International Superstar Soccer 64

About International Superstar Soccer 64

International Superstar Soccer 64 (1997) is Konami's acclaimed Nintendo 64 football game, one of the console's best third-party titles, with 36 national teams and four-player matches.

International Superstar Soccer 64 in Depth

Building on the Super NES's International Superstar Soccer Deluxe with 3D animation, it keeps largely the same squads, with near-authentic kits, though South Africa replaces Morocco. There are 36 international teams, and the Japanese version adds Bolivia, Yugoslavia, Iran, Australia, Canada and Saudi Arabia. Six modes include single matches, league battles and penalty shoot-outs. The International Cup is a round-robin tournament against teams from around the world, while the World League is a 70-match series against every other team. Scenario matches set specific goals, such as scoring within a time limit or keeping the opposition out.

Up to four players can play matches, and penalty shoot-outs also support four. Players can be created and traded, and individual opponents can be assigned a marker. Thousands of motion-captured animations portray a range of football techniques, matches have real-time commentary, and GameSpot praised its use of the analogue stick, with controls closely tuned to football's fast pace. Shigeru Miyamoto said at its Japanese release that "Konami's soccer game may be better than [Nintendo's N64] games", and GamePro called the Japanese version possibly one of the best soccer titles in Japan.

Making International Superstar Soccer 64

Konami Computer Entertainment Osaka developed it as part of Konami's International Superstar Soccer series. It met with critical acclaim in Japan, with Famitsu scoring the two Japanese versions 32 and 31 out of 40, and in Europe, where Edge called the Japanese import remarkably versatile and entertaining. Next Generation said it went "farther than most titles in presenting a fantastic look and feel", advising players to have friends around. A commercial success, it topped the UK multi-format chart and is often called one of the best third-party releases on the Nintendo 64.