Released only in Japan on September 5th 1997, this is an absolute dog of a
football game developed by A-Max. I thought EA's J League Live (1997) was bad,
but after playing this for five minutes, I was realized how wrong I was. The
ball feels more like a beach ball than a football and bounces all over the
place. The controls are incredibly unintuitive, so much so that I'm going to
explain them now.
Most football games put pass on the A button and shoot on the B button. But in
their infinite wisdom, A-Max put two types of kick on A and B and put pass on C
Down. If you don't play football games, this is akin to making the Z trigger aim
and the L trigger shoot in an FPS game. Both of these pathetic kicks usually
punt the beach ball a few feet in front of you, whereupon the other team quickly
takes possession away from you.
Additionally the type of kick you can do with C Left changes depending on your
position on the pitch. If the other team has the ball you should use the 3D
Stick to tackle them. Press A or B will do a heavy/sliding tackle that usually
results in a foul. This makes the game's controls feel very unresponsive and
random.
Unlike Fifa and ISS, in this game the ball is never fully under your control or
locked to your feet. It can bounce away from you and into your opponents
possession at any time. At first this is incredibly annoying, but it actually
makes you play far more carefully as any small mistake with the ball could
result in the other team getting their feet on the ball. This has the biggest
effect when you press Z to dash. When you do this you actually kick the ball
away from you slightly meaning you no longer have control of it. This means you
should only dash in straight lines and when no opposing players are nearby.
In a bizarre twist of poor programming, you can only pass to other players that
are on screen. This means that even if another better placed player is further
up the pitch and open for the ball, but not on screen, then your player will
pass to an onscreen player, who is probably behind you totally surrounded by the
other team. This means you really have to make use of the mini map that is
displayed on the bottom of the team and run towards players that are open. It
totally ruins any sense of strategy that is part of passing, the most basic
technique in football.
Additionally the AI are idiots. They tend to copy your inputs. If you run up the
pitch they will too, even if this means running away from the goal. If you kick,
they will kick too, even if this means they are kicking the empty air in front
of them. They will let the other team mark them and block them from your passes.
They will stand idly by and as the ball passes them and the other team take it.
One of the main reasons that it is hard to score in this game is that your AI
team mates do not try to get into a good position in the pitch and will often
even run away from the ball.
To make matters worse there is no indication of which player you are controlling
nor any way to switch to a different player. This is a cardinal sin in football
games. This game came out in 1997. Even World Soccer on the Master System
indicated which player you were controlling, and that game came out in 1987.
The irritations continue. If your goal keeper has the ball but you do not make
any inputs for a while they he will automatically kick the ball. Why? Pausing to
think about your next move and to allow your players to move up the field is an
important part of goalie play. Even though the two main buttons on the
controller (A and B) are dedicated to kicking, both kicks are terrible at
shooting and terrible at clearing the ball. Don't even bother.
Speaking of goalies, the AI keepers are so good in this game that you need to
exploit the AI to score as they will block 99% of shots. Just running up to the
goal and trying to score like you do in FIFA, ISS, or even real life will not
work here. See my walkthrough for details.
Finally the default camera view is set to behind your goal line rather than at
the side line. Why? This means you cannot see what is two feet in front of you
most of the time. The first thing you should do is go and change that in the
options.
The British publication, N64 Magazine reviewed this game, giving it 66%, saying
"What chance has a sprite game have in the world of ISS 98? Incredibly basic but
preserve and you might get some joy." I think they were being extremely kind. In
a later review of a different football game they remarked "Dynamite Soccer was
an ugly but enjoyable fat-block footie game."
The only redeeming feature of the game are the small pictures of the real life
players that appear on screen when they are being controlled. Otherwise it feels
like watching a butch of idiot toddlers playing the slowest most irritating game
of football.
Note that this game features one more team than EA's awful stinker, J League
Live (1997), Vissel Kobe, but they are crap. Most of the stadiums featured in
the game have now been renamed but I have tried to use the original name used in
the game.
The game needs 21 pages on the controller pak to save.
2.Translation Guide
Here are the options on the main menu, from top to bottom.
Exhibition - Play a single practice match
League Battle - A 17 team league mode (Win this to see the credits)
Tournament - A knock out tournament
All Stars - Play a dream match with a team of all star players
PK - Practice Penalty Kicks in this mode
Team Transfer Edit - Freely move players around any team
Options
After choosing any mode you will be asked if you want to play against the
computer or against friends and in what way, as follows,
1P vs COM
1P vs 2P
1P and 2P vs COM
1P and 2P vs 3P
1P and 2P vs 3P and 4P
You may then be asked (depending on the mode) how many players will play.
If you are playing the Tournament mode you will first be asked to pick at least
3 teams to join the tournament.
Then the game will ask you to choose a team. They are as follows if you push the
3D Stick to right;
If you are playing the J League mode, the game schedule screen will then be
displayed. The two buttons at the bottom are "Play the next game" and "Save".
In other modes you will be asked to choose a stadium. They are as follows if you
push the 3D Stick to right;
Kobe Universiade Memorial Stadium
Hiroshima Big Arch
Hakata Forest Athletics Stadium
Ajinomoto Field Nishigaoka
Kashima Soccer Stadium
Ichihara Seaside Stadium
Sankyo Frontier Kashiwa Stadium
Urawa Komaba Stadium
Kawasaki Todoroki Stadium
Hiratsuka Stadium
Yokohama Mitsuzawa Athletics Stadium
Nihondaira Sports Stadium
Júbilo Iwata Stadium
Nagoya Mizuho Athletics Stadium
West Kyoto Athletics Stadium
Expo '70 Commemorative Stadium
Nagai Stadium
The options screen lists the following options
Game level - easy, normal, hard
Length of a half - 1 to 10 minutes
Keeper - Automatic, manual
Camera - Vertical, Horizontal
Sound - Stereo, Mono
Back Up
Finish
3.Controls
The controls of this game are so unintuitive and complicated that the manual
takes four pages to explain them. They change depending on where you player is
standing on the pitch, so I highly recommend reading and trying to remember them
before trying to beat this game.
Start Button – Pause the game to edit your formation or make substitutions
When you have possession of the ball
3D Stick – Move, adjust the curve on the ball when you kick it
A – Long kick (The longer you press it the further it flies)
B – Short kick / goal kick (The longer you press it the further it flies)
C Left – Auto shoot (In your opponent’s penalty box) Clear the ball (in your
half) or Centering
C Down – Search pass
R – Fake out
Z – Dash
3D stick and B – Pass the ball back with you heel
3D stick and R – Flick the ball up
When the ball is LOW in the air
A – Long kick
B – Sliding kick
When the ball is in MID air
A – Ballet kick / aggressive header
B – Diving header
When the ball is HIGH in the air
A – Overhead kick
B – Big header
Any time the ball is in the air the C Buttons do a sliding tackle. Tackling
players from the back is much more likely to result in a foul that tackling them
from the front. If you want to avoid fouls all together just use the 3D and do
not press any buttons.
When your opponent has possession of the ball
3D Stick – Tackle (will not cause a foul if you do not press any buttons)
A or B – Sliding tackle (may cause a foul)
C Buttons – Shoulder tackle (very likely to cause a foul)
When the ball is loose
A – Long kick
B – Sliding kick
C Right – Shoulder tackle
C Down - Lob
C Left – Auto shoot (In your opponent’s penalty box) Clear the ball (in your
half) or Centering
As you can see the C Left button changes depending on where you are on the
pitch:
In your opponent’s penalty box –Shoot depending on the direction of the 3D
stick. The height and power of the shot depends on the stats of the player.
In your half – Clear the ball
Everywhere else – Center the ball depending on the direction of the 3D stick
Goalie Controls
The goalie can be set to AUTO or MANUAL in the options menu. If he is set to
manual you can move him with the 3D stick, and dive towards it’s direction with
A or B. If he has the ball but you do not make any inputs for a while they he
will automatically kick the ball, so keep that in mind. Whether he is set to
manual or auto, when he has the ball you can use the following controls:
A –Long kick / Goal kick (the longer you hold it the further it will fly.
B – Short Kick
C Left – Clear the ball
Free Kick controls
A – Kick (the longer you hold it the further it will fly.
B – Short Ball
C Down – Search pass
C Left – Auto shoot (In your opponent’s penalty box) Clear the ball (in your
half) or Centering
Throw in controls
A – Throw (the longer you hold it the further it will fly.
As you can see the longer you hold the A and B buttons, the further, faster and
higher the ball will fly. Additionally, depending on how far you push the stick,
your player will run faster or slower. You can also use the stick to run zig
zags or feint with the ball.
4.Walkthrough
To beat this game you need to win the League mode. This means you have two win
both stages of the competition, 32 games in total. This took me 9 and a half
hours, even with the shortest game settings. I used Kashima Antlers to win the
game but I believe Kashiwa Reysol are just as good. Kashima Antlers won the J
League in 1996 and 1997 so they are likely to be the best team in the game. I
decided to make best use of the ability to save after winning a match and reset
if I lost. This means winning the game was only a matter of time and
persistence.
After selecting League Mode and choosing a team you will be shown the list of
game for that month. For CPU vs CPU matches three buttons will be shown at the
bottom of the screen, from left to right they are
結果を見る See the result of the match
試合を見る Watch the match.
セーブ Save the game
Don't bother watching the CPU vs CPU games, especially because there is no way
to quit out so you have to watch the whole game.
When your team has a game the following two options will be displayed
試合を始まる Start the match
セーブ Save
I recommend you read and familiarize yourself with the controls because they are
very strange.
Once you have worked out how to control the ball and have got used to pressing C
left and C Down rather than A and B, the next biggest problem is actually trying
to score a goal.
The CPU keepers in this game are extremely good, they can stop 99% of direct
shots from strikers. Just running up to the goal and trying to score like you
do in FIFA, ISS, or even real life, is not going to work here. You need to
exploit the AI to even score a goal in this game. This is my strategy.
1. Run the ball along the side line of the pitch using D to Dash.
2. Approach their goal from the corner flag.
3. Run in front of their goal.
4. When the goalie starts running towards you, pass with C Down.
5. As soon as your striker gets the ball use C Left or A to shoot.
Because you can only pass to players that you can see onscreen, you need to run
along the side line that allows you to actually see the goal when you approach.
That will change depending on which half you are attacking from.
The goalies in this game always run towards you when you get too close to their
goal. If they are away from the goal it's much harder from them to stop the
ball. By passing the ball to another player and immediately shooting from a
different direction you are almost guaranteed to score.
The main problem is that your other team mates are completely brainless. They
will often stand in the penalty box and let the other team block them. Or they
will run away from the goal as you approach because the AI tends to copy what
you are doing. If you run up the pitch they will too. If you kick, they will
kick too, even if this means they are kicking the empty air in front of them. To
prevent the other team from marking them, you can draw your opponents team into
your half by passing the ball back to your defenders. Then you can make that
defender run along the side line to the other goal. IF you do that, there maybe
less opponents in the box when you try to score.
Be careful when dashing with Z that you don't lose the ball, only do it in
straight lines. If you are finding that your striker is kicking the ball over
the goal with the C Left button, you can try using the A button instead.
With this tactic the game becomes very easy. It's not hard to rack up 9-0 scores
against poor teams. You may find that there are a few strikers and defenders who
run much faster and will chase you across the entire pitch, but good use of the
dash button should deal with them. I managed to score 83 goals this way,
compared to the 2nd place team that only scored 24 in total.
After coming top out of 32 games you will get to see the credits. The best of
you luck to you!
