NFL Blitz 20-02

"Not the best, but still a good buy."

Ok, back in March I was presented with a dilemma. Either buy this, or Madden NFL 2002. I went with Madden, since it was more realistic, but I later got Blitz simply because my cousins LOVED it.

Gameplay: 8/10

-It was ok, but it left something to be desired. It has all the fun of regular football, but full-contact. I guess the XFL must have been based on this. Anyway, there are a few problems:
1) No create-a-player or create-a-team, like Madden has. This was acceptable, just play with the regular teams, nothing wrong with that. The impact player is kinda nice, too, but the playbooks are somewhat limited. I would have preferred one of these options, though.
2) Too hard. Even on the easiest difficulty, I could not beat the computer. I will get into this more later.
3) Not enough options. There's quickplay, exhibition, season, and tournament. Madden has these plus practice, 2 minute drill, training, and a few more little things. This has 4 little movies you can unlock. Wow.

Graphics: 7/10

-Everyone looks the same, except for skin color and uniform. They're all tall, muscular, and slim. Even the linebackers. At least the crowd looks a LOT better than in Madden. Also, the cheerleaders in the menus look ok.

Controls: 6/10

-You can only edit them in-game, and it doesn't save the settings to the memory card. Plus, it doesn't tell you what every button does, just some. I don't even know what button you press to hurdle, I just wait till it does it automatically.

Sounds/Music: 7/10

-The music is actually ok, better than the music in Madden 2002, and the players make funny comments every so often, but these get repetitive quickly, and that get's annoying. Also, the commentators re-use lines more than John Madden and Pat Summerall. At least the lines make some sense though.

Difficulty: 8/10

-Hard. Too hard. I like games I can't win at immediately, but if I can't win any games of the easiest settings with the team with the best offense against the team with the second worst defense, well.... I don't like that. I give it an 10 because it is challenging, but -2 because it is TOO challenging.

Buy/Rent: RENT

-Don't get me wrong, this is a nice game, but it just lacks something. I recommend trying it first, then if you like it, buy it. It's only $20 new, $15 used.

Overall: 7/10

-It was ok, but definitely not the best. Still, football is the sport of kings (or is that golf?) and just about any game portraying it must have numerous advantages over others. So, as I said before, try before you buy.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 09/22/02, Updated 09/22/02