Touchdown Fever
System: NES
Release Date: February 1991
Developer: SNK
Publisher: SNK
Genre: Sports
Try to score more than your opponent in Touchdown Fever! SNK is no stranger to sports, having brought a couple baseball titles to the NES, but do they know what they’re doing when it comes to throwing around the pigskin? We’ll find out.
Two modes of play are a single game or a tournament. Choose from one of twelve cities to represent from the Eastern or Western Conference. I noticed Detroit as an available choice, so of course I picked them. My first opponent would be Chicago. The game starts with the computer kicking off and it’s a vertical scrolling screen. That kickoff sure didn’t go very far… In fact, none of them do. Tackles happen by running into the ball carrier and hoping for the best. It’s nice when they bounce off of you when you’ve got the ball, but don’t get too cocky. There’s a halftime show that brings out the team’s mascot and they are mostly aligned with the NFL. Detroit has the Lion, Chicago has the Bear, Philadelphia has a bird that I can assume is an Eagle. And Phoenix has a Frog. Alright, this one is made up.
The play choice screen has four different styles to chose from, Long, Short, QB Sneak, and Back. Your play is then chosen automatically for you. Players you’ll be able to throw it to have a flashing A or B icon on them. Surprisingly enough, there are 11 players on the field for both teams, but they’re mostly useless. When you decide to throw the ball, it goes in the general direction of the receiver, but then you take control of the receiver and have to get in the path of the ball to complete the catch. I found it best to lead the receiver a good distance if possible, because the receiver gets super slow when they catch the ball. Be careful that you don’t throw in the direction of a defender, because they’ll pick it off if you do. If you get to fourth down, you should punt, but like kickoffs, they only go around 25 yards. Field goals only become an option within 15 yards.
The field is so very long. If you play this, you’ll understand what I mean. Twenty-two players are lined up in a six yard stretch, when in real life, we’re talking about 15 yards or so. This makes running plays and gaining yards really difficult, actually. You may think you made a long pass going up half the screen, but you only got four yards. The run game requires you to throw the ball like a pass, but you can’t control the back to receive it. I didn’t use the run plays very much, but the QB Sneak is useful when you have less than a yard to go.
Defensive plays are chosen automatically. After a few series, you will have seen most of the plays the computer is going to run and you can begin to anticipate. The offense might use a wing package for a few different plays, but the initial setup of the defense will inform you of what is coming. I was able to anticipate laterals and passes that were easy to intercept when playing against Philadelphia. I also found out that it’s win or game over, so don’t end the game in a tie. The game clock runs in real time, so if you’re playing a tournament, five minute quarters will take about an hour and a half to get through.
Graphics: 1.0
The graphics aren’t good and the amount of sprites lead to flickering on the line of scrimmage.
Sound: 2.5
There’s music that plays during the game and there are multiple tracks. None of them are amazing, but I liked them enough. The whistle sound gets annoying, though.
Gameplay: 2.0
This is dumbed down football. Better than most other football games on the NES, but missing too much.
Difficulty: 3.0
The teams do get harder as you go along, but you also get better at anticipating plays, so it evens out.
Fun Factor: 2.5
I enjoyed myself once I figured out how to play the game.
Overall Rating: 2.2
Touchdown Fever earns a C+. This isn’t a bad game from a culture that doesn’t do football, but when I can play Tecmo Bowl, why would I bother?