Sensible World of Soccer '96/'97 is an updated version of Sensible World of Soccer: European Championship Edition. The only addition are the updated team rosters.

SWOS is a top down football/management game, with either quick game or 20-year career player-manager options. The games are set to last 3 minutes, but the 20-year career can suck in your entire life for a few months. The graphics are kept very small so the player can orientate themselves on the pitch without need for a radar. The controls are simple, easy to get used to and very effective. In the full career mode you can jump from club-to-club buying any of the game's 29000+ players, as well as play around with team tactics.

And you can choose from 1400 teams over the five continents.

While the Linux/Macintosh/Windows are just the emulated DOS version, the Xbox 360 has some genuine changes: online multiplayer, updated graphics (the graphical style and the top-down perspective are kept) and dynamic advertisements. The team rosters are still based on season 1996/1997, but the names are not authentic anymore.

It title is also the base for the remake on Xbox Live Arcade in 2007.