cup qualifiers and the new Maastricht Cup (a knockout tournament) and for club teams the European Superleague and EUFA Cup. Custom teams only have the Booby League and Turkey Tournament available anymore. Another important difference is that the athletes and tournaments no longer use original names, e.g. EUFA instead of UEFA.

The SEGA CD version uses its increased storage capacity for additional sound and some rendered movies, e.g. a flight over a stadium before starting a match.

Like the computer version, the only major change compared to the predecessor are the additional eleven national teams and updated team rosters. It also features the World Cup 1994 as pre-set tournament (with the original groups) instead of World Cup qualifiers. Otherwise it keeps the same pre-set tournament options and the option to create own tournaments (cup or league) with the 51 national, 64 club and 64 custom (fantasy) teams.

The Genesis version features original names which are slightly changed in the European SNES version (e.g. Klonsmann instead of Klinsmann). In the US version, the names have no resemblance to original athletes.