International Superstar Soccer

"A good game based on the best 16-bit football game of all time, but lacks a number of potentially useful game options."

If I count up all the hours I’ve spent playing individual games, then International Superstar Soccer Deluxe on the SNES would easily finish top of the pile. I even managed to wear out 3 quality joypads just by playing this game alone.

So when I looked at the screenshots on the back of the box for International Superstar Soccer on the GBA, they reminded me so much of ISSD that I decided to buy a GBA with ISS even though I hadn’t played it or read a review of it previously. Thankfully this is a good conversion of the SNES classic with plenty of updates.

If you’ve played ISSD before, you’ll know exactly what to expect. If you’ve only ever played the ISS series on N64 or the Pro Evolution series on PS1 and PS2, then this will seem a very different game to what you may have expected.

The game options are very basic. There’s the choice of a friendly match, International Cup (which is a World Cup tournament including the qualifying rounds) or a penalty shoot-out. However, there is no scenario mode which has been included on most versions of ISS.

There’s a very good selection of 40 national teams from all around the world, and 5 bonus all-star teams to unlock too.

Much like ISS Pro Evolution 2 on PS1 and Pro Evolution Soccer on PS2, real player names are only provided for some teams (mostly from Western Europe) such as England, France, Italy, etc. - although there is the odd case of an F. Neville in the England team. Other teams will have to make do with the likes of Batasta, Faron and Rivasko instead of Batistuta, Veron and Rivaldo. The line-ups are pretty accurate given the game’s original release date, but most football fans may spot that many players wear a different number or start in a different position to where they do in real life - something which ISS and PES usually get right. For example, Beckham wears No. 6 and starts in a central defensive midfield role instead of right midfield wearing No. 7. However, there is no option to edit the player roster.

The in-game graphics are very similar to ISSD. The game is viewed horizontally from mostly side-on with a slight angle. The player sprites are of a nice size, well-animated and have plenty of character. They celebrate in style when they score, argue with the (invisible!) ref when they’re booked and roll around in agony when they get fouled (à la Rivaldo). The numbers on the players shirts can also be seen very clearly. In true ISS tradition, some players are distinctive by their appearance and haircut such as Francesco Totti (although for some reason, the Charlton Athletic and England superstar Chrissie Powell is white!). The only problem here is that I would have preferred the game to be a little more “zoomed-out”, i.e. so you can see more of the pitch to plan your moves, but as with the majority of today’s football games, there is a very helpful scanner at the bottom of the screen.

The basic sound effects are what you’d expect from a football game, but the commentary provided by the excellent Jon Champion is by far the best I’ve heard in an ISS game – something I didn’t expect from the GBA given its limitations, and also something I didn’t expect from Konami given their previous attempts at English commentary (the infamous Chris James and Terry Butcher pairing). It sounds fluent, and I haven’t spotted any lines that sound out of place. He even mentions all individual player names for those teams which have real player names included although this is only noticeable if the player is taking a set-piece. Let’s hope Konami continue to use Jon Champion for their English commentary and keep up this new-found quality in all their future ISS/PES games.

The strategies and formations are as you expect from an ISS game. The formations are fully customisable, and there are a wide variety of strategies to choose from such as the offside trap, side attack, central attack, or even all out attack! There is also the option to set any man-markers. Unfortunately, unless you are playing the International Cup mode, there is no option to save your tactics which does put you off setting them up in the first place.

The gameplay is almost identical to ISSD on the SNES. The complete repertoire of moves that were on the SNES version are present on the GBA even though it has two buttons less. Many of the moves are carried out by using combinations of the various buttons. All the moves are there – short passes, long passes, headers, crosses, dummies, standing tackles, sliding tackles and shots (both direct and chipping the goalkeeper). The one-two is also there, and the through ball is just a pass that doesn’t go directly to a team-mate which is different to how a through ball works on the later console versions. Even included are the flick-over-the-head, the “keepy-uppy” move and the shoulder charge (none of which are listed in the manual – figure them out yourself!). But just like in ISSD, trying to score a direct free kick is extremely hard.

The game is very easy to get into. With 5 difficulty levels, there’s plenty of scope to tailor a difficulty curve to your own ability. You can also alter the length of both friendly and International Cup matches. There is also the option to turn off fouls, yellow cards, offsides or golden goals should you so wish. There is a choice of 4 stadia which all appear to be identical, but may have slightly different pitch dimensions, and just the two weather conditions – normal or rainy. However, I can’t give an idea of how well the 2-player mode works since I haven’t had the opportunity to try it.

The penalty shoot-out is similar to the SNES version and is well-balanced – the goalkeeper has a good chance of saving it without it being too easy. However, the timing required to take more powerful penalties is trickier than on the SNES version, and is something I’m yet to master on this version.

The one major complaint I have with this game is the inability to change the controls (an option which is present in every other ISS game). With the current setup, dashing is performed by holding the L button and feinting by tapping the L button repeatedly. Unless you’ve got small hands, your left index finger will begin to throb with pain after you play a couple of games if you use the dash button as much as I do. I guess it’s more of a problem with the GBA design, but I would have preferred to use the R button for dashing/feinting. Hence I would have preferred an option to change the controls. However, your finger will eventually get used to it as long as it doesn’t break first.

Another control-based problem for me (and this may be an issue with other ISS fans) is that previously I had been accustomed to the notion that the button for a standing tackle is the same as that for a short pass. This is not the case here. Many a time I have dispossessed an opposing player only to then boot the ball into row Z. Why? The standing tackle button here is the same as the shoot/clear button (B). From the point of view of a regular ISS gamer, I’d like to have seen the sliding tackle assigned to the shoot button, and the standing tackle to the pass button (A).

I would also have liked Konami to include the scenario mode and the training challenge mode that were both in ISSD. These are both single-player games that would offer some variety and longevity to the gameplay – I’m assuming that most people will play this more often in the single-player mode as is the nature with handheld games.

If you’ve played ISSD on the SNES (or even the PSX version that was released a number of years ago) then you know exactly what to expect, but with much better commentary. The 16-bit style may look and feel dated to those who were brought up on the later PSX and N64 versions of ISS, and the game may not look anywhere near as good as Pro Evolution Soccer on the PS2, but it’s still a nice little game in its own right.

A very good alternative would be to buy Winning Eleven which plays much more like PES. At the time of writing, it’s only currently available in Japan, but I hope it will get a European release (and English translation) by the end of this year (2002) presumably under the title “Pro Evolution Soccer”. If you're the impatient sort, then import it (unless of course you live in Japan).

In the meantime, ISS isn’t a bad stop-gap purchase for all your portable footy needs.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 08/07/02, Updated 08/07/02