NFL Football
System: NES
Release Date: September 1989
Developer: Atlus
Publisher: LJN
Genre: Sports
You have all the teams under license here in NFL Football. Before I start playing a game, I read the manual to get an idea of what’s in store for me. Reading the manual, I’m thinking I’m about to find a hidden gem. How wrong I was. All the teams are accounted for in both the AFC and NFC. You can play a conference game, and interconference game or the Super Bowl. Of course, I pick the Lions and then have to choose a team package where every position is rated.
To the field, you choose one of 16 plays by pressing the B Button with a direction and the A Button with a direction. Here’s the fun thing, you don’t know what play you’re choosing unless you have a separate play calling sheet! It’s not in the manual, so I had to search the net for a play sheet. The manual suggests going pass heavy because it’s easier. The lie detector determined this was false. Most of my big plays, once I figured out how to do them, came from the run.
Getting the ball away from the quarterback is difficult and requires many button presses. The speed of the game is incredibly slow to begin with, but when you press the B Button, the game goes into slow motion and arrows pop up over your possible receivers. You have to press a direction with the A Button to choose your receiver, then press the A Button again to throw. As the ball gets close to the receiver and defenders, the view zooms in and you have to move to the ball to catch it. If the ball is going long, you can jump with the B Button to try and catch it.
On defense, you have a short amount of time to choose your play once you reach the field. You’re shown icons depicting the players and their positions. Hopefully, you get your selection in, then you choose one of four players you control. Once the snap occurs, I would run into the receiver in front of me and hope the AI would throw that way. I lost count of the number of interceptions I caught. It was like using the Cover 2 Zone in Madden 03.
One major glaring omission is the lack of field goals and punts for the player. I don’t know if they’re in there and I couldn’t figure out how to access them, but after trying different button combinations, the manual didn’t say anything, nor did the FAQ where I found the play list. The computer kicked a field goal and punted to me, but I could not. You can even try an onside kick during the kickoff, which worked for me the first time I tried. It took an hour to play a game against the Packers and then I decided never again.
Graphics: 0.5
The graphics are pretty pitiful. 10-Yard Fight has better character models.
Sound: 1.0
Music exists in menus and between plays. Sound effects are nothing special.
Gameplay: 0.5
The controls are terrible. The speed is slower than molasses. There are major elements of the game missing.
Difficulty: 0.5
Figuring out how to beat the computer is simple. There was no challenge once I found the play list.
Fun Factor: 0.5
There is a very tiny amount of fun available here, but even half a point is generous.
Overall Grade: 0.6
NFL Football earns a D-. Push start button to play another game. No.