ISS Realm - International Superstar Soccer 98 Review

The International Superstar Soccer
Realm

Reviews - International Superstar Soccer 98
(Nintendo 64 - September/October 1998)

Acquired: 1 October 1998
Reviewed: Mid-November 1998
It has been a good six weeks of play and I, and the ISS Realm, can safely say that what we have here is probably the closest representation of a flawlessly executed piece of software that we have ever seen. In the almost 2 years of development time between this and the last version, gameplay wise, Konami have certainly created the pinnacle of sports video games. Maybe even all games. Granted it is just a soccer game and not the most popular genre around, but this can not undermine the quality of the title. It truly is a landmark title, and just like Mario clones and Doom clones, Konami have perfected the football video game engine to a level that we will start seeing ISS clones. No mean feat considering the complexity and variety one can have in a soccer game, but it is true. Quite simply, there is no other way to do a soccer game. And the greatest single piece of evidence to support this is the Fifa series. Look at how it has moved more and more closer to ISS from its original Fifa96 incarnation. The camera view, the response, the one-touch passing, and now the through-balls. And then there is all the game customisation and gameplay options like on-the-fly strategy selections which they are now copying.

The Tradition continues:
It is amazing that since the original on the SNES 5 years ago, ISS 98 still works on virtually the same engine. An engine based on the fundamental principle of soccer - the passing game. Why is this? Simply, because it works, and it is realistic. It is this passing game that Konami were first to institute (and no one has been able to follow), and thus, other footballing elements, like organised and concerted defending, naturally flowed on. It looked like football and most importantly, it was the first game to play like football. It truly defined the football game genre. I can still recall the day I played it: Switzerland vs Austria; pass, pass, pass, pass, and so on. It felt "right" immediately and was a blessing from the gods. Real football tactics had to be employed in order to succeed.

Though things have been enhanced, and refined over the years, the four main buttons still perform like they always have and the passing is as straight forward as ever. Look at Fifa. Other than response, their muddling engine has not changed much, and it does not work. Why? Because the thing that is fundamental to creating chances and scoring in soccer is passing. They have it working in NHL, but in Fifa they persist with the ad hoc and randomness of their current system. Of course there are all the gameplay options that Konami introduced for other companies to mimic, but that is another story. Like it or not, the passing engine is the only way to go. At present, ISS is the only way to go.

I have already posted my first impressions as the "Dutch Mentor" but the now it is six weeks later and time to elaborate. Of course the first question to be answered is, "are the differences worthwhile to warrant a purchase?". Unequivocally "yes" to soccer fans, lovers of the original or lovers of sports games in general. But maybe not for the casual gamer since the improvements maybe too esoteric. But for those that loved the original, it is a must buy.

ISS64: Not the perfect game
The first thing that prospective buyers must be aware of is that ISS 64 did have a minor problem. You may not realise it, but on playing the sequel, you certainly will. Some may not even see it as a problem either. But quite simply, the original was too offensively biased in versus mode to the point that it was nearly impossible to keep a clean sheet. In 18 months and hundreds of games we never had a nil-nil. Average goals per game were 7 or 8; they should be 3. If your opponent had a super team like Brazil or Germany, it was near impossible to stop them from strolling through your defence. Reasons primarily being: over nimble players and poor AI on your team-mates. Also tackling was slightly below par (the attackers did not fall, so could just re-steal the ball from you), and gun strikers on some teams. Unfortunately, situations arose that you were not in complete control; instead the game itself contributed to the result. Those who have played Fifa would understand fully. It gave a less skilled player a chance without having to come to grips with the entire game. Overall, it did not detract too severely on the overall quality of the title, but nonetheless, it was blemish that needed to be rectified.

The Gamplay (10 - Perfect):
Forget the 54 teams, the 8 extra strategies (now 16) of which 6 that can be manually or CPU activated, the extra stadiums, a whole range of defensive strategies and extra weather conditions. Forget the palpable effect of tiredness on players, the improved goal keepers, the enhanced replays and gazillion player animations and histrionics. Also forget the variable (and accurate) player heights and attributes, the improved dead ball situations and heaps of other stuff that is best left discovered by you. The real improvement is in the Artificial Intelligence. Not just the difficulty, but the way the whole team operates. Konami have now created the perfectly balance soccer game where it is now easier to defend, than to attack.

The game has been fundamentally transformed from the offensive nature ISS64 to one of perfect balance. Already our goal rate is now just over 3 per game; we have reached nil-nil at full time; the 2-player games are much tighter and on the knife-edge the whole way through; the number of sudden death games is amazing. Konami have even been able to introduce the vagaries of the real game too! The upsets by minnows; the goal that just won't go in, yet your opponent pissing you off by nailing one towards the end of the half after being out-played; and the occasional long range bomb. No, the game is not frustrating at all; the scoring is there; you just have to work harder for it, and it is much more rewarding when you do. Just like the real thing. There have been many times that I have had my shirt off after scoring!

The attacking prowess of the original is still the foundation of the sequel, it is just the final pass, or cross, that must be immaculate to succeed against quality CPU and human opposition Just like real football. In essence, Konami have managed to encapsulate the 10 minutes of real action you get from the 90 minute real game and turned it into the most rewarding and playable sports game ever. If you want one minute of action (fun) and 9 minutes of muddling, "simulation" type gameplay, go away.

In offence, your players make runs all over the place; scanning the radar is necessary. Initially you will find a lot of your through balls intercepted, or get called offside. You see, now the attackers make their runs early and you must be aware enough to play the ball to them early in space before they get chopped off. The long through ball is now near impossible and the game forces you to move closer to goal before laying the lethal pass. Also, headers seem more likely to score, though they are not easy to score with. Again Konami are forcing you to play football. You are forced to play good crosses rather than hopeful balls. Balls must be played to the strikers when they have gained space. Not grabbing this opportunity means a wasted chance. Dead ball situations have a height arrow now, which makes it a bit easier to place your free kicks and corners. But then on the down side, occasionally you get mongrel kicks to bring you back to reality!

Shooting is as masterful as ever allowing placement to any part of the net. From cracking long drives to delicate chip shots, it is the best system yet. It has been there since day one, and is without peer. You decide on the position and the game decides on the power of the shot depending on the range and situation of the strike; and gets it right nearly all the time. Naturally, the hard shots are not always accurate, especially if the shot is rushed. Probably the only thing that could be added is an extra command solely for hard blasts from anywhere on the pitch. A bit picky here but maybe it should be up to the player to decide on the strength of the strike. After all, maybe you do want to blast it from close range and chance you luck? After all, ISS is all about total control and interactivity.

Curving the ball is different in that you have to hold "Z" or "L", plus the direction of where you want to the ball to swerve to. It is harder, as it should be, but the reasoning is that by just using the directional pad or stick, this would result in moving the player targeted as the recipient of the cross, out of position. Now he stays put, in position, waiting for the cross.

Defence is now much easier. The poor team-mate AI has now been fully addressed where they now hound the ball carrier if he holds onto it too long. And this is without the "zone press" strategy or marking options activated. With them on, it is possible to have 4 defenders harassing the ball carrier and forcing him to pass. Of course if he does pass intelligently, he should have some unmarked men waiting for the chance. The tackling is better in that the tackle-ee is usually felled allowing you time to get the clearance away. Also, they seem more effective and responsive, especially the standing tackles. As well, your team-mates seem to be more self reliant in that they will dispossess a player if they get real close. They won't actively seek tackling opponents though. It is still mainly up to you.

Interceptions are also easier. Again your team-mates will make themselves prominent if an interception is on and will win the ball if played straight at them. The CPU now also seems to highlight interceptors for you, and like with how crosses have always been, will even place this player in a suitable position for you to make the intercept yourself. Also, now a standing tackle is even more effective in intercepting the ball, though a well timed slide tackle obviously gives you more reach. The only thing missing would be the ability to go in for a clearing-slide, or non-possession winning, tackle as sometimes you just want it out of there rather than winning the ball. Sometimes the ball does break lose though, but I suppose in reality, most tackles are for possession winning purposes so again I am probably being picky again.

The goal-keepers are better overall. They punch more, and far too. Unless the shot is taken at real close range, balls will rarely bob up in front. They are better off the line and come out extremely quickly. Only negative would be it seems you can occasionally catch then off guard from long range especially if a defender is blocking his line of site. I never scored from range in ISS 64, but have done it several times now. In controlling them, it is also easier to save one-on-one with a striker.

Attitude AI: What is that I here you ask. I was sure it was there in ISS64, but it is one thing that seemed to be overlooked. Like its prequel, the change in attitude of the CPU depending on the how the game is going is an ISS-only feature, and is back. If they are behind, the go all out for the win; but when in front, they seem to sit back and let you take it to them. But then, maybe it is just human nature? But the crowd goes berserk at the desperate attempts on goal so obviously they feel it. It really is a feature that seems to be overlooked. Heck, in one game, a desperate player dived and tried to milk a free kick; he got a yellow card for his troubles. Brilliant!

Control (10 - Perfect):
The feel is just as arcadey as before but still plays realistically, no bad thing. But then what does arcade mean anyway? To me it means instantly appealing, intuitive to play, responsive and hell of a lot of fun; but difficult to master. If that is what arcade does mean then ISS 98 is certainly this, and more. For novices, ISS is so easy to start playing a magical passing game that it is not funny. The two main buttons are pass and shoot, and tackle in defence. Then it is a simple graduation to the other buttons which are cross, run, through-ball and one-two, and slide tackle. It is just so easy, and upon execution of your very first first through-ball, you will wet you pants. Once the basics are mastered there are even more commands to break down the most stoic of defences. Such simple commands come to the fore like straight through-balls, delayed one-twos, looping one-twos, step-overs, jigs, and even dives! There are no combinations here either, just simple "hold" presses, timed presses, or two button presses. To play successfully, you have to play football, it is as simply as that. I am not going to divulge what you should do, it is best discovered by the player, but believe me, football tactics work the best. There is no greater endorsement for the game than that.

Speed-wise, the game seems quicker too. Not necessarily the game speed but the crispness and response of the players and commands. Most significantly though, the turning circle of the player has been reduced so now it is much more difficult to stroll around defenders. Some players are more manoeuvrable than others, but all players are still as responsive as ever albeit with a much tighter and less nimble attribute. Now, "jigging" seems to be more rewarding and trying to second guess your opponent is the way to get around them. Otherwise, you have to pass the ball off, sorry.

As the game goes on, manourverablilty is significantly reduced with tiredness to almost stagnancy. You really have to conserve your running during the game. Weather conditions also play apart with fatigue setting in quicker with heat. Look, they have thought off everything.

Player moves are virtually the same with the only new thing a flying kick clearance. Again, the major improvement is the AI; this really facilitates the control even more. Example: a delicate and well placed "straight pass ('R' & 'A')" through-ball will see your man dart over to receive it. The amount of trickery and nifty passing - a la Maradona - really sets this game apart from its peers (if you can call them that!).

Graphics (9 - Outstanding):
Simply, this game will not wow you like the original did, unless you have never seen ISS before. And let me tell you that ISS64 wowed the world like no other sports game before it. The same low-res, slightly washed out look (from distant views) still exists. Though there is a vertical view now, but the only real improvement is in the animation and histrionics. This game has real players; don't let any Fifa player tell you otherwise. They are all accurate representations of the actual players complete with fully authentic national strips. The names though are slightly mutated variations of the real players, but really, any football fan will recognise the players without reading the names. Off course you can change the names anyway.

The referees are on the pitch, the weather and stadia are great and there is even a yellow ball for the snow. It is best left up to the player to delight themselves when discovering the nifty animations, but from the simply things like passing and header animations, to the captain handing over his armband when substituted, everything is smooth and realistic. Let me tell you that the only thing missing is a streaker! The replays are brilliant and easy to operate, and detailed! Just check out the detail in the replay when as offside is called. I am sorry, no other sports game even comes close. The only slight disappointment is that the game does not facilitate the use of the hi-res mode, or even the RAM pack. A pity, because it would really make the graphics a true reflection of the quality of the gameplay.

Sound (8 - Excellent):
While the commentator seems clearer, he is too dull unless their is a goal-mouth frenzy. At least he is not annoying and has a decent repertoire of phrases. No names are called since they are not real anyway, though the Japanese version does have full commentary with player names. But the big plus is the crowd effects; they make the commentary superfluous. True they are not as raucous as a Fifa game (which is more like what you'd here at a strip bar), but then neither are real soccer games. Konami have captured the mood of a real football game perfectly. From the rampant cheering when attacks are in full swing, to the drums and encouragement and chants during lulls, the crowd effects are truly the most accurate and interactive of any soccer game ever. Every stadium has their own unique sounds and moods and the effects are always there without being overwhelming and must be put through a hi-fi to appreciate.

Presentation (9 - Outstanding):
The intro is great - really up-beat and one of the few intros I will watch more than once. The box (in Australia and Europe) features Fabrizio Ravanelli (Marseille) and Paul Ince (Liverpool) on the cover. I understand the North American version has Carlos Valderama. Who says ISS does not have a license? But unfortunately, the game does not have official player names. I don't know what the deal is, but obviously EA have some exclusive rights in the western world? It is too inconceivable that Konami would not include real names if they could. Something is stopping them. EA must be blocking them. After all, why else would you buy their games? I bought the World Cup edition for this very reason. The ISS98 menus are more "adult" like whilst still retaining the efficient functionality of the original. 54 teams from all around the world including long time missing Canada and Australia; a dozen stadia, extra weather and time effects (yes in does get progressively darker when playing at dusk); everything else from the original is there.

Options (9 - Outstanding):
It is all there, save for one thing: customable tournaments and leagues. ISS 98 only offers single player ones and though you can keep track yourself, you really should not have too. This is a real over-sight and considering the comprehensiveness of everything else, it is very surprising that something this obvious is not there. Also, the 3 and 4-player mode just does not work. It is crying out for the ability to pre-assign the players you, and only you can control. At present, it is too miss-mash in that you don't know, unless you personally highlight him (too cumbersome for novices), who will be the beneficiary of the ball until you receive it.

Everything else is there with the added inclusion of saving your game settings to memory pack, and new scenarios. Most of these are based on World Cup qualifying games including my nightmare - Australia v Iran! Though thoroughly out-played for the whole game, Iran were able to equalise with 2 goals late in the game to force the Aussies out on away-goals. The scenario sets you at 2-2 with bugger-all time left in search of the winning goal for Australia which in reality, never came.

The Argie Mentor says:
A vast improvement to the previous version! I've noted its easier now to defend a lead as the "cheap" goals have been removed! The player who now falls behind has to try extra hard to come back and actually use a bit of skill instead of cheap "strolling" tactics to score!

The German Mentor says:
Well the new game is out and what can I say "Yeah Baby!" It's harder to score and my strolling days are over, but I might make a cameo now and then. High scoring games are over unless you play against a peon. Whilst you play against a human you must have complete concentration as one lapse and there's a goal. Overall the German mentor loves it.

The Brazillian Mentor says:
It seems slower; you can't dribble (stroll) either like you used too. Much harder to score. Goalies still easy to beat one-on-one.

The ISS Realm will periodically update this review most likely after six months, and then a year. Also, reviews, news and history of this great series of games can also be found at the Realm, and I would personally welcome any feedback from fellow ISS players.

Overall (10 - Perfect):
Gameplay-wise, Konami have created the quintessential football, and probably, sports game ever. Other than some really picky and trivial points, I do not see where any improvements could be maid. It is virtually perfect. You may deduct a few points if the lack of a hi-res mode and tournaments are an issue, but really, it would be an injustice to this game not to award it 10 (out of 10)

27 June 1999 - 9 months later
Unlike ISS64, no real problems have exposed themselves, but certain features could be added. Suffice to say, the ISS Realm still feels the controls could be tightened up further as it is still more easier than it should be to stroll. Also, and I mentioned in the main review, that the tackles still warrant some work. The critical issue is that the game is so black and white: either you win possession or you don't. There should be a sizeable middle ground where the ball spills loose as what generally happens in the real thing.

Quite often you go in for a seemingly perfect slide tackle, or even just "step in", fail to win ball or just get shrugged off, further exposing the goalie. When really, if you are good enough to get that close to be able to step-in or tackle, some sort of reward should be provided. ISS Pro on the PlayStation is more in this vein (especially the step-in which actually shows the ball trying to be kicked away), although, it goes a bit to far in that it is too hard to win possession. This feature (to clear the ball) would help alleviate those situations where you win possession from a sliding tackle, but get quickly dispossessed as you are still on the ground.

I don't believe a designated button is required for this "clearing" tackle, just that it should happen automatically when you do actually step-in and fail to win possession. For sliding tackles, I am glad to read that early reports of ISS 99 (MLS 2000) that puts onus on the player to evade the tackle.

Another minor problem is the excessive curl allowed. While I don't have a problem with the actual method employed, the curl is too unrealistic. Also, late curl seems to bring the goal keepers undone too. There is certainly a bug there as they jump at the wrong line of the ball. Actually, the goal keepers are probably a bit too susceptible to the long shot. A happy medium would be half way between this and ISS 64's (near impossible) potency on long shots. Of course, a shoot-blast button may be a way to alleviate this problem.

As in the main review, the ability to pre-assign a country's players in team play to specific human players would alleviate the confusion that this mode conveys. Also, I still think there should be two shot buttons: one for accurate placement shots and the other for inaccurate blasts. Either that, or the game should be far more strict on button depression duration a al ISS Pro 98. Hold that for any deducible length of time will result in the ball virtually being blasted out of the stadium. In fact, I like this system really well as it just puts more onus on the player in that they have to remain cool in a situation - just like the real thing! However, ISS Pro 98's shooting is inferior in terms of shot placement - the CPU seems to decide things - so a hyrbid of both systems' versions would be best.

Another ISS Pro 98 feature I do like is the way the height of the cross is determined: by repeatedly hitting the button as distinct from using the throw of the control stick in ISS 98. And since I use the d-pad, that option is out anyway. Naturally, ALL ISS Pro 98's tournament features MUST come across to the next N64 game.

Finally, the one innovation that no other game has had is the facility to play tournaments and leagues with different teams, instead of just the one. It gets boring using the same old team throughout the entire tournament, and provided you win, the computer should just randomly assign you to another match to play out. In essence, you yourself would be progressing, not the team. This would certainly spice up the action as well as creating more challenge in forcing you to use other teams. Naturally this would work well in a tournament knockout situation, but for league situations you'd have to have X number of ficticious human players that you'd be playing against. So instead of a league table reading Holland, England, Austria, etc, it would be Bob, Player1, Steve, etc. I have not even bothered starting my ISS98 league as I loathe the idea of playing 96 games with Holland. But if I was going to be randomly assigned other matches during the season, I most certainly would play it. Playing in this way should at least be an option.

In summary, ISS 98 is not perfect, but is still the most perfect representation of a sport in video game form ever. In this light I'm an not going to mark-down the score as that would be unfair. After 9 months EVERY game will expose some problems. Besides, ISS 98's are only minor. They do not detract from the overall game and are more subjective than anything. I know of others that love the responsive controls, the evadability of tackles and big curve. But the biggest reason that I don't change the mark is: we stil have enormous fun; we love the way the quirks and nuances of the real game come through; the better player (or the one that takes his chances) generally wins; and the fact that even in defeat, it is still the greatest game of them all.

Positives:
Scintillating gameplay, fundamentally improved AI
A far more balanced game between offence & defence
Accurate & truly interactive crowd effects
Highly challenging against the CPU; frightfully brilliant against humans
Scenarios based on World Cup qualifiers
Extra animations. Graphics are smooth and realistic
Highly accurate representations of players and teams
Easily the most comprehensive & enjoyable sports game ever!
Negatives:
Lacking customable tournaments
About time for a hi-res mode
Pre-assigning particular players to control for Team Play is needed
You will never see another sports game in quite the same light

i bought iss98 last week. a second hand copy without instructions. i own the original iss, deluexe and iss 64. iss 64 is my favorite game of all time. i have only played iss for 4 days and then my mum took away my controller. in that time i managed to complete the international cup on level 5!!! using brazil. my feelings about the game are mixed. if you wish you can read my litte review of the game (my opinions are different from yours), i am going to write it in a haphazzard fasion the review compares iss 98 to iss 64:

graphics: not too different from iss 64. the camera angle are a bit different to 64. middle zoom is equaivalent to far zoom on 64. it was a good idea to make the camera zoom in and out of the action. however i think the developers could have done a better job. the camera zooms in and out at the wrong times. and that is very annoying.

sound: i ahted the commentry in 64 because of all its errors. but at least it was exciting. tony gubba sounds boring in this game. however the in game action sounds brilliant.

gameplay: now i could write a whole book on this but for you i will keep it short: the first ting i noticed was how the players did ridiculas arial attacks on the ball. they did flying over head kicks which are trully impossible in real life. some of those kicks are waaaaay too powerful. however diving headers are easier . overall the game has become more areial. the game is not as fast as 64 and the ball moves slower the players also move slower, allowing for a better passing game since. and unlike 64 you can pass the ball between your defenders without being worried that an attacker will get it. however for some reason slower players are not slow at all - i allways get annoyed when a slow defender catches up with ronaldo sprinting away towards the goal (with the ball). in real life no defender could catch ronaldo.

also, what is the point of havving the z button for swerving the ball? yes i know that in 64 if you wanted to send a long ball foward and make a player move towards it you would also end up swerving the ball. it was impossible to make a player move towards a straight ball. however it was not such a big problem - and anyway in 98 you can controll a swerving ball seperetly form the player it is only possible with a straight ball. it also makes putting the tactics on much harder because you have to press the z and r keys together.

passing: it is impossible to long ball with accuracy. i 64 it was much much much easier. even with valderama it is impossible. the bestway to pass the ball long is to do areial through balls (r + upC) howver the crap passing system from iss 64 remains. in real life not every player can pass the ball directly to his team mates feet. in iss 64 and 98 even the worst player can send a ground pass across the pitch with perfect accuracy.

shooting: looping shots are harder, you cannot do them very well when sprinting, the player tends to turn around. it is easier to do looping shots when not dashing (this is more realistic and it is a good improvement). it was also a good idea to add the r and shoot move. tis allows the player to controll the power and height of the ball seperately. however it is only needed against level 5 keeper.

there are two things i really hate about this game: 1, player movement: the players are very static in attack. damm no movement at all!!!!!! 2, keeper on level five is just too good. this reminds me of deluxe where the keeper was a real bastard who had invisible suction pads on his gloves. when i first palyed the internatonal cup 100% of may goals came from long shots on the ground and then i changed tactics and put 4 players up front in an atempt to get rebounds. until i found "R" and shoot. some reason the keeper finds that hard to stop. however you need to press the stick very little to get low shots and that means moving slow and losing the ball to a defender.

new moves: there a few new moves which add to the game but i need more practice before i can use them. the computer does a side step, do you know how to do it? (i havent got the instructions)

playing against the cpu: i like the way the computer closes down the opposition. however the computer can dribble like a wizard. all tohse moves that i cant do! that is a bit like fifa 2000 ronaldo runs around like a madman why not even maradona could do that. i hate the way the cpu gets a level 5 keeper and we get level 3!!! konami should not make the keeper harder but the attackers worse. they should not be able to do such presice dribbling. apart from a few world calss players. howevr i dont really mind because my defensive skills are amazing.

things to improve:
1 stupid areial moves.
2 stupid swerving method + too hard to put tactics on
3 poor camera zoom function
4 bad player movement
5 keeper too hard + give cpu and player same keeper
6 go back to passing system in iss deluxe
7 make long balls easier + get rid or areial long balls
8 make dribbleing less presice and make its success depend more on tricks(like iss deluexe)
9 make cpu dribble like in real life.
10 make tackling easier with the ball rebounding off the players more.
11 take away all that pushing!!! the referee doesent even notice all those pushes!! for me it spoils the game because i prefer play more stylish
12 make player speeds count. dont make the cpu run faster than the p1
13 and some other minor faults.

as you can see i dont really like the game too much i prefer iss 64. 98 has too many faults even in 2 player mode. sorry about my poor writting.

That is OK about your writing. I am sure ISS Realm readers are glad to get a different opinion and angle on the game, and your views are almost a breath of fresh air in a world populated by ISS-perfectionism views. Anyway, I have to agree with almost everything you say. But like I said originally: things you don't like maybe things others do. That is what I meant when my problems with the game may not be deemed actaul problems, just my pet hates.

I have addressed most of these issues in the review, but most of your problems I believe were in the first game anyhow. But the main problem of ISS64 - the loose controls and no AI on your teammates - was addressed.

I will respond to your 10 points, but the the shooting aspect you describe with the R button, I was unaware of, so will have to try it out.

1) Never thought about that before, and yes, the animations are unrealistic. But in practice, winning things in the air is part and parcelled with the game and the fact the game does flying kicks might be more to do with the player hitting the button early. And headers can travel far, especially with run-ups at long balls. Still, I'd also like to see the animation corrected.
2) Selecting tactics is harder, but I prefer the new swerve method. I guess this is one of those personal things, and not a real fault. Only problem is there is too much swerve.
3) Camera (plus radar combination) - I am totally happy with
4) This I think is OK. The players seem to run well off the ball, and I have never seen another game do it better than ISS. Granted, maybe when the action is stuck in the offensive third, they don't move much. But any passes will see players lead out to accept them, just like the real thing.
5) 100% agree. Currently, the premium on keeping goals out lies more with the goalie that your defenders. There are way too many shots on goal, and it is hard to curtail thse. Quite simply, the back line should be the primary focus in defending, not super human goalies. Then, you lower the GK level to 3 - the most realistic. PS ISS Evo is more like this, and while it needs refinement too, it is the way to go.
6) The way I see is ISS, is that it is a 10 minute highlight package of the real game, not a 10 minute portion. You don't want to see passes often missing because it is just not fun - becomes frsutrating, like a Fifa game. However, I agree, ISS on N64 has gone too far with passes that hit all the time - especially one-time passes. Again, ISS Evo has introduced some poor passing in the game whereby if you are in a position that is physically difficult to make the pass, it won't happen. Ideally, the "search pass" should be able to be deactiveted, or refined. But it is still great to be able to do a back-pass without having to stop running the other way, and you can always hold "R" when passing which will simply go straight where you are aiming.
7) I have no problem with the long balls. I hit them all the time. But you are right, it is more likely they will connect when useing the "R" button to make it a "straight" lob.
8 & 9) Yep. The power of the stick and the loose controls almost ruined ISS 64 - it was so easy to stroll all over the field. ISS 98 fixed that, but still needs more tighter controls. However, top teams like Brazil and Germany are stilll very difficult to stop strolling.
10) Yes, the ability to shrug off tackles is too easy, especially for top teams against bottom teams. I wrote about this in ISS EVo and ISS 98 reviews, but basically, I agree, that if you can get close enough to stick a foot in, the ball should break free. Else, you miss the player, or dispossess him. But the too frequent shrug-off is most annoying. I actually spent several hours trying to defeat Brazil with Ghana two times in a row, only on Level 3!
11) Referees are simply not strict enough - that is the bottom line. Suppose they are just being accurate to the real thing! The strict referee simply should red-card any tackle from behind, but it does not happen.
12) You don't want strikers simply running away - that would make a scoring a tad too easier? This has been comprosmised, like with the search passing, to benefit the fun of the game. And close-dribbling does means a slower pace, and that is what happens when you have the ball, even in reality. However, I'd like to see a far-dribble options - which is in ISS Evo, and will be in ISS 2000 - that will give you the option to keep your speed up. Essentially, you push the ball much further in front on you.

Just finally, the game speed you mentioned, I have not noticed. The only word I have on the speed is that it should be realistic. There is no need to have it any faster or slower than it should be.

I will probably put this in a review with my feedback, but feel free to comment again. In some respects, ISS 64 is better, and it was only the versus mode with top teams that its faults emerged. When you can have a (human) player stroll forward with impunity, and weak defensive AI not helping, you end up with a frustrating game and scores of 8-7 happening regularly, and that is bad. That is what was happeneing with us, and ISS 98 fixed those two main problems, and any other problems that exist have either exist from ISS 64, or just personal beefs.

Thanks for writing. It really is appreciating and hopefully one day Konami will take all this on board and create the best and most perfect football ever.