For the core gameplay, ISS 2000 doesn’t change much over 98, and is the same core game as the Japanese J-League Perfect Striker 2. That said, it’s a very solid football game, and you have a few additional modes, such as custom tournaments and a new set of scenarios. The big new thing for this game, though, is a brand new RPG story mode – unless you live in North America, where that feature was cut.

The career mode is very much in the same style as the story mode for the Power Pros Baseball games, although now that it’s properly in English, I can understand what’s going on. You have to build up your stats and your teammate’s trust, while also balancing your condition and enthusiasm. There’s a lot of juggle, and you can only select one thing do do each week: train, recover, relax, talk to your squad, or talk to a potential love interest.

To start with, you won’t be in the first team, so you won’t play any matches outside of some practice matches. Improve your stats and impress your team (don’t forget to brown nose your manager), and you’ll get to be in the first team, where you can play matches. While your character is highlighted with an arrow, you still control all players like normal.

But you can’t just focus entirely on football. Training will lower your condition, causing you to rest, but also make your teammates trust you less (which is a bit odd, and more to balance the different options). You’ll need to talk to them to make friends. There are also a few women you can go on dates with, which help you stay enthusiastic about football.

Your ultimate goal is to make the national team in three years. I thought things were going extremely well: I had made the first team, won every match, had quite high stats, and my girlfriend was doing well as a pianist. Then it came to naming the national squad and…I didn’t make it. Then my girlfriend dumped me and I gave up on football out of depression. Still, it’s a very fun mode and doesn’t take too long to get through, so you can try again – it was my trust levels that were the problem.

So, while the core gameplay hasn’t changed much, this adds some great additional features – especially in Europe.

Great

If you’ve got ISS ’98 and the prospect of the RPG mode doesn’t fill you with joy, it’s hard to recommend this version, particuarly as it’s a full-price release and its predecessor is available for much less cash. But if you want a crack at making it to the first team (and there are plenty of laughworthy moments to be had along the way), ISS 2000 couples that unique RPG with a most pleasingly complete version of the world’s greatest football game.

Martin Kitts, N64 Magazine #46. Review Score: 90%

Remake or remaster?

A collection of these Konami sport RPGs, all translated into English, would be nice.

Official ways to get the game.

There’s no official way to get ISS 2000