International Superstar Football

International Superstar Football is a football video game. It was developed by Active Entertainment and released for the Ion CD in 1992. It is one of Gylias' most successful sports games, and continues to be supported and updated by both its developer and fanbase on an open-source model.

Gameplay

The game has 3 different modes: training, friendly matches, and an international championship. During gameplay, the player controls the selected player.

Gameplay strives to emulate real football. It uses a 2.5D bird's-eye view perspective as default, with options to switch camera angles. The ball is kicked realistically ahead of players, adding a challenge to dribbling and shooting. An aftertouch feature allows the ball to be curled after being kicked. The interface includes the match score and time at the top of the screen, and a minimap and current player in possession at the bottom.

All national football teams of Tyran are represented in the game. There are both male and female players, with 4 sprites for each. All players have real names and squad numbers, but do not use the likenesses of their respective players. The player can customise their squad before a match. 12 different stadiums are featured, of different sizes and décor. Notably, no advertising or sponsorship is depicted in the game.

The game also features an editor that enables the creation of custom stadiums, teams, and scenarios.

Development

International Superstar Football originated as a collective Active Entertainment project. When Gyldiv began development of the Ion CD in 1991 and solicited ideas for system sellers to accompany its release, Active Entertainment submitted a proposal for a football game. One of the team members described it as "a no-brainer" for the console.

The game was largely developed as if it was an Ion release, and thus didn't take advantage of the Ion CD's capabilities like Rubis Cœur: Sky Captain. The Ion CD was mainly used for enhanced graphics, additional memory, and a CD-ROM soundtrack, contributed by The Mighty Invincibles. The developers collaborated closely with the Gylian Sports Confederation. Rather than attempt to reproduce the likeness of every player, they produced simplified sprites that could be told apart and reused them.

The soundtrack was recorded by The Mighty Invincibles, without Asuka. It was their second involvement with an Ion CD launch title, after Rubis Cœur: Sky Captain. The soundtrack is fully instrumental, and is dominated by high-energy funk rock. Misato Katsuragi commented that "it's fair to say I was more in the driver's seat for International Superstar Football", compared to the more electronic rock direction favoured by Jennifer Andrews for Rubis Cœur, which carried over to Electrified. The theme song achieved recognition for Misato's intricate slap bass work.

Reception

International Superstar Football received critical acclaim on release. It was one of the games bundled with Ion CD, and although it did not show off the full range of its capabilities, its accessible gameplay made it a commercial success.

Reviewers praised the game's easy controls, balanced learning curve, and realistic feel. GameCentral wrote that it "manages to balance fancy tricks with a depth that becomes apparent after continued play". Other commentators noted that the game reflected Gylian sensibilities towards football, with no advertising, faithfully-recreated crowd ambience, and a slight preference for total football tactics.

Legacy

International Superstar Football marked a turning point for Gylian video games: it and other Ion-era games like Rubis Cœur and Ultraviolence spearheaded video games' transformation into a national pastime. Gylias Review wrote in 2012 that the game "remains a favourite among fans and casual players alike", and highlighted its continued popularity as a party and social game.

The game established Active Entertainment as one of Gylias' leading sports game studios. It followed up the title with the domestically-focused Gylias Superstar Football, and went on to produce similarly acclaimed simulators for a variety of sports.

Later on, the game was uploaded to Proton Games, added Satellaview support, and was officially ported to computers. When the initial copyright term expired in 2002, Active Entertainment released the game's source code, making it open-source. Both Active Entertainment and fans have continnued to support the game with patches that update player and championship rosters. The multiplayer feature, allowing multiple players to form a team in online matches, has been much-praised.