NFL Blitz Review

For Arcade

Rating: Awesome
  When I first heard about Midway's NFL Blitz, I was more 
than a little skeptical.  Sure, NBA Jam was great (at least 
until they re-hashed it 20 times), but NHL Open Ice never 
really captured arcade-style hockey like NBA Jam captured 
arcade-style basketball.  Converting football into a 
fast-paced arcade-style game sounds like an even harder task,
so I wasn't expecting much from NFL Blitz.  However, I 
figured I may as well give the game a shot, and it was 
definitely a pleasant surprise.  The game features all the 
real NFL teams and the biggest superstar players from those 
teams, in a fast-paced football game where it's all about 
quick action and little else.  It doesn't have the depth of 
NFL GameDay '98, but as a fast-paced arcade game, it's not 
supposed to.  The gameplay itself is incredibly fun, with a 
simple three-button control layout that is simple to learn 
but hard to master.  Offense is completely pass-based, and 
the passing system of moving the joystick in the appropriate
direction to highlight the open receiver is well done.  
Defense is also nicely executed, with brilliant speed bursts
that can lead to awesome quarterback sacks if pressed at the
right moment.  Also, in a nice touch, games go to as many 
overtimes as it takes until one team wins.  You have to keep
pumping quarters in between every period, but the gameplay 
experience is so entertaining and satisfying that you will 
keep pumping in the quarters without the slightest bit of 
hesitation.  And the quarters actually last fairly long for 
a fast-paced game of this kind, so you really get a lot for 
your money.  NFL Blitz may not be as good on the PlayStation
and Nintendo 64 as it is on the Arcade since it has to last 
for months without getting old on the home systems, but for 
a casual game at the arcade, it doesn't get much better than
this.

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