"Not quite the rocking competition of football games."

When you hear the phrase, NFL, the idea of football comes to most people's mind. The idea of intense tackles, bursting runs, and risky passes is what makes professional football such a unique and invigorating sport. Back in the earlier days of football games, there wasn't much to choose from. Aside from the progressing Madden series, Sega needed its own combo punch to make up for what Madden was consuming. Sega eventually released its own patented series called NFL. NFL 95' is the sequel to the original, but suffers from flaws that prevents it from being perfect. While the game is one of the first to incorporate new franchise features like free agency, and trading, NFL 95' suffers from the key elements of a fundamental football game. With slow based gameplay, a disappointing rushing system, and a lacking passing attack, NFL 95' falls up short to the first down.

Graphics [6/10]
Most semi-classic sports games weren't too appealing to the genre. One of the biggest problems developers had with sports games was the pure and simple fact that it was nearly impossible to recreate that 3D rush on TV. Limited hardware forced developers to come up with more linear ideas, and this prevented sports games from becoming the pinnacle of any system. When you start your first game in NFL 95', the camera angle is mainly played from a behind the view system. Most of the playing field is visible for up to 20 yards, and your characters are depicted as small figures. The best feature of the camera angle is that you get a well-depicted view of the football field. You can see nearly every player, allowing the gamer to depict whether a blitz is coming. Aside from that, uniforms are colorful allowing the player to distinguish between varying teams like the Falcons, Bengals, and Seahawks. In-game animations are somewhat depressing though. Most of your players will make simple putt-putt frame movements which almost appears as if they're moving in slow motion. Catches look hardly realistic, and it almost appears as if they're waving their hands in the air on a rollercoaster.

On the other hand, NFL 95' does a decent job in presentation and framerate. Most of the gameplay is smooth, allowing you to percept your open receiver, and fire a bullet. Interfaces feature readable stats, player profiles, and even a few mini snap shots of your player in action. Compared to other football games, NFL 95' boasts an easy access interface. The biggest complaint has to deal with the actual playing environment. Stadiums have no difference whatsoever. As a matter of fact, you can't even see the stands or seating in any arena. Sidelines are non-existent, and heck, there's not even a background on a field goal kick. The Sega developers really goofed up on the visuals because it almost seems as if your football team is playing inside of a giant, empty box. This is not the environment any hardcore football fan wants to experience his action in. Overall, NFL 95' boasts nothing more than average graphics.

Sound/Music [7/10]
Many early sports games are rarely noted for the audio details since most systems were limited in hardware. Most of the time, it was nearly impossible to get commentary in a game, and the overall sports presentation became partially ruined. Thankfully, Sega put some effort into the sound department in NFL 95'. To start off, the most outstanding feature is the sound effects. Every grunt, swashbuckling tackle, and reception has their own distinctive sound. It even gets better as the crowd will make ''Boos!'' and ''Aaahs!'', during gameplay. NFL 95' helps setup the feeling of an actual football game based on the audio effects alone. There are actually voice recorded taunts and clips which give the game a jovial effect. If your pass is intercepted, you'll hear the announcer yell ''Interception!'' These sort of features is what sets it apart from your typical football game. Unlike tedious games which force you to anticipate a call, NFL 95' will set off a quick ''First Down!'' sound to let you know if you got a first down or not. Music is actually well composed, with over 10+ tunes for different situations in the game. Most of the songs have jazz-based backgrounds, but fit well to the game's overall theme. The only lacking portion in the audio is that of the actual quality. Clips tend to get fuzzy and sound a bit hoarse, like someone just ate spicy chili. For the most part though, you'll be moderately impressed.

Gameplay [4/10]
Dropping into the pocket, avoiding the incoming rusher, and sending a lob to your wide open receiver can make any player grin in joyfulness. Unfortunately, Sega's new ''enhanced'' gameplay is not quite up to the challenge. NFL 95' is a football based sports game that takes place in the National Football League. The idea of the game is to pick a team, and lead them to victory in the superbowl. Back in 1995, there were currently 28 different teams in the league you could choose from. Gameplay modes range from a single exhibition game, to a new 1992, 1993, and 1994 season. However, the biggest flaws in NFL 95' show quite blaringly in the gameplay system. First off, it's much like any other football game. You take control of the quarterback on passing plays, and the receivers when the ball is in mid-air. You're also given control of running backs on rushing plays, and just about every decision making play on the field. The worst flaw though of NFL 95's gameplay system is the actual pace of the game. Quite frankly, the game moves too slow for a football game. Passing is a dreadful attack, as most passes seemed to be lobbed like tomatoes. There's absolutely no velocity after the ball gets released from your quarterback's hand.

Receiving is a tedious problem as NFL 95' intentionally incorporated a new feature that let's you take control of the wide receiver. In a sense, it sounds brilliant. However, attempting to catch a ball with your receiver is a painful task. Many receivers do not catch the ball right on the dot. You're forced to tap the A button every time you want to make a catch. The running game is VERY, very weak in NFL 95'. Players do not move quick enough to get meaningful gains. Controls were designed poorly as you're only capable of using one speed burst per play, and you can continually break tackles by repeating spins. Diving on a running play almost yields an automatic 4 yards since your players dive too far. Overall, the game just suffers from a fundamentally lacking gameplay system. On the defensive side of the ball, play is much more realistic. Holes will open up in your defensive line, forcing you to rely on linebackers and safeties to make your tackles. The pass rush is decent, allowing your ends and nose tackles to penetrate the line before it's too late. Really though, the downfall of NFL 95's gameplay comes from its own lacking elements.

Fun [6/10]
Football is suppose to provide a good balance of action, and fast paced fury. The game is such an exciting sport because of those big plays that occur every so often during a game. Unfortunately, NFL 95' isn't exactly the most fun sports game out there. The biggest problems comes from its gameplay system which truly burns out any hope in big plays. Those big long rushing touchdowns rarely occur because your runningbacks will rarely break away from the line. Limited speed bursts means you'll almost always get cut down from behind. Passing is such a slow bore that it almost seems a waste. If the game was a tad faster, it may be more impressive to the actual player, but it simply isn't. Despite these glaringly negative outputs, NFL 95's does put up a few field goals. The game is relatively addicting because of the new features it has. Being able to pick up free agents, and make somewhat deceptive trades is great for the season mode. It's very fun to rush in this game, since you can break a lot of tackles by spinning, and the downfall is a higher risk of a fumble. Diving for that first down can make the winning difference in your team's success. Sure, NFL 95' might not have the spike that modern sports games provide, but it certainly brings gamers back to the retro era.

Replayability [8/10]
If there was one key factor that any sports game excels at, it's definitely replay value by far. NFL 95' was one of the first football games to incorporate new features that impressed gamers. Aside from exhibition play, the idea of a season mode is great for those ''franchise'' players out there. Season mode allows you to start a new 92, 93, or 94 year. Being able to select from 28 different (official) teams is an impressive feature. Seeing old-time favorites like Jerry Rice, and Emmitt Smith in their prime is always a joyful experience. The new features of free agency and trading is definitely an improvement over past football games. Not only that, but NFL 95' keeps full coverage of your team stats, individual player stats, and even league leaders. Each player in the game has player ratings, which separates the boys from the girls. Rather than being limited to one team in season mode, you can select as many games as you want to play between different teams. All of the players are real, and registered with the NFL Players Association. If you are looking for a ''true'' football game out there, then NFL 95' is capable of meeting most fans of the time. It has just about every feature any football fanatic looks forward to, except for a decent gameplay system.

Difficulty [4/10]
One of the more overlooked downfalls of NFL 95' is the pure lack of difficulty. Another large problem with the game is that there are no set difficulties. The entire game plays under one ''general'' difficulty, which actually sucks. Computer AI is sometimes stupid, and makes ridiculous playcalls. Calling a simple up-the-middle rush on a 3rd and 11 makes completely no sense. AI seems to be too conservative, not forcing blitzes on key situations. While the game does a good job on the offensive side of the ball (probably too good), defense seems easily overlooked. Teams with lower player ratings match quite well to realism. Yes, the Bengals will ''fumble'' and throw ''interceptions'' like there's no tomorrow. In the end though, NFL 95' is simply too easy for an average sports fan. Besides a glaringly low difficulty, it also suffers from a painful gameplay system. These two do not mix together well.

Final Factor [6/10]
As much as I'd love to wave a banner saying that this is the Madden killer, Sega goofed up slightly with NFL 95'. Rather than getting a football game that blows the competition away (like it says on the actual game box), you're left with a slightly above average football game. NFL 95' features new impressive details, such as up to 4 players (multi-tap) being able to play a game at once. The game also has an integrated battery which let's you save your current season, rather than using tedious passwords. Even with the free agency and trading ideas, this doesn't make up for a lacking gameplay system. NFL 95' is simply too flawed for its own good. Slow gameplay simply doesn't catch up to real football. If you're a hardcore football fanatic, I'd recommend you give a look into NFL 95' for the Genesis. It's certainly one of the fewer decent games for the system, but Madden seems to blow this one out of the water.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 09/01/03