Fox Sports Soccer 99 is a great-looking game that puts a unique spin on 3D sports visuals. Though not without a handful of control issues and flaws in commentary, the freshness of Fox's approach makes for a great game.
Immediately noticeable is the game's terrific use of 3D. It's got fantastic shadow effects and the first ball I've seen in console soccer that was more than just a yellow dot. Everyone else pretty much follows FIFA's lead when it comes to visual design, but this one's different. It all comes down to the game's dynamic camera effects, which are constantly shifting with play. The default view is unusual in that you're always looking defense in the face and offense in the back - the camera making a quick changeover midfield. Sound awkward? It's not. Ordinarily I would scoff at any game that makes me run toward the camera. In this instance, it feels perfectly natural. Solid players, fresh-looking pitch, and some new animations round out the terrific graphics. Especially cool are the hyperextended recoveries that staggering players make from enemy slide tackle attempts - you know the feeling if you've ever played real-life soccer: one really long stride you didn't want to make.
Enemy and teammate AI are more solid than most other soccer titles. With four difficulty levels to choose from, beginners stand more than a fair chance from the get-go. More importantly, the hardest levels are genuinely tough to beat. And your teammates will do more than stand there picking their collective nose. While the zone defense setting is a little on the passive side, the man-to-man setting encourages more courageous defending.
Unfortunately, Fox Soccer 99 features some of the absolute worst color commentary in sports gaming. One of the voices in particular sounds like the guy's never even seen a soccer game. Maybe even a ball. Inept comments like "And that was special. A real quality goal" are totally distracting from the feel of the game. While their timing is generally on, they're often totally off the mark in their evaluation of the situation. Miss by a mile and they'll tell you, "And that was just off the mark." They also lean heavy on the superlatives. Each attempt is an incredible one. Each save fantastic.
Fox Soccer 99 suffers from the same control problem plaguing 90 percent of soccer games on the market: poor player-switching control. Unfortunately, the game offers no "switch player" button, and control is automatically assigned to whichever player is nearest the ball, and reassigned, right at the worst possible moment. For example, an enemy striker is headed toward your goal. The little orange circle is under your fullback to his right. So, you push the D-pad like mad to the left. Now let's say the bum is approaching an AI-controlled fullback of yours to his left. Suddenly, control shifts to the teammate, and since you're now on the other side of the enemy, already pushing the D-pad left, you run off in the entirely wrong direction, and the jerk sends one right in, winning the game for the bad guys. Yuck. The game does offer a defensive "lock" button that should leave you in control of one man until possession is regained, but I've yet to see it work.
Aftertouch is another, well... touchy issue. The timing is incredibly difficult. It's almost impossible not to shoot the ball in the entirely wrong direction when attempting to shoot low - since you must push the D-pad up to approach and down to apply low aftertouch. As to why it's even possible to shoot in the wrong direction in the first place....
Otherwise, control is fine - not as intuitive as FIFA 98's and with a slightly looser feel that makes defense tough. The options list is also almost as good as FIFA 98's - plenty of teams, stats, playing styles, and formations to choose from. The existence of a zone vs. man-to-man defense option is a great touch. With its stunning graphics, a few tweaks to the game's control would have made it a possible contender to the FIFA throne.
