Michael Dorosh
der Spieß des Forums
- Joined
- Feb 6, 2004
- Messages
- 15,733
- Reaction score
- 2,765
- Location
- Calgary, AB
- First name
- Michael
- Country
-
Overall
Dull, repetitive, and missing key features, with repetitive strain injury the most serious issue.
GUI
The control interface overlays are bright and attractive, but provide no real information to the player other than a reminder of the sequence of the numbered buttons on the controller. The brown and blue are hard to distinguish from each other, especially in a darkened room, but one memorizes the run/kick/pass keys quickly in any event, so the difficulty seeing these keys is a small issue.
The bulk of the information necessary for play is contained in a separate pamphlet - a "playbook" (two of which are provided with the game).
Before each play, the offensive player can tell the computer which offensive formation to use as well as whether to run or pass the ball; if the latter, he also selects the receiver and the reception zone. It may sound complicated but after a while, it become second nature programming the office, and favourite plays become routine. But, the limited number of available options also makes this simpler.
There is unfortunately no way to save games in progress.
The worst part of the interface is of course the controller; the disc is crude and the action buttons are worse; "Blackberry thumb" will set in after a couple of quarters of determined gameplay, and the game requires constant use of the action buttons for passing and kicking the ball.
Gameplay
It's odd that the NFL would give this a stamp of endorsement; the game in no way resembles the actual game. There are only five players on the field on each team. There is no opportunity to block kicks, intercept passes, attempt an onside kick, or an unconventional scrimmage. Touchdowns are automatically converted.
With no type of save function, there is no form season play available. There are also no coaching functions, individual attributes, player substitutions, injuries, alternate camera angles, penalties, or for that matter, single-player or online play. This is 2-player only, one game at a time. No specific teams are depicted, and the crowd cheers as loudly for the visitors as they do for the home team!
Graphics and sound
Graphics are hopelessly outdated, and appear about 25 years old. No specific teams are rendered, with one team in blue and the other in red - control players are vividly set off by black or gold. The camera pans over the field from left or right, dividing it into segments, television style, though the field is warped into an unrealistically long field which is severely out of proportion and far longer than it is wide. The animations are outdated as well, and the players seem to be running in slow motion at times; collision detection seems poor and judging what is a tackle and what is not is iffy at times. Long chases are possible but made slightly surreal by the agonizing crawl of the animated depictions. Perhaps needless to say, the sound is just as crude, with annoying beeps and boops to indicate plays have been entered. Other sound effects are mostly inappropriate - there are no gladiatorial crashes off the line of scrimmage, just a strange, alien whistling if the ball (a glowing white dot, in this instance) gets thrown.
Conclusion
Okay as a diversion if the PC is in the repair shop. And you're trapped on a desert island with your console, a supply of electricity, a working television, and literally nothing else to do. But bring a pad of paper and a pen to record the results of your season - Intellivision won't keep track of a damn thing for you.
Dull, repetitive, and missing key features, with repetitive strain injury the most serious issue.
GUI
The control interface overlays are bright and attractive, but provide no real information to the player other than a reminder of the sequence of the numbered buttons on the controller. The brown and blue are hard to distinguish from each other, especially in a darkened room, but one memorizes the run/kick/pass keys quickly in any event, so the difficulty seeing these keys is a small issue.
The bulk of the information necessary for play is contained in a separate pamphlet - a "playbook" (two of which are provided with the game).
Before each play, the offensive player can tell the computer which offensive formation to use as well as whether to run or pass the ball; if the latter, he also selects the receiver and the reception zone. It may sound complicated but after a while, it become second nature programming the office, and favourite plays become routine. But, the limited number of available options also makes this simpler.
There is unfortunately no way to save games in progress.
The worst part of the interface is of course the controller; the disc is crude and the action buttons are worse; "Blackberry thumb" will set in after a couple of quarters of determined gameplay, and the game requires constant use of the action buttons for passing and kicking the ball.
Gameplay
It's odd that the NFL would give this a stamp of endorsement; the game in no way resembles the actual game. There are only five players on the field on each team. There is no opportunity to block kicks, intercept passes, attempt an onside kick, or an unconventional scrimmage. Touchdowns are automatically converted.
With no type of save function, there is no form season play available. There are also no coaching functions, individual attributes, player substitutions, injuries, alternate camera angles, penalties, or for that matter, single-player or online play. This is 2-player only, one game at a time. No specific teams are depicted, and the crowd cheers as loudly for the visitors as they do for the home team!
Graphics and sound
Graphics are hopelessly outdated, and appear about 25 years old. No specific teams are rendered, with one team in blue and the other in red - control players are vividly set off by black or gold. The camera pans over the field from left or right, dividing it into segments, television style, though the field is warped into an unrealistically long field which is severely out of proportion and far longer than it is wide. The animations are outdated as well, and the players seem to be running in slow motion at times; collision detection seems poor and judging what is a tackle and what is not is iffy at times. Long chases are possible but made slightly surreal by the agonizing crawl of the animated depictions. Perhaps needless to say, the sound is just as crude, with annoying beeps and boops to indicate plays have been entered. Other sound effects are mostly inappropriate - there are no gladiatorial crashes off the line of scrimmage, just a strange, alien whistling if the ball (a glowing white dot, in this instance) gets thrown.
Conclusion
Okay as a diversion if the PC is in the repair shop. And you're trapped on a desert island with your console, a supply of electricity, a working television, and literally nothing else to do. But bring a pad of paper and a pen to record the results of your season - Intellivision won't keep track of a damn thing for you.
