Sega Genesis
Released in 1994 by Acclaim
Grade: C+
Borrowing a lot of the basics from the Madden series, Quarterback Club is easy to pick up and play and can be fun for a while, especially against a human opponent. It falters in key areas, however, that keep it from being a guaranteed fun time. The highly marketed QB Challenge modes are quick fun, but nothing spectacular. It’s worth owning for diehard football video gamers only.
Where it falls in the series
It’s the football debut for Acclaim, released on SNES, Genesis, 32X, Game Boy, and Game Gear. It was followed by NFL Quarterback Club 96, which isn’t any better. I imagine nobody has played the handheld versions since the turn of the century, and I imagine nobody has played it on 32X ever because nobody ever bought a 32X. But on the standard 16-bit consoles, QB Club was a fairly popular game.
It was onto the next generation for 97, and the series concluded with the 2002 version on PS2 and GameCube. The series started in the shadow of Madden and finished in the shadow of Madden.
Praises
The control and basic gameplay mechanics work well together. If you’ve played 16-bit Madden games, you’ll catch on to QB Club easily. The playcall screen, the passing system, the defensive controls, it all works pretty much the same, and that’s not a bad thing.
The graphics are effective and cute. There’s a nice color balance, the camera moves smoothly, and the players (while they all look the same) have clear animations that help make the game easy to play.
There are a few mini-games fashioned after the real-life NFL Quarterback Challenge, an offseason competition that ran from 1990 to 2007. The mini-games are decent fun, especially with friends, but wear out their welcome quickly. The most enjoyable one has you throwing a ball at moving targets, and the mechanics are more like gun shooting than football.
This might be the first game with a “situation mode,” where you’re plopped into a key moment in one of 50 games from NFL history. This is a creative, charming addition, and gives you an excuse to whoop on the CPU after standard games become too easy to win.
Gripes
The running control is overly simple, on defense and offense. It doesn’t have the fluidity of Madden. It’s slow and sticky. And it’s over-reliant on a timed spin move that works too well.
Many of the pass plays don’t play out how they look on the playcall screen, and some work like magic while others work like garbage. Savvy gamers will go to the same few plays over and over, which is a pretty common problem in football games in general.
Defensive linemen knock down A LOT of passes at the line of scrimmage.
Even with three difficulty levels, the CPU is EXTREMELY easy to beat once you get the hang of it. You need to play against a friend for a long-lasting challenge.
Top teams
In 1994, the Cowboys beat the Bills for their second straight title, and in 1995, it was the 49ers over the Chargers. In Quarterback Club, the Cowboys, 49ers, Bills, Steelers, and Vikings are among the teams of choice, but this game has the unusual option of putting any quarterback on any team, so do whatever you want.