ISS Pro Evolution PS1 Review
ISS Pro Evolution also known in Japan is World Soccer winning eleven four would end up being the third game in ISS Pro Series that was developed by Konami for the PlayStation and would be released in 1999 and later in North America in 2000.
And this game at the time was considered to be one of the most realistic soccer games ever to be seen on the PlayStation as Iss Pro 98 had really helped to change the way soccer games were played especially with the likes of when you consider it alongside FIFA 98, ISS Pro was proven to be one of the best soccer games of all time and it is my personal favourite soccer game on the PlayStation and one of my favorite soccer games ever.
So when ISS Pro Evolution came out, there was a lot of drastic changes but how the game played was very very different from Iss Pro 98 as Iss Pro 98 although from a beginner standpoint for most people it probably wouldn't have been the easiest game to pick up and play but once you got into it you did get familiar with us.
But ISS Pro Evolution had a more realistic take on it and it was definitely much much harder to get used to it if you were an absolute beginner coming into playing this game for the first time you would have struggled with it no ifs abouts it genuinely was a difficult game to play.The only way you'd have any sort of a chance with it is if you have played previous Iss pro games that that would have given you somewhat of a good standpoint because you would have had some experience with the series in general.
So not only is the gameplay and the style and the control has been completely overhauled it has an increase in teams and stats although it still doesn't have access to the likes of the licensed characters names, players and even teams but it reflects the various stats of certain types of players that would have been reflective of its time.
There were some instances however where they did manage to have some real players names on some of the teams but it would be very few and far between but it wouldn't have been considered enough to make any sort of significant difference in the game.If you are familiar with any previous games in the series you kind of get an idea of the names you know by the stats and their performance levels you know who was kind of who at that stage.
One of the main new features of the game was the master league so that gave you the ability to play in an exclusive mode consisting of 16 teams that word reflected the best clubs within Europe and also to play as the best players from those clubs which would have presented a very worthwhile and challenging experience.
The game is itself as it stands is considered to be one of the most groundbreaking games seen on the PlayStation with it getting crazy reviews across the board in some cases it was getting nine out of ten it got 97%, 98% in some PlayStation magazines considering it to be an absolute Masterpiece because it's helped to change the dynamic of how soccer games were played because yes we had FIFA and there was even like ISS Pro 98 before which were incredible titles and FIFA was still holding its own because again it had access to all of the official stats, licenses, club names, you name it it had it and it just was able to sell in abundance.
But ISS Pro would have been considered the more authentic soccer game at the time especially when it was moving forward with the later iterations in the series especially with ISS Pro Evolution as it definitely was focusing more on simulation style football more so than anything else.
That's why for most newbies coming into the series would have struggled with playing the game because it genuinely was a difficult game too master.The gameplay is definitely very fluent and a lot more responsive compared to previous games but in order to control the ball you have to be a lot more accurate and unlike with previous iterations with passing the ball and crossing, the computer elements would take care a lot of the initial hard work for you but with this game that completely changed you had to be responsible for every choice that you make.
You had to make sure that when you play the pass you'd make sure that you played it in the right direction where you wanted the ball to go and it was pretty much on you if you made the wrong choice because you would pay the price for it.
Either the other team or the computer AI you would take the ball off you and it would score so it really just depends on your own style but that's ideally the way simulation games are supposed to be.
They're supposed to be a realistic take on a proven format and this game definitely managed to achieve that and it was quite groundbreaking for its time considering that it was a Playstation One title but at this point because you were at the kind of like the mid to later point of the PlayStation's lifespan, this was a real turning point for realism in games because this was proof that you could add realistic elements to sports games but just in games in general and it really started to really revolutionize the way games were played from more of a realistic standpoint because games were no longer becoming the point of like previous soccer games where they had more of an arcade feel.
People were wanting to focus on more simulation focused means, they wanted a bit more of a challenge and this game presented them with that.
Its later sequel Iss Pro Evolution 2 would later continue on that trend and even then when it went down become the whole Pro Evolution Soccer series which also got two iterations on the PlayStation console also with Pro Evolution Soccer and Pro Evolution Soccer 2, a couple of years later that will continue on the trend but then would move forward later on to the PlayStation 2.But they're a really good series of games if you've played one chances how you've played probably quite a few of them and I myself personally if I was to pick between the two major series of games now I've played quite a number of soccer games on the PlayStation and I have enjoyed a lot of them over the years I love the likes of even the Adidas Power Soccer series and the reason why I love that is because of the arcade elements and the quirky nature of the games and its fast-paced nature.
It is just genuinely fun but when you move forward into more realistic type of games FIFA had started to prove that with their games but it was ISS Pro especially with the evolution elements that they really started to take realism in soccer to a whole different level and they really excelled at that so they pretty much were and becoming the dominant force at that point on the PlayStation in terms of realistic elements seen in it within games.
So if you're looking for something the has all of those elements then the ISS Pro Evolution series would probably be your best bet at that time for soccer games and I would love to know your thoughts on these iconic series of soccer games especially ISS Pro Evolution Soccer for the PlayStation and if so what did you think of it back in the day.
Do you enjoy the more realistic or simulation focused aspects of soccer games especially back in those early days of the PlayStation or did you enjoy the more arcade elements of other previous games?
I'd love to hear your stories on these type of elements so be sure to share them in the comments below and be sure to keep watching to see more content on other games similar to ISS Pro Evolution, you can check out the blog where we will be diving into the iconic elements of these classic video games and as always keep those gaming memories alive...
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