Corazon de Leon wrote:It was pretty clear this was on the cards when they introduced the eFootball subtitle, but it’s rotten to see the death of a grand old franchise in such a way. I always saw an unbroken line from International Superstar Soccer on the SNES to Pro Evolution Soccer in the present, but it feels like that is over now.
It's amazing to think that Konami had two popular football game franchises and they ran alongside each other for almost a decade. Konami started by releasing Hyper Soccer on the NES in 1992. They then proceeded with two separate studios producing two separate series:
"international Superstar Soccer" (1994 - 2003)Originally developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Osaka (KCEO).
International Superstar Soccer > "Pro Evolution Soccer" / "Winning Eleven" (1995 onwards)Originally developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo (KCET).
Goal Storm > ISS Pro > ISS Pro Evolution Soccer > Pro Evolution Soccer > eFootball PES > eFootballIt's pretty odd how the series borrowed the ISS branding for a period!
I really enjoyed both of these series. ISS was always the more arcade-styled game with faster, simpler (although still excellent!) gameplay whilst PES took a more simulation-styled approach. I started out with ISS on the SNES and then ISS 64 was the game that caused me to buy an N64; whilst ISS Pro (PES!) on the PS1 got me hooked fro:the off and it was the starting point for a series that I've enjoyed so much over the years, mainly on PlayStation consoles.
I just hope that eFootball can somehow match up to the tremendous heritage that these two series have.