Reviewed: 27/12/99
Unfortunately for the PlayStation versions, the ISS Realm played these way after they were launched so the aging factor has influenced the review.  After playing ISS98 on N64, then going back to this, it was hard to get excited about what was on offer.  For the sake of objectivity, we will try.  Even though we have not had possession of the game until recently, other reviews have suggested that the PS ISS games are not that markedly better than the Fifa games compared to the Nintendo counterparts.  After playing this version, I can understand why as the overall presentation is very weak. Though, I can say straight off that bat that while this version has its own style compared to the N64 versions, it still out-plays even the most recent Fifa games (Fifa 2000).

Gameplay (8 - Excellent):
I stated above that this game has its own style, and it does.  With its chunky and rudimentary feel, it feels very different to the Nintendo version that is ISS 64 and its slick, responsive feel.  The heart and soul of ISS - and what separates it from all others - is the gameplay, and ISS Pro is no exception.  But in comparison to ISS 64, it is inferior.  The quantum leap that that game had over the 16 bit versions is no where near as large in this version. In fact, it seems basically a 3D version of ISS Deluxe, but with a through-ball.  Compared to ISS 64, the overall passing system is inferior in terms of accuracy and variety.  Through-balls seem ineffective if a player is not even remotely within range and the ball physiques seem wrong as the ball rolls forever, like there is no grass or something.  Having said that, it still plays a very nice passing game and the delightful interaction of short passes between players is allowed, and like with all ISS games, encouraged.  Getting into good position and drawing away defenders, before letting off a short through-ball, one-two or cross, to score, is the way to go.

Tackling is very haphazard. The standard standing tackle is nothing more than a barge off the ball, whilst the slide tackle rarely wins possession.  Most of the time you miss, trip the player or he just evades it.  And when contact is made, the ball is just cleared away. While I can live with that as the ISS 64 approach of mostly winning possession does not reflect the random outcome of a slide tackle in the real thing, but ISS Pro goes too far in that you simply really have no chance of winning the ball. Even he commentator constantly reminds you that slide tackling is a no-no with his insistence on poor refereeing and the need for a yellow card nearly all the time.  What the game does is encourages you mark the player closely and try to barge them off the ball, and if that fails, the marking will at least  force the shot to be held off until help arrives. 

Thankfully, the goalkeepers and defensive AI are adept at stopping most blasts so patience is always the best virtue. Goalies' weakness is with first time shots - they rarely stop them - regardless of difficulty level.  In fact, getting close to goal, then making a short through-ball to a striker and hitting first time will nearly always score.  There is a centering - as distinct from a lob - button that is good for crossing, but really it is much more profitable to go through the middle and play the short through ball. In that respect, and certainly against the CPU, the amount of innovation and variety in scoring your goals is much less than that of ISS 64.

On the hard difficulty level the AI closes you down much quickly and makes it much harder to get close enough for those little through-passes, but it is still certainly easier trying this way than from crossing from wide.  Basically, first time shots off through-balls and ground passes is the way to score.  In defense, the CPU is much more aggressive in both its tackling - legitimate and foul - and with its scoring potential.  With the ball, it retains possession much more and strikes more directly and really has to be watched closely.  Suffice to say, if you don't make any silly mistakes and don't slide tackle in dangerous positions, the end result is a fair and intense game of football.

Control: (7 - Very Good)
A mixed bag, or at least different. ISS64 was way too responsive allowing players to stroll about with impunity. ISS Pro is the opposite.  The controls are very tight which is good as it encourages passing, and not strolling about the field.  Negating that, less responsive to the N64's and occasionally fiddlely means there is certainly a lag before passes, etc, are unloaded, especially when players are on the move.    Also, you can't change direction at all when running, not even at the completion of a dribble.   This seems absurd and could quite possibly be a bug in the game.  Also, shooting is discouraged unless you are facing the goal.  Otherwise there again seems to be a delay whilst the character is moved around; or the shot goes very wide.  It is these pressure situations, as well as in versus mode, that the control can let you down leading to some frustration - you basically feel not in total control.  Many times the CPU has scored against me, seemingly at will, as the control and poor tackling has let me down.

Shooting is good and bad. While there is not the variety of ball placement that there is in ISS 64 or even ISS Deluxe, the power bar that shows, or more specifically, the actual power level control itself, is great. You see, if you hold the button any longer than a few milliseconds, the ball will be skied way over the bar. This really encourages composure in scoring situatuations - just like the real thing.   Compared to ISS64 which is very lenient on button depression, its system rarely sees shots going over the bar no matter how long the button is depressed.  ISS is all about control and the more that is passed onto the player, the better the game. 

Unfortunately, the thing that really highlights the antiquated nature of ISS Pro compared to ISS 64 is the miserably list of advanced commands.  Whilst Pro has a one-two and a through-ball, ISS 64 has three types of one-twos (delayed, looped and standard) and a straight pass to augment the through ball.  This is a pass, whereby holding down the shoulder button, the ball will simply go straight to where you are aiming, and not to a player, unless he is directly in the path. Very handy for putting the ball into space for players to run onto to. There are also dummies and several other moves missing.  Why?  Having said that, most of these moves are advanced type moves and it is doubtful that they are even critical to win.  While all the basic moves will suffice - like they do 95% of the time in ISS64 - it would be nice to have them.

Graphics (7 - Very Good):
Of course, now, they have been superceded, but compared to other PS games of the time, they seem very good.  Nice and smooth with all the standard animations, and that is really all that counts.

Sound (6 - Good):
The standard ball kicks and thuds are all there, but nothing flash. The commentary is very average, especially the way it is linked together. Quite often the commentator cuts sentences mid-stream, or starts one, then re-starts the same one, and basically, it is all a miss-mash and often inaccurate.  Also, the vocabulary is small - even  less than the N64 version - but like the N64 version there are some nice idiosyncrasies like "scorchio" when you unleash a powerful shot.  Crowd sounds are excellent, as is tradition.  Look, overall the sound is nothing special but it does not annoy, and has no negative affect on the game, and is adequate, and that is all that counts.

Options (5 - Average):
For ISS, average. There is so much missing that is not in the N64 version or even in previous SNES versions.  Once the gameplay was complete it seems the rest of the package was slapped together as an after thought.  There is no handicapping, no goalie AI settings, less strategies (and only one can be stored compared to 4 from the other versions), no player creation or renaming, no nothing.  Even in the game, there are no arrows for corners and free kicks!  You just sort of guess, I suppose. All the basics are there like match length, time of day, 3 difficulty levels, stadia, 4 camera settings (close, back/vertical, middle and far), but it is weird not seeing all the standard ISS options from older games not in this ISS game. What it does have that the others do not is a vertical camera (a first for ISS) plus, thanks to CD storage, commentary in other languages!

Overall (8):
No doubt this game would have received 9/10 at the time of release, and like what has previously been said, it kills all known Fifas, and any other game for that matter, for dead.  It is better than the original ISS, but even in this day and age, I am not really sure it is at all better than ISS Deluxe from the SNES.  So that really justifies the score. The question is, though, are the above mentioned niggles really niggles, or just me coming from one version of the game that I have been accustomed to for so many years, to one that does things differently, and not necessarily wrong?  No one in the ISS Realm has started from the PS version and crossed to Nintendo versions later down the track, so we can't tell in this is the case.  As it stands, all the current ISS Mentors feel that the PS version is inferior to the N64 version, despite that version's over-responsive controls.  But if any one out there reading this has started from PS and played Nintendo versions later on and can offer a counter view, please forward your experiences to the ISS Realm.

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