International Superstar Soccer 64 (officially abbreviated as ISS 64, originally released in Japan as and then later adapted as ) is a video game developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Osaka in the International Superstar Soccer series by Konami. Its team lineup follows the Super NES version of International Superstar Soccer Deluxe, only with South Africa replacing Morocco.
International Superstar Soccer 64 was met with critical acclaim, and often called one of the best of the Nintendo 64's third-party releases.
Gameplay
left|thumb|International Superstar Soccer 64 gameplay, showing a [[Germany national football team|Germany–France match]]
The game is similar to the PlayStation version (including the same player names, with the exception of Japan, England and a handful of American players), but with some teams having a more inaccurate home or away kit. The USA, for example, uses their 1994 World Cup Adidas "stripes" kit as their home kit and their then-current Nike home kit as their away kit. Gameplay is similar to that of the Super NES predecessor, International Superstar Soccer Deluxe, upgraded for the Nintendo 64 with 3D animation. While it keeps largely the same team squads (with the teams now sporting near-authentic kits), South Africa debuted in this game as a selectable side, replacing Morocco. However, the Japanese version has teams that are not present in the Western versions: Bolivia, Yugoslavia, Iran, Australia, Canada and Saudi Arabia. In addition, in ISS 64, Turkey is still incorrectly billed as an Asian team rather than European, unlike in Jikkyō World Soccer 3.
There are six game modes, including single match, league battle and penalty shoot-out. The player can assign a team member to cover a specific member of the opposing team.
| CNG = 8/10
| Edge = 9/10
| EGM = 9.25/10
| Fam = (P.S.) 32/40<br />(WS3) 31/40
| GI = 9/10
| GameFan = 96%
| GameRev = B+
| GSpot = 7/10
| Hyper = 94%
| IGN = 9/10
| N64 = 92%<br />(WS3) 91%<br />(P.S.) 89%
| NGen = (US) 5/5<br />(JP) 4/5
| NP = 3.75/5
The game was a commercial success, selling over 1 million units in Europe.
The game met with critical acclaim in Japan. In an interview around the time of the game's release in the region, Shigeru Miyamoto said that "Konami's soccer game may be better than [Nintendo's N64] games. It looks really good." Edge said that the Japanese import was "the most versatile and entertaining football game seen on any platform, and forms a strong addition to Nintendo's 64bit [sic] portfolio." Next Generation said that the same Japanese import "goes farther than most titles in presenting a fantastic look and feel. Just make sure you have a few friends around to play it, otherwise you'll tire from 10-3 wins real quick."
The most often cited strengths of the game included a variety of gameplay modes;