"No refs, No rules, No mercy!"

When I heard about NFL Blitz 2000 being released as a Dreamcast game, I got very excited, since I was addicted to the arcade game, and now I could play it at home without wasting 20 dollars a day in tokens! So when I bought it, I was not disappointed.

Story: N/A

This is a football game, and football games usually don't have stories, and this one is no exception.

Graphics: 7

The player models look a little blocky, but that does not stop them from looking like what they do in real life. The background art tends to be pretty ugly, like the sunset that is only orange and black, but the others are decent. The playbook is laid out nicely, and pretty easy to navigate. Not to mention that you can hide your play from your opponent of you press Up twice really fast, and use your VMU to choose your play. Not to mention they added a really cool opening.

Sound / Audio: 8

The sounds of the player grunts and tackling are done nicely here, and the same goes with the other side effects. I don't know if this is only my copy, but if it isn't here it is. There seems to be a glitch that nearly every time I turn it on, the sound just disappears, and I can't get it back on until I turn it off. Okay, back to the sounds. The best part of the sounds by far is the announcer. He does a little play to play, but if you give a player a late hit while he is down on the ground, you get to hear the real funny stuff, like ''Someone call the meat wagon!'' or ''I'm pretty sure that's not in the rulebook'' or ''Decapitated him! Ohhoh! It would be a 10 except for the glitch that may only be on my copy, and that there should have been more announcer quotes!

Gameplay: 7

This game is like I took the rulebook, ate it, pooped it out, jumped on it, and then flushed it down the toilet. Yep, absolutely no rules! Instead of the NFL standard 11 on 11, they removed some players to make it 7 on 7! Plus it takes 30 yards for a first down, instead of the standard 10. If you want to play real life football, don't buy this game and go for NFL2K. Besides Exhibition mode, there are other modes you can play, such as Tournament mode, where you play a tournament with up to 8 teams. Or Season mode, where you play a full 17 game season then enter the playoffs for a chance to win the Super Bowl if you make it all the way! You can also create your own plays, in Play Editor mode. There is also a 4-player mode which is 2 on 2 football, so all your friends can play. There is also the On Fire mode, on which if you complete to the same receiver three times in a row, or sack the quarterback for a loss twice in a row you will be On Fire! Some people will complain about the lack of any plays, with only 27 offensive plays (36 if you create 9 plays) and 9 defensive plays. But I find this easier for me.

Challenge: 7

This game does not hold back on you. When you first begin the game, even Easy mode will be tough for you to beat, but as you get better you might even be able to beat Medium mode. But the challenge mode is just based on the default difficulty you are placed on, Medium. Easy mode would be a Challenge of about 5, and Hard mode would be a 9. So this game is definitely more challenging than other football games out there.

Replayability: 8

The one player mode of this game will soon not become fun, but the multi player modes will more than make up for this. 2 on 2 football with 4 players, exhibitions against each other, this is a great multi player game, just like it is in the arcades.

Buy or Rent?:

This depends on how you like your football games. If you like realistic football, you should go and spend your money on NFL2K instead. But if you are like me, someone who loves arcade games, then you should definitely buy this one instead. But if you already got NFL2K, buy this game for a real cheap price.

Overall: 7.4 rounded down to 7

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 07/16/03, Updated 07/16/03