Sega Genesis
Released in 1991 by Sega
Grade: D
The debut for Sega’s 16-bit football series shows some promise, but it’s lackluster and frustrating as a final product.
Where it falls in the series
It’s the original of seven pro football games in the series:
- Joe Montana Football
- Joe Montana II Sports Talk Football
- NFL Sports Talk Football ’93 Starring Joe Montana
- NFL Football ’94 Starring Joe Montana
- NFL ’95
- Prime Time NFL Football Starring Deion Sanders
- NFL 98
Praises and gripes
This game has a clumsy passing interface and limited view of the field, which is a shame because the basic running and tackling mechanics are nice and fluid.
You snap the ball and press A to pull up a huge passing window, complete with the bars of a face mask. You can then press B to cycle through your three receivers before throwing. It’s a bad system, forcing you to keep one on your QB, keep one eye on the window, and remember where each player is located on the field, without the luxury of being able to throw the ball with a single button press.
Like early Madden, the passing window obscures the area of the field where the receivers are running. The series resolved this for its next two installments by switching to a side view with no passing window. Then it switched back to a vertical view, but dumped the passing window and used a tilting camera to help you see farther down the field.
On the bright side, the plays unfurl something like football plays, with a good balance of order and chaos, and the control is very responsive. Running with the ball is a joy. Passes travel at a good speed, and you need to quickly take control of the receiver to adjust your position and make the catch, which feels intuitive.
The graphics are nice and simple. In fact, a lot of things are extra simple in this game. There is no kicking meter; you just press a button and off it goes. After touchdowns, you’re quickly placed into a kicking formation for the extra point. (There’s no two-point conversion option.) The playcall menu is quick and easy to use, and the pace from play to play is fast, which I love.
The CPU is pathetically easy to beat. My first time playing the game, I was up 24-0 after the first quarter. For a challenge, you need to play against another human.