Released on the 28th of March 1997, J League Live is a football game by
Electronic Arts Victor for the N64 featuring the top 16 teams and players in the
Japanese football league. The 1997 season was only the fifth season of the
J-League. The top scorer with 25 goals was Patrick Mboma from Cameroon, who was
playing for Gamba Osaka. The league was won by Kashima Antlers that year. Vissel
Kobe is the only team that played in the league that year that does not feature
in the game. It’s just as well because they finished second from last that year.
The engine would go on to be used for Fifa Soccer 64 which was released in the
west a few days later. Although they did not review this game, the British
publication, N64 Magazine did review FIFA Soccer 64, awarding it 39% saying “How
in the wide, wide world of sport was this made legal? It’s like a rash. Only not
as enjoyable.”
On the 21st of August 2018, Zoinkity released an English translation for this
game.
In order to beat this game you simply need to play through a full season of 30
games. It took me 3 hours 21 minutes and 6 seconds to beat this atrocity. The
game has this very laggy feeling to it. When you pass the ball often your player
will just kick it slightly in front of him, without aiming at any one. For this
reason its in your best interest to pass as little as possible. Naturally this
means that the cpu just take the ball from you. I used Kashima Antlers, they
were strong enough to beat the game easily. I won 28 of my thirty games, with 66
total goals, the 2nd place CPU only won 18.
The ending credits features pictures of all the developers who made the game
including some pictures of their pets. Surprisingly, although this game is based
on the Japanese league, most of the developers are not Japanese.
All in all this is a terrible football game and probably one of the worst games
that was released in Japan on the N64 in 1997.
2.Translation Guide
This game is compatible with the controller pak and it is necessary to save your
team and competition play data.
The following options are available on the main menu, from left to right, top to
bottom.
Exhibition Mode
Tournament Mode
Full Season
Load Game
Half Season
Options
Penalty Kick Challenge
Each year the J League is divided into two series. The full and half season
options allow you to choose how much of the league you want to play. The Options
menu is as follows;
Length of Halves – From 4 minutes up
Game Mode – Action, Simulation, Super Action
Condition – Hot, Dry, Damp, Drenched, Random
Lost Time – On or off
Fouls – On or off
Offside – On or off
Injuries – On or off
Time – On or off
Status Bar – On or off
Music – On or off
Sound Effects – On or off
Before you start a match the following
Start the game
Select the camera – From a choice of 8
Select a radar – From a choice of 5
Select a controller – Choose which team you play
Strategies - Change formations, player positions, substitute players, and
tactics
Options – Same as above
End Tournament
When you pause the game during a match the following menu is displayed
Resume the game
Replay – Watch the last replay
Select the camera – From a choice of 8
Select a radar – From a choice of 5
Select a controller – Choose which team you play
Strategies – Change formations, player positions, substitute players, and
tactics
Options – Same as above
Game Status – Displays the typical match stats
Goals – Displays the goals and who scored them
Fouls – Displays who fouled who
End Tournament
Controls
The 3D stick moves your selected player, and naturally the Start Button brings
up the pause menu. The other controls change depending on the location of the
ball
With the Ball
A Button - Pass
B Button - Shoot
Down C - Lob
Without the Ball
A Button - Switch player
B Button - Tackle,sliding tackle
Goalkeeper controls
A Button - Throw the ball
B Button - Long kick
Replay controls
3D Stick - Rewind or fast forward
A Button - Play or pause
C Buttons - Change camera angles
Start Button - End the replay
Here are the 16 teams in the game, listed by their final standings in the 1997
league, which indicates their skill level. The game omits the kanji in the team
names, presumably for younger players.
