NFL Xtreme

"Blitz is the better game, but this ain't bad"

NFL Xtreme and NFL Blitz are football's answers to basketball's NBA Jam. All these games feature the outrageous and over the top action of the sports, while bending(and often breaking) the rules. NFL Xtreme features all the NFL teams(except Browns and the Houston team) and a number of NFL players. The game is played on a five-on-five format, with no regard for rules. Everything goes, from pass interference to late hits. trash talk is abundant in the game as well as a lot of taunts. The hitting is violent and often causes the players to lose their helmets. Some players may even have their jersey's ripped out.
Quarterbacks can throw balls as far as possible. Its not rare to see 90+ yard passes in this games. Once you have the ball, you have a variety of moves to evade the defenders. You could spin, turbo and even somersault over the would be tackler.
One thing this game features that blitz doesn't is a create a player feature. You can create your own bruiser and give him various abilities. Unfortunately, Xtreme doesn't feature a create a play. This mode was a lot of fun in Blitz, as you could make your recievers run all sorts of crazy routes. The addition of this mode would make Xtreme a lot better game.
All in all, Blitz is the better game, but Xtreme isn't too bad. But, just like NBA Jam, the novelty wears thin after a while.

Graphics: 6.
The players all look the same. The tight end and the recievers look to be the same build. The animations are cool though, especially watching a player staggering around after getting popped in the head.

Sound: 6.
There isn't that much commentary and the trash talk is limited to just a few sentences. The sound effects and the crowd noises are decent though.

Gameplay: 7.
Similar to most football games of now. Snap the ball and pass to the reciever with the icon on his head. The computer is very easy.

Replay Value: 6.
Its good fun for a short time, but soon you would want to play a realistic football game like Madden.

Overall: 6.
Blitz provides more fun, due to the create a play, but you can count on Xtreme for a few hours of entertainment.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 03/07/00, Updated 03/07/00