>>Rafael Fernandes: May the graphics go to hell.
Long before Pro Evolution Soccer and the FIFA series,
International Superstar Soccer 64 was THE soccer game.
Released on July 31, 1997,
the game represented a revolution that only those who lived at that time could witness.
>>Man: International Superstar Soccer
>>Rafael Fernandes: One of the greatest strengths of International Superstar Soccer 64
lies in the fact that it tries to bring some simulation without losing the arcade gameplay.
Here there are a lot of details never seen before,
further increasing the realism in relation to the real soccer.
The matches can be performed at different times of day and weather conditions.
It's possible to choose various tactics for the team, control the goalkeeper, choose heads or tails, anyway,
there was a sense of freedom never seen before,
and that was the International 64 differential in relation to all other soccer games of the time.
>>Commentator: In position for the free kick.
[Inaudible] GOOOOAL! France evens the score!
>>Rafael Fernandes: Of course, many of these details are common in games of the current generation,
but at that time, fifteen years ago,
it could blow up the mind of anyone.
Look at this referee, for example, that after giving a card,
he took a notebook and wrote down the name of the player, and it was amazing!
And the celebrations of goals then?
Extremely realistic,
even with the imitation of the famous little dance of Bebeto in the '94 Cup.
That's it, right?
Once upon a time we thought these were the most advanced graphics in the world, isn't it?
So I can safely say
that in home video games there was nothing better than the title of Konami.
And to complete, there is also something that almost every game of that time had: the big head mode,
that was unlocked by entering the Konami code on the title screen, that is,
C up, C up, C down, C down, C left, C right, C left, C right, B, A, Z and Start.
The best part is that this option always messed up the collision between objects,
creating a portion of Dantesque and bizarre scenes.
Too bad these days has nothing like that.
>>Commentator: …real domination.
GOAL! Oh, GOAL! GOOOOAL!
>>Rafael Fernandes: But, of course, a game can not be sustained only by the visual.
And International 64 had much more to offer in gameplay.
The controls were accessible but at the same time had enough depth.
You can do dribbling and several other advanced commands
that require a little more skill in the game.
In addition, the difficulty is very well balanced,
and there is a long learning curve to get hang of it and win all at level 5.
And when the game is completely known to that point,
just try to play with a very weak team, like the United States, for example,
and then the challenge becomes very complicated.
The biggest highlight is the Scenario Mode,
which is kind of a missions mode where you control a team,
usually in bad situation in the game,
and must win the game at all costs.
There are 16 stages, the latter being the most challenging,
putting the United States to turn a score around in a game of two to zero for Brazil.
Tricky, huh?
>>Commentator: What an opportunity!
A cracking shot!
GOOOOAL!
He kicked it with his right foot!
A vital goal for USA!
>>Rafael Fernandes: And the sound?
Even with the known limitations of the Nintendo 64,
Konami did not disappoint here.
The soundtrack is one of the best that ever existed.
But the cartridge sound really shines during matches.
The commentator is probably the most excited of all soccer games of all time.
Listen to the guy screaming!
>>Commentator: England intercepted the ball.
Germany thwarted again.
He's creating a run here.
What was that pass for?
What an oportunity!
GOAL! GOAL! GOAL!
GOOOOAL!
England takes the lead!
>>Rafael Fernandes: And the Japanese version is even crazier!
There they called a radio announcer,
that pretty much freak out when a goal happens or a dangerous play.
L… Check it out!
>>Tom G: Returned!
Goal! Goal! Go-Goal!
Great! Great!
Hooray! Hooray!
Crossing!
Heading!
Okay!
Goal, goal, goal , goal, goal!
Goal! Goal! Goal!
>>Rafael Fernandes: Unfortunately not everything is perfect.
The sounds of the supporters are a little distorted,
but not enough to take the shine off the final result that Konami got here.
>>Tom G: Okay!
Goal, goal, goal, goal, goal, gooooal!
Gooooal! Gooooal! All right! Good ball…
>>Rafael Fernandes: International Superstar Soccer 64 was a great success.
Especially here in Brazil.
That's why it is not so hard to find any used game cartridge in these markets out there.
The sequel, International 98, improved everything over the original,
offering more fluid graphics, better sound,
and some touches on the gameplay and on the artificial intelligence of the opponents,
avoiding those ridiculous goals of the previous game.
International Superstar Soccer 2000 came a little improved,
but it had some problems a bit more severe,
starting with the new mechanics of the kick.
If you hold the B button as you pressed in the previous games
to set the power of the kick, look what happens.
>>Commentator: He shot over the…
>>Rafael Fernandes: And it's a change which effectively made no sense.
Served only to mess it up.
To complete, the American version and consequently our version,
the national version of the game, had no career mode,
that was a kind of simple RPG,
where you created a player and was accompanying him from the youth team to the national team.
International 2000 was also compatible with the expansion pak of Nintendo 64,
which allowed an increase on the game resolution to an amazing 640x480.
The problem is that the frame rate per second drops very much,
and was practically unplayable.
Go figure, huh?
At that time, in 2000,
the Winning Eleven series was earning the preference of the public.
Developed by KCET, the Konami studio in Tokyo,
the game eventually evolved into the next generation to the Pro Evolution series
that we know well today,
completely overshadowing the name International Superstar Soccer,
that still got to have three games released for the PlayStation 2, GameCube and PC.
But in the end, the series stalled.
The chances of the franchise come back today are very difficult,
since besides the low interest of the public and Konami,
the producer Katsuya Nagae,
who took care of the series since the Super Nintendo,
died in 2008.
The way then is to live with the old games,
where the soccer with arcade style lived its golden age,
where the fun was worth more than a handful of polygons.
Produced by Rafael Fernandes Like it, share and subscribe! :D
On the next video…
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Out! Safe! Yoyoi no yoi!