Now, just relax.
Sega Dreamcast
Released in 1999 by Sega
Grade: C
I’m well aware of how much some people love this game. It’s amazing for its time. Graphically, it put every other football video game to shame. I know this. But I’m not reviewing what it was like to play this game in 1999. I’m reviewing what it’s like to play it today.
Where it falls in the series
Although Sega made plenty of football games prior, the 2K series felt like a whole different thing on a much more powerful system. Two more installments followed on Dreamcast, and the series really hit its stride on the PS2 and Xbox with the beloved ESPN NFL 2K5 before EA snatched the NFL license away.
Praises
I guess I gotta start with graphics on this one. They’re great. The players are animated well, and they fit in with the field environment harmoniously. The over-the-top animations look cool and are stitched together well. The visuals make it clear what’s happening as you play. Nothing else at the time came close in this regard.
The sound is also top notch for its time and still holds up. The crowd makes a lot of noise, the collisions sound as crisp as they look, and the announcers fit in really well.
The action unfolds like football in many regards. Linemen play a lot like actual linemen. On passing plays, you see the pocket forming in a realistic way. Defensive AI is tenacious, especially on the highest of three difficulty levels. You’ve got to watch the defense and make the right throw.
Gripes
The fun is stunted by a slow passing system and overpowered tacklers. People call this game arcade … but when I think arcade, I think high-scoring. When I think NFL 2K, I think, “It’s third and twelve, Peter. They’re O for five on third downs today.”
Passes soar slowly though the air, which forces you to anticipate a receiver being open, AND you need to switch control to your receiver and time the catch. The rest of the gameplay moves so fast that it feels odd that the passes are so slow.
Here’s my dorky rant about passing systems: NFL 2K uses a slower passing system that requires you to take control of the receiver, similar to EA’s 16-bit titles, especially Bill Walsh College Football 95. One year later, when Madden 2001 leaped into the PS2/Xbox era, it used a faster system that didn’t require you to take control of a receiver. If it was a good pass, he’d catch it. The faster passing allowed you to play more like a real quarterback, zipping a pass into the tiniest gap. It’s a better passing system, in my opinion, and 2K agreed with me because they switched to it eventually. 2K certainly beat EA to the graphics party, but I think EA was first to the gameplay party.
So not only do you have floating passes, you’ve got defenders flying around the field like monsters, routinely knocking down passes and tackling with ease. Receivers often run questionable routes and they drop some easy passes.
Your offensive line will betray you on running plays, which are almost useless in this game.
The advantage is way in favor of the defense. Playing against the CPU on the highest difficulty, I find it challenging to score but easy to play D.
The play calling is stuck in the 90s. There aren’t a ton of plays, and some of them don’t function how they look on the playcall screen. Adjustments at the line of scrimmage are limited: you’ve got 3 audibles and can put a man in motion. The game doesn’t let you get much of an advantage before the snap.
This game broke ground and laid a strong foundation for 2K to build on in later releases, and it gave Madden a new competitor for football prominence. In a vacuum, though, it’s just okay. Don’t listen to other reviewers on this one. I’ve seen this game at the very top of a “greatest football games ever” list. That’s nonsense. That’s nostalgia talking.