John Elway’s Quarterback
System: NES
Release Date: March 1989
Developer: Rare
Publisher: Tradewest
Genre: Sports
Oh wow, do I feel bad for the poor kids that got John Elway’s Quarterback. This is basically an Atari game in an NES cartridge. Rare and Tradewest were probably cursing Tecmo for releasing the incredibly superior Tecmo Bowl the month prior. Coming to this? This is a disappointment. I’ll get the good out of the way first, there are more plays to choose from. There, that’s it. That’s all John Elway’s Quarterback has going for it.
There are a whole two more teams than Tecmo Bowl, but they are not differentiated in any way other than by city. There are no real players or real teams. The view of the field is from the end zone, like in 10-Yard Fight. There are no running plays involving a running back. Only the QB will run. In order to make a pass, you hold the B Button, which brings up a cursor that you have to move to where you want to throw. It took me a few failed drives before I figured this out. It also took me a minute to realize pressing down was how to hike the ball.
Once I understood how to throw the ball, I stuck to the Bomb and Shotgun plays, because that’s all I needed. The defense was awful and didn’t cover anyone most of the time. On defense, you’re the middle line backer. You have six different defenses to choose from. I generally stuck with Zone and was awarded many interceptions because of it, much like Madden 03.
Graphics: 0.5
The graphics are Atari 2600 level. The flickering is constant and the running animation is non-existent.
Sound: 0.0
The Charge Fanfare plays randomly and frequently during the game. It is so incredibly annoying, I turned the sound down.
Gameplay: 1.0
The gameplay is incredibly weak. No running game, zig zag to avoid tackles, stand in front of receivers on defense to get the QB sacked.
Difficulty: 1.0
I thought I was in for a hard game in the first quarter. Then I got the controls down and it was a cakewalk.
Fun Factor: 0.5
This is not a fun football game. Being released a month after Tecmo Bowl accentuated all of the shortcomings.
Overall Grade: 0.6
John Elway’s Quarterback earns a D-. This really is a poor excuse for a game. Looking at the next few months, it seems that Rare was working on developing a lot of PC ports to the NES, but they certainly weren’t doing an amazing job at this point.