Sega Genesis
Released in 1991 by Sega
Grade: D+
It’s the first sports game ever with play-by-play announcing, and if that’s this game’s excuse for shoddy gameplay, then so be it.
Where it falls in the series
This is the second of seven pro football games published by Sega for the Genesis. It’s a confusing series that goes like this:
- 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
You’ll notice that the NFL license didn’t show up until the third game, and you’ve just got NFL cities with team colors loosely based off the NFL counterparts here.
There were also two college games in 1994 and 1995. (See College Football’s National Championship II)
Praises
The graphics are solid for 1991 and have a simple charm about them. I love that sidescroll look, which is an improvement over the vertical view with passing windows seen in the original Joe Montana Football.
The play-by-play is impressive and groundbreaking for its time, even though it’s monotone and will become annoying. It at least fits into the pace of play pretty well, which you definitely, definitely cannot say for Sports Talk Baseball. The announcer is Lon Simmons, who starting calling San Francisco 49ers games in 1958!
Gripes
The control is woefully loose and unresponsive. Early Madden games are loose and responsive. Tecmo Bowl is tight and responsive. The key is responsiveness, and this game suffers without it. Routine movements are an unneeded challenge.
The passing is out of whack, even though it seems simple on the surface. It’s the Tecmo Bowl system: hit a button to select a receiver and hit a button to pass. The problem is that passes miss their mark often, no matter how long your QB is set, and it’s a nightmare trying to grab control of the receiver and adjust his movement in time. I also find my blood pressure rising when I pass to a wide-open guy who’s standing still, but the pass leads him 5 yards down the field, right where all the defenders are.
Running doesn’t have the same trouble, but it’s pretty one-dimensional. You can occasionally pick up long yardage on the outside, but running through the line is useless.
On hand-offs and pass receptions, the camera zooms in tight. It’s a novel idea that shows off some clean graphics, but it’s jarring and makes catching even more difficult. (It’s interesting to me that the zoom feels like a failed gimmick here, but once video football went truly 3-D, it became standard for the camera to zoom in once someone other than the the QB possessed the ball.) Luckily, you can turn the zoom feature off.
This game doesn’t let you know how teams and players differ AT ALL. Players don’t have names or individual attributes that you can see. (Maybe they were in the instruction manual?)