J-League Perfect Striker FAQ. Author : Deranged E@mail - deranged85@hotmail.com. Last Updated : 1/12/1999 ----------------------------------------------------------------- 1)Table Of Contents ----------------------------------------------------------------- 1)Table Of Contents 2)Introduction 3)Version History 4)Controls 5)General Tips 6)Formations 7)Playing The Game 8)Teams 9)Frankenstein's Lab 10)Cheats/Secrets 11)Credits 12)Contact Information 13)Disclaimer ----------------------------------------------------------------- 2)Introduction ----------------------------------------------------------------- My second FAQ, for one of the best Football(Soccer) games out there, this game is a must buy for any soccer fans, and a serious consideration for anybody else. Note that this FAQ was made for the Japanese version of International Superstar Soccer 64, J-League Perfect Striker. Most of this FAQ probably does apply to the American version though, except for, obviously, the teams. Anyway, on with the FAQ! ----------------------------------------------------------------- 3)Version History ----------------------------------------------------------------- 2/12/99 - Version 1.1 up, fixed some typos, added 3 new sections. Amazing what one can do when inspired... 1/12/99 - After 3 months of laziness, version 1.0 finished 8/9/99 - Version 1.0 started. ----------------------------------------------------------------- 4)Controls ----------------------------------------------------------------- Control Stick - Move up, down, left, right, up-right, down-left, you get the drift. Also, if the ball is in the air after you kicked it, hold the control stick towards the direction of the ball to make it land faster, and the opposite direction to make the ball stay in the air longer. A - With the ball, it's a short pass. Use it to kick the ball to the person with the blue arrow on him, playing keepaway with your opponents. Without the ball, it's used to rob the ball of your opponents. You will NEVER get called for a foul if you use this, and it's fairly effective, but you need to be pretty close to the opposing player to use this. If the player still has the ball after trying this, do it again, and again, until you rob the ball off him. Hold R, A - With the ball, a directed pass, this is different from the normal pass in the way that it goes towards the direction you were aiming in rather than straight to one of your teammates. It's stronger, and for some reason, the AI doesn't seem to like intercepting it as much as it likes to do with a normal pass or a through ball. Without the ball, it's just like you never held R. B - With the ball and Inside your own half, this is a simple hoofed ball in the direction your player is facing, used mainly for getting the ball out of the penalty box in scrambles, or making long and accurate passes ala David Beckham. In the opponents half, this is your "shoot" button. A press of this will send the ball spiraling towards the goal. The longer you hold it, the more power the shot has(although sometimes this isn't a good idea if your Striker/s have high shooting ratings), and it can also be directed with Up or Down on the control stick to aim it at the left or right side of the goal. Hold R, B - Like with A, this is a directed shot. It won't automatically travel towards the goal, you can even use this to shoot at your own goalkeeper if you're demented. Also as with A, this tends to be stronger than the normal shot, making beating 'keepers slightly easier. C Down - This is your dash button. Without the ball, it's a normal run. With the ball, you push the ball a bit ahead of you and run after it. Obviously, running without the ball is faster than running with it, although only slightly. If you repeatedly press this button while you have the ball, you'll do a double step-over, then press any direction to quickly bolt in that direction. C Left - With the ball, this is another high ball, although it takes longer to perform than a quick press of B in your own half of the field. If you're in the opponent's half however, this is your "Cross" button. Use it to deliver long balls into the opponent's penalty area from the wings, or a simple hoof into it from anywhere, although that won't get you as far. Without the ball, this is a sliding tackle. As long as you don't use it when you're behind the opposing player, you should be fine. Be cautious about using these when Carlos is the referee though, he likes to do his arm exercises and reach for his cards often. Use the A button tackle more often to ward off any possibility of an unwanted card/suspension when he's refereeing. Hold R, C Left - This is a shorter lob than the normal cross, and a MUCH better option to use when you're in the wings, as the AI's goalkeeper often misses this cross while trying to catch it, leaving you with an open net to head in. Also the best option if you want to move the ball between the flanks, or from the middle to your wingers. C Up - This is the mainstay of your attacks through the middle, the through ball. When you press this button, you'll pass the ball in front of a forward player rather than directly at him, so that your striker can run towards it, and mystify the defenders. A perfect through ball is a glory to watch, but getting the perfect through ball is much harder. Spend time working on this. C Right - This is the button for one-twos. Press this button, then quickly dash ahead and receive the ball back from the player you passed it to. Holding C Right while the ball is travelling towards the player for a higher lob rather than a normal pass, and holding C Right while the ball is still at the second guy to make him hold the ball until you can get in a good position or move out of an offside option. This is also good for confusing backlines, and is the classier option, although the through ball is easier to use. Z - This button doesn't actually do anything to your player, but with the C buttons, calls upon one of the strategies you chose before the match began. The strategies are described later in this guide. ----------------------------------------------------------------- 5)General Tips ----------------------------------------------------------------- When trying to beat the goalkeeper, always aim towards the upper-left corner or upper-right corner for the best chance of success. When you're dashing, if the ball is stolen from you, you recover instantly, and can immediately attempt to retrieve the ball back from the perpetrator. No matter what level, the AI always only tries to rob the ball from you after a specific time after you've had the ball. Using this information, along with the tip above, you can time it such that they will steal the ball as you are dashing, then immediately rob the ball off him. It's possible to get from your own penalty box to your opponents' with the same player with this method. If the referee is either Hazegawa or Heinz, it usually takes two bad tackles to get a yellow card, then two more for a red. If Carlos "the magician" is refereeing, a bad tackle is worth one yellow card, and might even be a red card. As said before, don't make any reckless tackles while he's refereeing. In general, the slide tackle is the more effective of the two ways to rob the ball, but it can be difficult to use, as if you miss for whatever reason, the opponent will be off and running. The A button tackle isn't incredibly effective either, but it gives you a lot more recovery should your opponent somehow keep the ball after you use this, allowing you to use it again, and again. The biggest problem with winning matches is keeping your players fit. Make sure you have a good list of substitutes to replace your weaker- stamina players, or alternatively just create your own team of supermen with maximum stamina. You'll never need to substitute a player at all. ----------------------------------------------------------------- 6)Formations ----------------------------------------------------------------- These are the formations I use the most... 3-3-4 This is the formation I use the most, with the left and right defenders heading outwards to catch those annoying wingers, And one guy always in the middle. in the midfield, I put two men on each flank as far as possible, and the last guy in the middle, and as far back as possible. Upfront, I have two more wingers covering each flank, and two strikers in the middle, ready for crosses. Note that this is more of an attack- minded formation, and will inevitiably lead to huge scorelines. 4-5-1 This is the classic all-out defense strategy, your opponent will find it very hard to dance past 9 men, and the two wingers in the midfield on each flank will supply the crosses for the lone striker to nod in, or simply play the long ball from defense and hope in some way that your striker gets it. Best used when you want to protect a 1-goal lead. 4-3-3 In general, the exact same as 3-3-4, except one of the strikers falls back to a defensive position. Better if you want a slightly more balanced game, or if your opponents play 3 or more strikers/wingers. 1-5-4 Traditional all-out-offense strategy, best reserved for special occasions like if you desperately need a goal to proceed through the Cup. Should the attack fail though, you're almost guaranteed to concede a goal against the higher level AI. Use with caution. ----------------------------------------------------------------- 7)Playing The Game ----------------------------------------------------------------- Passing A pretty important part of the game, even if you have the best striker and defender in the world, if the rest of your team can't even pass water, you're in trouble. In general, use B if you need a desperate clearance, and R+C-Left if you don't to spread the ball to your Wingers, and A(Or R+A) for everything in-between. Through balls and one-twos should be saved for inside the opponent's half, in which they can be devastating. There's no way to describe how to use a through ball or a one-two, my only advice is to practice using them in Training mode. Once you get the hang of them, no defense in the world will be able to stop you... Crossing A very important part of the game if you rely on wingers as much as I do. The general cross into the penalty box is used just with C-Left, but it's too slow, and the opposing keeper will have plenty of time to catch the ball before you can connect your head to it. I prefer R+C- Left, which tends to flummox goalkeepers and defenders alike, quite often allowing anyone near the far post to head into an empty net. However, sometimes the problem is simply getting the ball into the penalty area itself, as the AI man-markers seem to stick to your wingers like mosquitos to rubbish. The best way to get rid of them is to dash all the way to the end of the pitch, then do a quick about- face. Quite often the AI opponent will tackle as you stop, and thus will tackle emtpy air, allowing you time and space to get a decent ball into the 6-yard box. Scoring The most important part of any football game, period. You might have a watertight defence, but if you don't have people who can put the ball in the back of the net, you're not going to be winning many games. As said before, the through ball and the one-two are the best ways in unlocking defenses if you decide to go through the middle. Once you reach the penalty box however, you have a few options. One of them us to go for a straight shot, which isn't exactly the best of options, as level 5 AI goalkeepers seem to have brick walls helping them. Another option is to wait for the goalkeeper to come out, then press the opposite direction your player is facing and press B. This will result in a high chip shot, which you can cotrol to stay in the air or bounce on the ground with the control stick. This is VERY stylish if done right, but usually the opposing goalkeeper can recover in time to grab the ball before it heads into the net unless you time it PERFECTLY. The easiest option is to round the keeper and shoot into the empty net. It's easy once you do it a few times, as you can practically anticipate when the goalie will go for the ball at your legs, and you can then dash diagonally to avoid the attempted dive and simply shoot into the net. ----------------------------------------------------------------- 8)Teams ----------------------------------------------------------------- This is probably the biggest difference between the Japanese and American version - the selection of teams. All of these teams were taken from the J-League. The Teams Kashima Antlers Mascot - An antler. Whaddaya think it would be? Attack - 95, Defense - 91, Overall - 94 Default Formation - 4-4-2 with two wingbacks and wingers Star Player - Jersey no. 10, rating - 90 Jef United Ichihara Mascot - Two weird soccer-playing foxes. Attack - 88, Defense - 90, Overall - 89 Default Formation - 4-5-1 with one wingback and three wingers Star Player - Jersey no. 10, rating - 86 Kashiwa Reysol Mascot - A guy in strange gear, indescribable. Attack - 97, Defense - 87, Overall - 92 Default Formation - 4-4-2 with two wingbacks and wingers Star Player - Jersey no. 9, jersey no. 10, rating - 85 Urawa Red Diamonds Mascot - A shirt-wearing fox with a devil's tail. Attack - 92, Defense - 93, Overall - 93 Default Formation - 2-5-3 Star Player - Jersey no. 6, rating - 89 Verdy Kawasaki Mascot - An eagle sucking on a lollipop. Yes, you heard me right. Attack - 93, Defense - 89, Overall - 91 Default Formation - 5-3-2 with two wingbacks and wingers Star Player - Jersey no. 8, jersey no. 7, rating - 87 Yokohama Marinos Mascot - One of the more normal mascots, a duck. Attack - 85, Defense - 97, Overall - 91 Default Formation - 4-5-1 with one wingback and two wingers Star Player - Jersey no. 4, jersey no. 11, rating - 87 Yokohama Flugels Mascot - A very strange bird. Attack - 90, Defense - 95, Overall - 93 Default Formation - 3-5-2 with two wingers Star Player - Jersey no. 10, rating - 88 Bellmare Hiratsuko Mascot - Think of a smaller version of the king of the seas. Attack - 89, Defense - 84, Overall - 87 Default Formation - 4-5-1 with one wingback and winger Star Player - Jersey no. 8, rating - 87 Shimizu S.Pulse Mascot - A nice, normal rabbit. Attack - 91, Defense - 86, Overall - 90 Default Formation - 4-4-2 with two wingbacks and wingers Star Player - Jersey no. 8, rating - 86 Jubilo Iwata Mascot - Another bird. Attack - 96, Defense - 90, Overall - 93 Default Formation - 3-5-2 with two wingers Star Player - Jersey no. 8, rating - 89 Nagoya Grampus Mascot - A killer whale. Attack - 95, Defense - 95, Overall - 95 Default Formation - 4-4-2 with two wingbacks and wingers Star Player - Jersey no. 8, rating - 89 Kyoto Purple Sanga Mascot - A flaming bird in the fashion of Phoenix or Moltres. Attack - 80, Defense - 83, Overall - 82 Default Formation - 4-4-2 with two wingbacks and wingers Star Player - Jersey no. 4, rating - 86 Gamba Osaka Mascot - A weird guy with a bolt of lightning in his hand. Attack - 85, Defense - 80, Overall - 83 Default Formation - 3-4-3 with three wingers Star Player - Jersey no. 4, rating - 87 Cerezo Osaka Mascot - A wolf. Attack - 86, Defense - 85, Overall - 86 Default Formation - 4-4-2 with two wingbacks Star Player - Jersey no. 8, rating - 89 Sanfrecce Hiroshima Madcot - A grizzly bear. Attack - 84, Defense - 87, Overall - 86 Default Formation - 3-4-3 with two wingers Star Player - Jersey no. 2, 3, 4, 8, 10, 11, rating - 84 Avispa Fukoka Mascot - What looks like a mosquito with a spear. Attack - 88, Defense - 84, Overall - 86 Default Formation - 4-4-2 with two wingbacks Star Player - Jersey no. 8, rating - 86 ----------------------------------------------------------------- 9)Frankenstein's Lab ----------------------------------------------------------------- I'm sure that you've been fiddling around with the Create Player option, and created your own likeness with your name on it and assigned him to your favourite team. But, have you considered making a WHOLE team from scratch? It's very much possible, and it's the ONLY way to have good stats. Let me guide you through those steps to that Dream Team.... Step 1 - Finding the "Create A Player" option. Just select the 7th option in the main screen(Assuming you read the main page like a book, left to right, up to down), which is the Options screen, then select the 4th option. Step 2 - You'll be presented with a Menu stating all the possible positions and position combinations(DF/MF, for example, stands for Defender/Midfielder). For this test, choose a Goalkeeper(GK). Step 3 - Choose a name(You can use english characters, it's the far- right option). Names like Taffarel or Seaman would be good. Alternatively, just randomly enter any Japanese name and move on. Step 4 - Choose a face. Unfortunately, you've only got 32 faces to choose from, and more than half of them are ugly. Pick one you want and move on. Step 5 - Now, the most important part of the process, the stats list. Basically, you'll get randomly generates stats, and can improve the player's stats by a certain amount of points, usually depending on how good your player's original stats are. Usually, if your character already has an overall rating in the low 80s, he won't get many points to boost stats in(Probably aorund 30-40), and if your character has crap for stats, he'll probably get a lot of points to put in his stats(Around 70-80). However, what you want here is superhuman stats, right? In that case, if you get an average below 86, quit the whole thing(Go on to the next screen, then choose the second option twice) and repeat steps 2 to 4 and hope you've got good stats again. This will probably take a long time, so don't give up just because you haven't found a superman within your first 5 tries. In general, Defenders should have an overall stat of 87, Midfielders 88, Strikers 87 and Wingers 89. Occasionally, the game might throw a 90-point overall your way, take full advantage of it. Note that 12 stat points equals 1 overall point. Step 6 - Save your character to one of the 48(!) possible slots. Step 7 - Go back to Step 2 and this time choose a Defender. Repeat steps 3-6. Continue until you have 16 supermen, your front 11 and 5 subs just in case. I like to have one Goalkeeper, 3 Defenders, 1 Defender/Midfielder, 2 Midfielders, 2 Midfielders/Strikers, 2 Strikers, 1 sub Defender, 1 sub Defender/Midfielder, two sub Midfielders/Strikers and 1 sub Striker. This fits my usual 3-3-4 formation perfectly. Step 8 - Go back to the options screen and choose the 3rd option this time. Now do a massive clearout in your favourite team, and insert your team in it. Congratulations! You now have a team of supermen to wipe the competition with! However, remember back to Step 5? You have to choose where to put your stat points correctly. You don't want a Striker with 99 Tackle and 65 Shot Power, do you? Here are what's best to use for which position. Goalkeeper - Speed and Dash are probably the most important stats for him. They're the 4th from top in the left hand column and the 1st from top in the right hand column respectively. After that, just increase his Stamina(2nd from top of right-hand column) and Shot Power/Shot Accuracy(2nd and 3rd from top in left hand corner respectively). Defender - Stamina and Tackle(Bottom stat in right-hand corner) are obviously the most important stats. After that, it's Speed and Dash to catch up with those annoying wingers. Wingbacks - I never use these, but if you want them, go for Speed, Dash, Stamina and Tackle, in that order. They'll be supplying crosses only, so there's no need to beef up their Shot Power. Midfielder - These are the toughest, as they have to have decent Tackle to perform as Defenders during the opponent's attacks, yet they also need Shot Power and Accuracy for YOUR own attacks, Head Accuracy(Third option in right-hand corner) for corners and Free Kicks and they STILL need the Stamina I'm sure you're craving after trying out one of the J- League teams whose players seem to have the average stamina of an asthmatic 75 year old. Add the Dash and Speed ratings needed for your men out wide, and you have one tough decision to make. I would choose Tackle, Stamina, then Dash and Speed on your defensive Midfielder, while your men out wide should go for Dash and Speed, then Stamina, then Head Accuracy. Winger - Ahh, my favourite kind of player. And rather ironically, they're almost as tough to build as Midfielders. They DEFINITELY need Speed and Dash, with Stamina coming soon after that. Head Accuracy is needed as when you use one Winger, the other will usually head into the box waiting for a cross. If you somehow still have spare points after that, beef up Shot Power and Shot Accuracy. Striker - This is easy. Shot Power and Shot Accuracy all the way, then Head Accuracy, then Stamina. Speed and Dash don't hurt either. ----------------------------------------------------------------- 10)Cheats ----------------------------------------------------------------- Big Heads - To have all the players with amazingly large heads, input the infamous Konami code at the title screen : C Up, C Up, C Down, C Down, C Left, C Right, C Left, C Right, B, A, Hold Z and press Start. I ALWAYS play with this mode on, it never seems right without it for me anymore.... Extra Teams - To get the extra teams, beat the J-League on the hardest difficulty. You'll get three Japanese All Star teams, as well as one World All Star team(which has 99 in Attack and Defense). ----------------------------------------------------------------- 11)Credits ----------------------------------------------------------------- Companies/Sites Nintendo - It's their system. Konami - For making this wudderful game. GameFAQs - For posting this FAQ. People Me - For still keeping interest in this for 3 months. ----------------------------------------------------------------- 12)Contact Information ----------------------------------------------------------------- Comments? Compliments? Complaints? Death Threats? E-mail Bombs? Wedding Proposals? Send them to deranged85@hotmail.com. I'm pretty up-to-date, so if you don't get a reply within a few days, it'll be pretty obvious that you didn't want one. You can also contact me via AOL IM at Llnk85(Two Ls) but be warned, I have no qualms about putting you on ignore should you act like an idiot towards me. ----------------------------------------------------------------- 13) Disclaimer ----------------------------------------------------------------- This FAQ is for private use only. This FAQ may not be used on any website unless I give them permission. It may not be sold or used in any way to make a quick buck. I have no association or affiliation with Nintendo or Konami. All trademarks are respected. © 1999, Deranged