1.Introduction
2.Controls
3.Menu Translation
4 J League Challenge
1.Introduction
Released in December 1996, this is the third title in the International
Superstar Soccer (Live World Soccer in Japan) series by Konami, and the first
football game on the N64. In Japan, 4 games were released, two featuring the
Japanese J League and 2 featuring world cup teams. In the west, we only got the
two world cup games, but they are arguably more interesting. The U.K
publication, N64 Magazine reviewed the game back in the day, giving it 89%, a
very high score at the time. The series was generally thought to be miles better
than FIFA, even though it was surpassed in sales by the inferior series.
Deranged uploaded a fantastic guide for this game in 1999, over 20 years ago
now. His guide explains how to use formations, tactics, make players, team
abilities, cheats and secrets. Please check out his guide to learn how to play
the game well. His guide was uploaded to the International Superstar Soccer N64
page. This guide will just be a simple translation of the menus, the controls
and how to get to the credits easily for speed-running purposes.
2. Controls
A button – short pass to the player with a blue arrow, light tackle
B button – boot the ball, shoot, power is dependent on how long you hold it
C Up – Through ball, pass the ball in front a player rather than at his feet
C Right – One two, pass the ball back and forward
C Down – Dash, tap to do a double step over
C Left – chip or cross the ball, sliding tackle (do not slide tackle from
behind)
Start button – pause the game
R Trigger – Hold and press A/B to strongly kick the ball straight, with C Left a
short lob
Z Trigger – Hold and press a C button, you will do the tactic assigned pre-game
3D stick – to control your players or balls when they are in the air.
3.Menu Translation
When you start the game, you will be asked if you wish to make a save file on
the controller pak. You can save your progress in the story mode and any edited
players and other data.
Main menu, from top to bottom, left to right
Play Season Match –
P.K. Challenge – A penalty kick challenge mode
J League Challenge – The main mode of the game
Scenario – Play specific matches and scenarios from that year’s J League
Tournament Mode
Training – Practice various football skills
Options –
Data Load
Options Screen
Return to the title screen
Game Options (See below)
Trade – Trade players and teams between controller paks
Player maker
Delete registered/created players
Game Options:
Match length 3 minutes 5 minutes 7 minutes
Difficulty – choose from; Total Beginner, Beginner, Intermediate, High class,
Top Class
Sound – Stereo or Mono
Commentary – On or Off
4. J League Challenge
This is the main mode of the game, and the only way to see the credits that I
know of. You will play 30 matches from April to October. You will play each team
twice. The team with the most wins (and goals in the event of a tie) will win
the League. After the league is finished you can play a secret game against a
new team. At the start of every match and at half time you can assign different
tactics to the C buttons, check the condition of your players and substitute
them.
I recommend you set the match length to its absolute minimum of 3 minutes. Even
then, beating this mode took me 7 hours and 32 minutes and 24 seconds. I believe
that even if the match length is set to three minutes, it usually adds about 2
minutes of extra time to each half, meaning that one game still takes 10
minutes. Or, the match length is restricted to 5 minutes in J League mode.
You can also make the game a complete chore by setting the difficulty to very
easy. In this mode you can stand face to face with another player and they won’t
tackle you for at least 30 seconds. This makes the game incredibly boring. I
could have kept the difficulty on normal, but then I would have risked losing
the league after 7 hours of play and having to start over again. The only way I
found to pass the time, was to try and score every goal with my goal keeper, by
walking it in. Even then my keeper ended up scoring 140 goals, the highest total
in the tournament by a country mile. I tried to score less than 3 goals a match
and keep the ball on the pitch as much as possible to avoid suffering through
more extra time and having the CPU do substitutions. I ended up hurting my back
from playing this game, lying on the sofa in a weird position for so long. But
that’s the kind of thing you have to go through if you want to beat every game
on a system.
