The Wonder Years: Week 5 - International Superstar Soccer Deluxe
Posted by Owain J. Brimfield on 05.17.2007
It’s Pro Evo’s great granddaddy!
Welcome to the column where all gamers of a certain age come to wallow in 16-bit nostalgia. I'm your host, Owain J. Brimfield, and I'll be discussing some of the hidden gems and instant classics of gaming's golden era. Some of these games may crop up on the Wii's Virtual Console at some point, some may be consigned to the annals of history. Either way, they're worth tracking down if you missed them first time round, or replaying if you were lucky enough to catch them. Let's take a trip to:
INTERNATIONAL SUPERSTAR SOCCER DELUXE
(Konami, Genesis & Super NES, 1995)
(Please note: whenever I use the term ‘football' this week, I will of course be referring to the game actually played with the feet and sometimes known as ‘soccer', and not to what any US readers may know as ‘football', which is in fact technically named ‘pussy rugby'.)
Following hot on the heels of the mildly successful ISS came the sequel, or rather ‘deluxe' version (catchily known in Japan as Jikkyou World Soccer 2: Fighting Eleven). For those gamers who had been used to the rather cartoonish stylings of Sensible Soccer, Kick Off and the emerging FIFA franchise, ISS offered a breath of fresh air with an altogether more realistic take on the beautiful game. Deluxe took everything that enabled the first game to succeed - larger than life graphics, detailed tactical models, assortment of game modes - and bumped it to the next level.
With its increasingly simulation-oriented approach contrasting its altogether more arcade-flavoured competitors, ISS Deluxe became the football game of choice for those gamers who craved realism. The tactical and formation screens on offer are initially bewildering in their complexity, and while nothing like as detailed as the Championship Managers of the world, they provided a pleasing degree of strategy with which to tackle the game's extended World League and tournament modes. Also featured, and surprisingly un-hyped, was a team kit editor, enabling you to deck your team in a variety of psychedelic threads in order to assault your opponent's vision. Add in the array of options at the player's disposal - everything from changing weather conditions to the length and width of the pitch - and Deluxe becomes a sim-buff's paradise.
Thankfully though, the game's depth didn't come at the expense of the all-important fun factor. The game is simply a joy to play, with a surprisingly sophisticated control scheme and a sizeable play area. It's also fantastic to look at, with the bright colours and large sprites a world away from the overpowering browny-green of FIFA's mid-90s efforts. Although the hilariously limited commentary can be annoying ("keeper… fumbles!"), it soon goes unnoticed when the focus is on desperately trying to equalise against Nigeria to qualify for the cup.
For a game engine on only its second iteration, there are surprisingly few flaws in ISS Deluxe. Within the gameplay mechanic itself, the goalkeeper AI is relatively poor (especially in multiplayer, with a ten minute game on level 3 difficulty invariably leading to scores in the double figures), and the ball curling system seems to frequently corrupt, with straight-line goal kicks sometimes going out for throw-ins in the player's own half. And I believe special mention must be made of the game's truly appalling menu music - it's really, really bad, and I mean Cliff Richard bad. If only there were…some way… to shut it off… [dies]
But I kid folks, the music didn't actually kill me; these are all minor concerns. In fact on the technical side there is much to be lauded, with the frame rate only dropping significantly during particularly hectic set pieces - no mean feat considering the size and quality of the player models (at least when compared to other offerings of the time). Furthermore the actual team AI is satisfyingly tricky on the higher levels, and it will take a fair bit of time to master the International Cup on level 5. The learning curve itself is pitched nicely, with the default level operating so as to be tricky for beginners but undemanding for more experienced players. Without this balance it would be quite an ask for the single player's enjoyment to last as long as it does. Add to this the plethora of training scenarios and hugely fun two-player and you'll find this cartridge staying in your console for weeks at a time (in fact my friend AJ and I recently broke it out and indulged in a month's worth of battles; I believe I eventually came up trumps 20-17 in our series, but I only mention that because I'm such an egotistical git).
With the benefit of hindsight, when considering the game's lineage it's no surprise how good it really was. When ISS Pro was eventually developed for the Playstation it led to the eventual franchising of the Pro Evolution Soccer games (Winning Eleven in Japan), while the ISS brand stayed on Nintendo platforms. Although the N64's ISS ‘98 was probably the series' pinnacle, ISS Deluxe is right on its tail and remains a vastly enjoyable football experience to this day. Why not delve into history and take a look at some true ancestral gold.
ISS Deluxe trivia
The game set the ball rolling (ha!) for the series featuring the longest league modes in any football game that I can remember, with around 70 games to be played in this edition.
Football enthusiasts can have fun spotting the real life 90s players masquerading under false names: Italy's Galfano looks rather like a certain R. Baggio for instance. It's all in the hairstyles, folks.
Despite the Pro Evo brand going on to great success, the ISS series is still going strong and indeed incorporating RPG elements nowadays; however the last effort on GameCube was more than a bit disappointing.
ISS Deluxe is number 34 in my official all-time Top 100 games.
Tangential musings
So Spidey 3 has been and gone, and turned out to be a little unsatisfactory. I've said it before - the next great comic book movie is set to be Iron Man.
Looks like The Who will be playing my hometown in a few weeks. £45 a ticket is a little out of my price range, but the real question is, does anyone actually think of them as The Who anymore, or just the Roger and Pete show?
Anyway, I'm more interested in the upcoming Dream Theater album. Octavarium was a little below par, but Systematic Chaos has every chance of being the finest metal album of the summer.
Why is it when you move house, the utility companies refuse to give you a final bill until it's the most inconvenient time possible? Incidentally, if anyone has any spare cutlery they want to send my way, we lost all our forks in transit. Typical eh.
And finally…
As always, reader feedback and suggestions are welcome, I respond to everything so just drop me a line. Next week in "The Wonder Years" - the best unicycle-based game you'll ever encounter. Until then - keep it real, keep it retro.
