There seem to be two types of soccer gamers out there. Usually, they either like the EA Sports FIFA series, or some prefer Konami’s International Superstar Soccer/Winning 11 series. I happen to fall in the latter category. Even though I did enjoy EA’s first GameCube outing somewhat, I was very much looking forward to playing an ISS sequel. Unfortunately ISS 2/Jikkyo World Soccer will not be released here stateside. Konami has decided to make a completely different soccer title and slap the ESPN MLS license on it, than do the easier, smarter thing, and just port ISS/Jikkyo World Soccer to the US. So if you want the true Osaka team-made Konami Soccer title, you’ll need to import it.

I would write a full review of the game, but there are still elements that I can’t understand due to the language barrier. I’ve been playing Jikkyo World Soccer for about a week, and have even beaten the game’s “International Cup” mode (which unlocked something, yet I don’t know what). I’m not sure how to change the camera angles, and I haven’t figured out how to change team formations. The main menu is in English, but it all ends there. Everything else is in Japanese, even the commentary (minus the stadium announcer who surprisingly speaks English). Until I can figure everything out, and get some proper translations, I don’t think I can write an accurate review. With that said, it’s still fairly easy to figure out how to setup a game, and play. I should have a small guide put together in the near future for those of you who are interested in importing Jikkyo World Soccer.

Like its predecessor, Jikkyo World Soccer has tons of options. Unfortunately I haven’t completely figured out the menu system quite yet, but this game is highly configurable. Novices can have a lot of CPU help, like automatic player selection, and advanced players can do everything manually. There’s even a player and team editor included, yet, I’ve yet to mess with this function yet. I personally like my teams the way they are. The main game options are Friendly Match, International Cup, Custom League, World League, and Training. Setting up single and multiplayer matches is a breeze, but once you leave the main menu, it’s all in Japanese from there.

If you’ve been playing FIFA or Soccer Slam for a while, it’s going to take a bit to adjust to the controls. Albeit confusing at first, I think Jikkyo World Soccer has the best control scheme for a soccer game. It’s very easy to pick up and play for a novice, but to learn the more advanced moves I highly recommend the training portion. The simple control scheme is, on offense: A- Pass, B- Shoot, X- Lob/air-pass, Y – Through-pass, R-Turbo, L-special moves. On defense: A-attack, B-Moves CPU controlled player to the ball, X-hard steal/slide tackle, Y-keeper jump, R-Turbo, L-select player closest to ball. The C-stick controls team formations on-the-fly (hear that EA? ON THE FLY). There are more advanced moves like one-touches (air and ground), combos, and the like, which I’ll be including in the upcoming guide. The buttons are quite sensitive when shooting and lobbing balls. Some may think it too sensitive. Just a quick tap is all you need on shots if you’re within the penalty box, or you’ll most likely over shoot the goal. It took me quite a while to perfect the more advanced controls, but once I did, this game truly began to shine.

The ISS series has always had fantastic animation, and Jikkyo World Soccer is no different. Konami has done wonders once again with motion capture. The soccer players animate fantastically, and their movements are very fluid and realistic. Players juke and dodge like they would in real life. When there is player contact, the players will stumble, get tripped up, and roll off with arms flailing. If you zoom in during instant replays the animation can truly be appreciated.

If you thought FIFA was too arcade-like and are interested in more of a Soccer sim, Jikkyo World Soccer is definitely the game you want. Slide tackles, unless performed perfectly, will usually trip the opponent and get you a card. Bicycle kicks and unbelievable flying shots will happen very sparingly. You can’t get as aggressive in without getting a foul called. Jikkyo World Soccer isn’t so anal that it’s not fun, but it’s just more realistic.

I think one of my favorite points of this game is the sound. The all-Japanese commentary is some of the best in the business, even though I have absolutely no idea what they are talking about. It’s quite varied, excited, and funny. Even though my friends and I can’t understand it, we are very entertained by it. If there is such thing as “Soccer Engrish” there’s plenty of it in Jikkyo World Soccer. Seeing is the world cup is in Japan and Korea this year, the commentary is quite fitting. The chanting crowds really capture the atmosphere of the excitement happening on the pitch, and the overall aural package is impressive.

Well I’ve gushed throughout these entire impressions, but is there anything wrong with Jikkyo World Soccer? Unfortunately, yes. The Goalies punch more balls away in this game than should be allowed in a boxing match. More shots on goal seem to be deflected away than actually caught. This happens so often you’ll wonder if the goalie actually has fingers sometimes. Also there’s this weird phantom glitch that’s happened to me twice. Basically what happens is, I’ll lob pass the ball over a forward’s head as he’s sprinting towards the goal. All of a sudden the ball will jerk back and automatically go to the defender. I don’t understand it, and it’s interrupted the flow of the game. Also, players mysteriously seem to get sucked out of bounds too easily. Part of it could be momentum, but it happens too frequently. Just a couple of minor tweaks to make for 2003.

Why am I so crazy about this game? There are already 6 soccer games out worldwide for the Nintendo GameCube, and personally I think Jikkyo World Soccer is the best one currently available. Even with its flaws it generally plays beautifully. Europeans are very lucky, because they’ll be receiving an English/PAL version very soon. If you want to play soccer in its true form, Jikkyo World Soccer gets a very high recommendation.