Overview

Between 1994 and 1999 I was a rabid devotee of EA Sports’ Fifa franchise. From the original Fifa International Soccer on the PC to the mind-blowing (at the time) Fifa 96 with it’s commentary and stadia, I was in love with Fifa. Road to the World Cup 98 was the peak of my love-affair but things started to go sour around Fifa ‘99.

I had played Konami soccer games before in International Superstar Soccer (N64) and International Superstar Soccer 98 (PSX) but while those games were made by Konami’s Osaka development team (KCEO), ISS Pro Evolution was made by Konami’s Tokyo team. Painfully difficult to find in retail stores I ended up purchasing ISS PE off the net and from the moment I popped it into my Playstation I haven’t looked at soccer videogames the same.

Graphics

By and large I find that older 3D games don’t stack up as well today as older 2D/sprite based games. I guess this is largely due to the fact that while we don’t see many sprites in our sports games today (well, except for some crowds) we do see far superior 3D models. Five years and one console generation later ISS PE follows this trend as the moment the blocky sprites walked onto the field I found myself almost laughing at how poor they looked. However, once the match started I found myself impressed by just how well animated these players are. Animations for ball control, shooting and especially a wicked fake shot are still mighty impressive.

What’s also impressive about the player models, despite their obvious ‘blockiness’, is how many of the big stars are still noticeable by their body build from the playable angles – and I’m not just talking about extremes like Jan Koller vs. Michael Owen. You can also notice a difference in the way different players move (big guys lumber along awkwardly while smaller players move with more poise) which is neat.

The real-life stadiums don’t fare so well by today’s standards and while you see different pitch textures there’s no shadows and no difference in lighting – but they are instantly recognizable which I guess is an achievement. The game also disappoints when it comes to TV-style presentation (though, to be fair this was the norm at the time of it’s release) with no end of half highlights…..then again Winning Eleven: PSP doesn’t have them either…..

Sound

The audio in ISS PE was awful back then and it’s still bloody awful. MartinWilliams and Terry Butcher have to be one of the worst videogame commentary duos EVER! They both seem to be absolutely stoned and hardly ever seem to get excited. Butcher also must win an award for the most obvious colour commentary ever heard.

Crowd sounds are also sparse with the crowd on a tinny loop that sounds like it was ripped right out of an Atari ST game from the late 80s.

Options

The Winning Eleven/Pro Evo games have never been big on options and this predecessor is no different – save for the fact that these were QUALITY options compared to Fifa’s mass of licensed leagues with no stats tracking, incorrect likenesses, and asinine player ratings. It’s actually kind of funny to see the starting default international rosters in the game. I played a match as Brazil versus England and it was neat to see Romario come up against Martin Keown, Tim Sherwood and Graham LeSaux……or should I say Rhomario, Kown, Shirwood, and LeSew! Yup, ISS PE featured no official player or team licenses so pseudonames were the order of the day.

Along with 32 international teams the game also features 16 club teams, all with fake, but easily recognizable (unless you’re Chris Carle of IGN) names. Looking at ISS PE/WE 4’s options today shows how little Konami has progressed in the past few years in terms of gameplay modes and leagues available. Here we are in 2005 with Winning Eleven 9 and the only real additions are an expanded Master League and some single season domestic club leagues. It’s kind of sad, really.

[Edit: Though the awesome Nippon Challenge mode in WE9 seemed a step in the right direction]

On the flip-side however, once you open up the tactics screen you see just how much Konami have done in the gameplay and tactical department in the past few seasons. Here players have only a handful of ratings (compared to WE games now) and the ratings are out of ten rather than 100 like they are now. Likewise, attacking and defensive bias arrows are only directional in forward and back directions, and you can only pick one direction.

Gameplay

It’s a testament to the quality of this game engine that within just a few minutes I was right at home stroking the ball around the field with Brazil. Comparing this title to a game six versions ahead in WE9/PES5 its never been more clear that the suffix of ‘Evolution’ in the European games is eminently fitting. ISS PE is lacking dozens of the complex dribbling, passing and shooting skills moves that are present in the more recent incarnations of the series. For example, give and go’s are automatic, there is only one type of sprint, there’s no side-stepping, there’s only a double step-over, only one type of fake shot, only one type of lob and so on. Yet, despite these omissions, this game still FEELS like a Winning Eleven/Pro Evo game. By that I mean that passing and ball possession are still the order of the day and you still find yourself making little passing triangles around the pitch. The game also features players tending to use only their preferred foot for passing and shooting – something the Fifa series still hasn’t caught onto. Most importantly, the AI on both sides of the ball is rock solid and while you don’t see the major differences in individual and team playing styles that you see in today’s Winning Eleven games you can still notice that Norway prefer the long ball more than a team like Brazil.

Of course, not everything is perfect – you really notice how modulated and restrictive the player movements are and how this results in dribbling that’s far less fluid than in today’s games. I also noticed that there are no injuries and that the fake shot is far too powerful – consistently fooling all but the best defenders and keepers.

However, despite these problems and the fact that you’re playing an inferior game compared to what’s out today, it’s difficult NOT to get caught up in the enjoyable gameplay and I found myself playing this one for quite a while.

Longevity/Replay Value

Judging replay value for classic games is a bit difficult because it all depends upon whether there’s an update to the game that’s available today. Kick Off 2, Super Goal, SWOS and many of the Neo-Geo games provide a great deal of replay value because there’s nothing like them around now. They provide unique gaming experiences.

ISS PE is different because even though the game itself is solid, you can easily play a tremendously improved, more recent, incarnation on the PS2 or X-Box. For that reason,

I wouldn’t recommend seeking out an old copy of ISS PE for anything more than a nostalgic trip down memory lane.

Overall

One of the most influential soccer games of all time and a game that truly represented a paradigm shift in the way we looked at soccer games – this was the first real SIMULATION of football, rather than an arcade-inspired INTERPRETATION.

Lavan Chandran

10/10/2005

[Screenshots from www.gamekult.de]