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ISS Pro 98, for short, is one of Konami‘s flagship titles on the Nintendo 64 and now is available for the Sony Playstation. Endorsed by Carlos Valderrama, international superstar and captain of Colombia’s national soccer team, it includes the following features :
- Extensive motion-capture, with over 17,000 animations
- Live, realistic commentary by UK sportscaster, Tony Gubba
- Intuitive, adjustable artificial intelligence
- 40 international teams with 16 players per team
- Five unique soccer venues
- Ability to create your own players and trade existing ones
- 16 pre-set formation types with an infinite number selectable
- Five pre-set camera angles
When released on the N64 it received the Interactive Achievement Award of the sports game category in 1997-98. The award was announced at the opening night of the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Atlanta, Georgia, on May 28th, 1998. This award is given to honor the highest quality in video games by the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences each year, and it beat five other games in the final round to win the award.
Playing the Game
There are a number of different game modes available when you load up the game :
- 1. Exhibition: A one-off game between yourself and a friend or the CPU.
2. League: Enter the ISS Pro 98 International League.
3. Cup: Several different Cup Challenges available including International, Konami, European and African Cup.
4. All Star Match: You can play or watch as the All Star teams.
5. Penalty Kick: Get some practice in.
6. Training: More practicing, but this time for shooting, passing and kicking.
NB.: Modes 1, 3 and 4 allow you to either compete against a friend or the CPU (ie. the Playstation). Alternatively you can team up with a friend, or the CPU itself, to play against the CPU, or simply watch the CPU play with itself… if you see what I mean.
Options
The options available are :
- 1. Memory Card utility: Revise the difficulty setting and match time of League and Cup mode.
2. Controller Configuration: Default settings :
OFFENCEDEFENCE CircleLong pass/centeringSliding CrossShort Pass-None- SquareShoot-None- TriangleThrough PassKeeper Button L1Cursor ChangeCursor Change R1DashDash
3. Screen adjust/align: Sort out that wonky screen!
4. Player Edit Mode: Edit player modes
5. Sound: Adjust volume of sound effects, music, commentary, audio mode and spoken language (English, French, German and Spanish).
6. Screen Text Language: Choose from English, French, German and Spanish.
NB.: There are also a number of in-game options which can be changed including the team formation.
Graphics, Sound and Playability
The graphics are very well done, and colourful too, in this game. The viewing angle changes when going to a corner kick, throw in, or when you’ve fouled someone. Also, you get close-ups when a goal-scorer runs around the pitch in celebration, plus the goal replays and penalty shoot-outs. That’s not to mention that during static shots there’s some other nice touches including flag-waving by the crowd!
The sound comes across very clearly in all forms here. Nothing too extravagant, but for a football game what else do you need apart from the roar of the crowd, the usual football sound effects and the expert commentary?
The game plays along at a cracking pace. I could mark it down for the fact that I’ve yet to score against an opposing team, but then that might be because I’m not very good. Tackling is good fun though. It’s a nice touch to see the opposing side’s players moving out of the way when I go in for the kill. However, when I tackle someone, if it gets called by the ref as a foul, I still find myself shouting insults at him (!)
Overall
Overall, I’m not particularly a fan of sport in general, and I certainly don’t make a point of watching it on television, but I do find it very enjoyable playing a good football game like this one … even if I’m not very good at it.
Sure enough, there may not be too much in the way of originality here but that’s not really as important in a football game as long as it looks good and plays well. Those who are football crazy, football mad, are sure to get a real kick out of it, if not a few fouls too.
GRAPHICS : **** SOUND EFFECTS AND MUSIC: **** PLAYABILITY: **** ORIGINALITY : ** ENJOYMENT : **** ——————————- OVERALL : ***½
If you’re after some more info on Konami’s games, check out their Website at www.konami.com
Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 1998.
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.