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 |  Subject: 411 Games Top 5: Top 5 Football Games Fri Aug 29, 2014 11:17 pm | |
| - Quote :
- Todd Vote (Games Zone Reviewer, Regular Contributor to Four Player Co-op)
5.NFL Street: Sort of a spiritual successor to NFL Blitz, NFL street was a blast to play. Over the top antics, hard hits, and just fun gameplay. Sort of wish we could see a new NFL Street game from EA. Suppose since they are making Blitz now, they don't really need NFL Street. Why couldn't you have both?
4.NFL Blitz 2000: I still have fond memories of competing in NFL Blitz tournaments at my local arcade, man I wish there was still an arcade in this town. Anyways, Take the formula for NBA Jam, throw it on to the grid-iron, watch the quarters fly. Cameo appearances, late hits, plenty of bone crushing moments. Blitz was, and still is a great way to kill a couple of hours.
3.Mutant League Football: I'm starting to notice a trend with my selections. For the most part they are arcade style football games instead of straight up simulators. Anyways, bonus points if anyone remembers this franchise. This game was just all sorts of crazy. It was as much a battlefield as it was a football game. Land mines, zombies, you name it, they were probably here.
2.NFL 2K5: The game that scared the shit out of Electronic Arts so much that they went and paid a bunch of money for exclusivity of the NFL rights. That's one way to kill your competition. I can't even really pinpoint what it was about this game that made it so much more appealing to me than Madden was. I just had a much more enjoyable experience.
1.Tecmo Bowl: Two words: Bo Jackson. - Quote :
- John Cash (Reader Voice, Occasional Contributor to Four Player Co-op)
5. Tecmo Bowl: For a long while this was the only football game I played because all the rest of them that came out when I was a kid felt too complicated. It's a very accessible game, and it's presentation, while archaic now, is still quite good. Tecmo Bowl is the kind of game you'd pull out at a gathering of all your childhood friends and play for 30 minutes before moving on to something else.
4. Madden 05: I'm not a fan of Madden games for the most part. They've gone so far into simulation that it barely even feels like you're playing a video game anymore, and instead are just doing a job. I have Madden 05 on my list purely because, when my brother was in college, he claimed that after years of me dominating him at arcade football games that I could never beat him at Madden. So I went to hang out with he and his friends one weekend, played Madden for the first time since it was John Madden Football, and spanked him 35-14 as the Jacksonville Jaguars.
3. Mutant League Football: This doesn't have so much to do with football as it is an excuse to have horrific acts of violence accessible to children, in hindsight. Its been ages since I played it, but I remember my favorite thing was bribing the referees, or killing the referee if he'd been bribed by the person I was playing against. There was just something cathartic about it I guess!
2. NFL 2K: I played this far later than I probably should have, but this is at just about the right level for a simulation sports game. It was fun and it didn't feel like it took itself too seriously. Pretty much anyone that's ever had a DreamCast has probably played this game, I imagine.
1. NFL Blitz / Blitz 2000 / Blitz 2001: On offense, choose "Da Bomb" as your play, hike the ball, walk backwards for as long as you can, and just as you're about to get sacked, jump and pass the ball to your receiver 90 yards away. My brother and I would do entire games of nothing but that, for hours on end. It was pretty much the only way to win when both players were putting in the same cheat codes. Oh man the cheat codes. We printed out every single cheat code, and this was back in the days of 56k internet, when a web page with more than 2 jpegs took 10+ minutes to load sometimes. One of the best parts was in the later games, you could take your N64 controller pak (that's Nintendese for memory card back then) to the arcade and plug in your stats and saved favorite play set-ups, which wasn't technically something new in arcades, but it was the only time it happened in an arcade where I grew up, if that makes sense. Its a shame they felt they had to take it the direction they did, and lost the NFL license, but overall those first three games for console were straight up magic. - Quote :
- Daniel Anderson (Co-Host of the Official 411 Games Zone Podcast "Cooperative Multiplayer," Games Fact or Fiction Organizer)
5. Backbreaker: This beat out some other well-known football games, but I really enjoyed the game. Sure at times it was too easy, but I loved how different it was from Madden and the passing controls felt very intuitive. I wish the game had gotten a sequel, because it had a lot of promise (and was really fun to play against friends online).
4. Madden Series: Yeah, yeah, I know, "it is just a yearly roster update," but when at its best, Madden is a good game. Not the best ever, but solid. You know what you are getting when you pick up a Madden game for better or worse. There have been better games than others, but overall Madden is one of the most consistently decent games in existence.
3. Blood Bowl: To be clear, I am talking about the PC version, not the broken console version. That being said, I love this game. Take the races from the Warhammer universe, have them play football, and watch the fun that comes. There are several races you can play as, each with their own strengths. Want to play a bruising team that tries to injure your opponents? There is a race for that. Want to run around and throw? There is a race for that too. A fun turn based football game (developed from the tabletop game) that works and is fun. What more can you ask for?
2. NFL 2K Series: I am counting the entire series here because, I tend to look at football games as part of the series rather than individual games. The 2K series of football games was my preferred football game for a while, because it just seemed to be more realistic than Madden. Sadly EA bought the exclusive NFL license rights, so we haven't gotten a 2K football game in a while, but man it was good while it lasted.
1. NFL Blitz Series: Part of the reason I like this franchise is the same as why I like Blood Bowl. Sim games are nice, but every now and then, you want to just relax and have fun. That is what NFL Blitz was. Fun. Was it over the top at times? Sure, but that was part of the charm of the game. When I played a lot of football games, I played more Blitz then I played Madden or 2K. Just a fun game all around, and I look forward to playing it again. Read more at http://www.411mania.com/games/columns/333594#STFoYov1Z2bKHMQd.99 Do you agree with the games in these lists? What are your top 5 football games? Here's mine: 5. NFL Blitz 4. Arena Football 3. NCAA Football series 2. Madden series 1. Mutant League Football |
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