Pros: Everything
Cons: audio

This was one of the first soccer games released on the N64 and at the time its only competitor was FIFA 64. As time has passed more and more soccer games have been released but many gamers still say that this is the best soccer game not only on the N64 but on any system. The recent arrival of World Cup 98 has challenged it's position at the top but in my view the gameplay is slightly better on ISS64 than WC98.

With the arrival of ISS98 in the autumn things can only can only get better for the fans of both soccer and Konami's excellent soccer games.

The graphics on ISS64 may not be as polished as other soccer games, notably the EA Sports titles, but they are far from bad. Despite the fact that some of the players resemble the leftovers from the Roswell incident it hardly detracts from the gameplay. The designers of the game obviously had slightly different priorities than those of other developers and made sure the graphics were adequate and concentrated on other, more important, areas.

Effects such as the crowd, stadium and the weather seem to be a bit 'rushed' but this is hardly noticed as the gameplay is so good. The players themselves have good detail and move and respond to the controls smoothly. There are several camera angles for play and many more for replays as it is possible to view every shot from almost any angle and distance.

Simply the best soccer game around in terms of gameplay. The game is easy play but hard to master. Beginners can easily get into the game as there are numerous handicapping features such as number of players, goalkeeper strength and team fitness. To beat the game on the hardest level requires great skill and use of all the tricks - flick overs, strategies, one-twos and bycycle kicks.
I have owned the game for almost a year and each time I start getting bored of it I find a new feature, trick or tactic to implement to revitalise the gameplay. It is this addictiveness that makes this game simply the best in its league.

There are the usual modes of play such as cup, league, training and penalty shoot-out with the added bonus of a scenarios mode. Here you take charge of a team in trouble and have to win the game from where the scenario begins. For example, you would take control of Scotland as they were 2-1 down against England with 2 minutes to go, you would have to go on and win the game for the scenario to be cleared.

The multi-player mode is also great fun and, if four good players are playing, can compare to four-player Goldeneye

The commentary in ISS64 is actually quite good despite the fact it is done by unknown voice artists. It is much better than the monotonous rubbish in WC98. The commentators have a much wider vocabulary and every now and then say something that you haven't heard before.

There seems to be either a slight bug or the commentators don't understand the rules of soccer. When you commit a foul and get away with it the commentator will shout "And [opposition] have got away with a blatant foul." These little things can be quite amusing especially the commentators comments when you play a poor pass or long ball. Some of the pronunciation of the country names are also a bit over the top - particularly Norway.

The actual soccer sounds are OK as are the crowd noises.