Sega Soccer Slam - All GameCube Games

[Dcubed]

Man, GCN really did get a LOT of N64 up-ports didn’t it?

It’s almost enough to make the Switch blush with its army of reheated Wii U titles.

Edited Monday at 09:46 AM by Dcubed

[Hero-of-Time]

I loved Doshin the Giant. It's a bit rough around the edges and clunky to control but it was such a chill game to play. When I traded my copy in at CEX they had to test it due to it being over the price threshold and the lad who had to play it was like "What the hell is this?" Clearly the game didn't have mass market appeal.  

[Helmsly]

I always intended to buy Doshin the giant, but never got around to it. Hopefully it’ll come to NSO at some point 

[Ashley]

I remember buying Doshin on a lunch break when I was working at Woolies. When I left at the end of the day the manager did the bag checks and asked why I didn't buy it from there and I explained Woolies didn't stock it. 

Sadly it never had mass market appeal. 

[Cube]

International Superstar Soccer 2 

Victory pass line shining on the pitch!

• JP release: 14th March 2002
• EU release: 3rd May 2002
• NA release: N/A
• Developer: Konami
• Publisher: Konami
• NGC Magazine Score: 83%
• Mods Used: Widescreen Hack

 

When International Superstar Soccer 2000 came out on N64, over on PS1 and PS2,Konami decided to start the naming from scratch, giving the games numbers instead of dates. I can only guess that this was done to try and get more long-term sales, as people don’t want a sports game from an older date, so someone may see this on a store shelf and not know it’s older.

 

 

The “next gen” versions also seem to have given up on clubs, reverting back to only having international teams, giving far fewer options to the teams you can play as and the kind of tournaments you can have – even if they didn’t use the name Manchester United, fans still want to be their off-brand version.

 

 

As for the core gameplay, I’m not a huge fan. Passing seems very temperamental and I found myself passing in the completely wrong direction to nobody. Players also hate trying to get into space, and seem afraid of going into the box unless you dance around in there for a bit to egg them on. This doesn’t come close to the enjoyment of the games on N64.

Fine

Quote

After playing the improved, but still wretchedly fault-ridden FIFA Road to the World Cup (EA have yet to make their next FIFA game available to us, but we all know what to expect), and then then the nut-numbing Virtua Striker v2002 in NGC/66, this is like upgrading from a place on the terraces at Hull to a director’s box at Old Trafford.

Tim Weaver, NGC Magazine #68

Remake or remaster?

I think ISS 2000 is still the best ISS game for Konami to look back on.

Official Ways to get the game

There is no official way to get International Superstar Soccer 2.

[Dcubed]

Man, what a tragic fall from grace for the ISS series.

Though of course Konami would go on to far greater success with the Pro Evolution Soccer series (which was birthed from the ISS Pro series on the PS1), it’s such a shame that the mainline ISS series on the N64 died on the grapevine with ISS 2 and 3 (which we’ll see later on).  I always much preferred the arcade style of somewhat unrealistic football, so it was tragic to see it fail to properly make the transition from the N64 to 6th Gen consoles, while the market consolidated almost exclusively into realistic Football Sim titles (which of course coalesced exclusively into just PES and FIFA, before eventually just FIFA/EA Sports FC).

[nekunando]

ISS 2 was my Gamecube launch game (or, at least, the game that came with the console for my birthday shortly after release 🙂) and I loved it!

I knew it wasn't as good as Pro Evolution Soccer but I still had a blast with it and thought the commentary was pretty decent at the time.

It doesn't feel particularly great to go back to but I do have the urge to throw it on for a game later just for fun 😅

[Cube]

NFL Blitz 2002 

Real Teams, Real Players, Real Attitude!

• NA release: 18th March 2002
• EU release: N/A
• JP release: N/A
• Developer: Point of View
• Publisher: Midway
• NGC Magazine Score: N/A
• Mods Used: Widescreen Hack

 

Another American Football game, retaining the arcade action of the previous games. Well, mostly, the gameplay is simplified, yet this doesn’t seem to have the frenzy of some of the previous games, feeling rather sluggish instead

 

 

This version also doesn’t have many features. The fun creation tools of NHL Hitz haven’t made an appearance here, and the minigames have not made a re-appearance. This is a bare bones update.

Fine

Quote

While it may not be as tightly focused as NFL Blitz ’99, NFL Blitz 2002 features the same basic concepts that make the series great. Blitz old-timers will balk at the game’s completely different timing and needlessly expanded playbooks, but in the end, NFL Blitz 2002 is the best arcade-style football game on the home market.

Jeff Gerstmann, GameSpot

Remake or remaster?

This kind of silly sports game should come back

Official Ways to get the game

There is no official way to get NFL Blitz 2002

[Cube]

Sega Soccer Slam

Are you tough enough?

• NA release: 18th March 2002
• JP release: 26th September 2002
• EU release: 18th October 2002
• Developer: Black Box Games
• Publisher: Sega
• NGC Magazine Score: 67%
• Mods Used: Widescreen Hack

 

As I’ve been playing through N64 and GameCube games, I’ve played plenty of over the top arcade style sports games – but it’s surprising that this is the first Football one I’ve covered. Sega Soccer Slam gives us a very small amount of 3 player teams (although there is a cheat for some fun costumes) for you to launch into each other.

 

 

One big problem with Sega Soccer Slam is that tackling is far too easy, so you can get the ball off your opponent with zero problems. The CPU is nowhere near as aggressive, so you’ll end up having high scoring one side games with no issue. The flashy effects also don’t feel like they have much weight to them, the super special shots (down by shooting while in a spotlight) seem to be saved more than regular goals, and the crazy glowing special moves don’t seem to change gameplay much.

 

 

After the GameCube version came out, Sega Soccer Slam was then ported to PS2 and Xbox with upgrades, which were then included in the European version of the game. One significant addition is the challenge mode. Here, you can mix and match characters from any team, along with a colour so they still all match. Complete a few matches and you’ll win a new character to build up three additional teams. It’s a fun mode and it’s a shame the “pick any three characters” mode isn’t an option for multiplayer matches.

 

 

Another addition are a couple of minigames, one is a “hot potato” where you have to dribble the ball as long as possible, but get rid of it before it exposes, and the other is a surprisingly fun fighting game using the mechanics of the main game. It’s’ far better than some licensed arena fighters I’ve played, and a fun little addition. These extra things give you something to work for while on your own, and some nice extra modes to play between matches.

 

 

Another neat idea that Sega Soccer Slam has is a way to team up: instead of controlling a team, you can control individual players, so you and two friends can take on the quest as a squad, or it can be used to spice up a four player match, making this something great for multiplayer. I definitely know that there are at least two much better arcade-like football games on GameCube.

Fun

Quote

Midway’s Red Card would appear to already have sewn the market up – it might have laugh-out-loud, wince-inducing tackles but it’s also a darn good football game in its own right. Sega Soccer Slam, on the other hand, is played purely for laughs, with grotesque cartoon characters, tiny pitches and three-a-side teams. Is it worth getting if you’ve already got Red Card? On balance, we’d say… maybe.

Jes Bickham, NGC Magazine #74

Remake or remaster?

Mario did this much better.

Official Ways to get the game

There is no official way to get Sega Soccer Slam.

[Hero-of-Time]

I loved Sega Soccer Slam. I probably played on this more than I did Mario Strikers. I disagree with that NGC review though. Red Card was a laugh but it lacked the personality that SSS had. I'd always pick SSS over Red Card.

[Will]

13 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

I loved Sega Soccer Slam. I probably played on this more than I did Mario Strikers

Same here! I was always sad they never did another version of this - I'd have loved to have had more of it.

[Dcubed]

56 minutes ago, Will said:

Same here! I was always sad they never did another version of this - I'd have loved to have had more of it.

They did, it's called Mario Smash Football.  It's made by the same development team.