Nintendo 64
Released in 1998 by Konami
Grade: B
An impressive accomplishment in its time, ISS 98 blends speedy, high-scoring action with genuine soccer strategy. Despite aged graphics and a few control quirks, it’s fun, challenging, and can stay interesting for a long time.
Where it falls in the series
It’s the second of three ISS games on N64, each one more glowingly reviewed than the last. The next installment, ISS 2000, is one of the rare high-priced sports games, currently fetching around $60 online for a used copy, so I gladly settled for this version for $15.
On PS1, there are five Konami soccer games from 1996 to 2000, but from what I can tell, the gameplay is quite different from the N64 versions. The series started on Super Nintendo in 1994, and after a couple name changes, it’s now called Pro Evolution Soccer on current consoles.
Praises and gripes
It’s funny to think that this was one of the most realistic sports games in the world when it came out, but 20 years later, it belongs in the arcade genre of sports games. It moves back and forth quickly, passes are crisp, goals are frequent, and players cover more ground than in real soccer.
The realistic elements include a full set of formations and strategy choices, tactical passing patterns, and a few nifty ballhandling moves. I like how you can use the “through pass,” where you pass ahead of where your teammate is running. Players move with human-like momentum, although not nearly as impressive as in more recent soccer games.
The game has a sketchy N64 look, although the colors are bright and the animation is smooth. Zooming the camera in makes the players more defined, and zooming out makes them more sketchy. No matter what camera you use, you’re bound to suffer through some plays where you can’t see players in critical positions. You can check a radar diagram at the bottom of the screen, but it’s not as helpful in frantic moments. The screen also jolts back and forth at times. The sound is bright and the play-by-play commentating fits in nicely.
The action has its soccer-like qualities, like stringing together passes in the middle of the field and along the sidelines. I like the struggle to work the ball into a threatening scoring position. A few of the ballhandling moves feel stiff, but I like how you can swiftly stop and turn with the ball, a staple of high-quality soccer games.
On the downside, there are too many rebound opportunities, and the CPU opponent is remarkably good at lofting a long pass toward the goal and heading it in with pinpoint timing. It’s also too easy to accidentally queue up a useless header or send the ball out of bounds. Sometimes the ball takes a mysterious path down the field, usually putting someone into an unrealistic scoring opportunity.
The most annoying control issue is the change player function. On default settings, you change control automatically. If you switch it to manual, there’s a delay, and you often change to the wrong guy. It helps to take your thumb off the stick quickly as you change players, but at the cost of keeping your players moving.
All in all, the game is exciting. With five difficulty settings against the CPU, you’ll have your hands full. There are some useful tactical options, in absurdly colorful menus. One oddity in this game is that when the CPU makes strategy changes, you actually have to watch it quickly go through the menus, as if you’re playing against a human.
The game has 52 international teams, depicting real uniforms and real players, misspelling their names to avoid a license issue. There’s a World Cup-like tournament and a ridiculous 94-game season to choose from.
Flawed as it is, ISS set a high standard for not just soccer, but all sports games. There’s a reason reviewers heaped praise on this game back in the day.