Being one of the biggest weekends in the American sporting calendar, you may wonder what significance the playing of Super Bowl 46 would have on us here in the UK. Well you might be surprised to know that tens of thousands of us will be sitting up well into the early hours of Monday morning watching those padded up superstars of the NFL bash each other senseless. It does seem quite funny to call the winners World Champions though, seeing as the sport is only played by American teams…………I can hear that can of worms opening from here…….

 

Giants vs Patriots - who's going to win ? Who cares ?

Anyway here’s a look at two different NFL games that may or may not have grabbed your attention in the past, the first on the Amiga and the second on the Sega Master System.

 

TV SPORTS FOOTBALL (1988, CINEMAWARE)

 

Fond memories of one of the better examples of American Football

 

Pick your team and play through an entire American Football season, including playoffs and the final. This game is not NFL licensed so all the players are generically named and the team names aren’t in full but you can edit these to suit. It also comes with all the statistics you need for your team and the league so you can see how your players are fairing. The game comes fully presented with TV style graphics, a pre game show and some impressive animated cut-scenes. There is an, albeit limited, choice of plays on both sides of the ball as well as the usual punting and kicking. So strap on those shoulder pads and get blocking !

 

Each game comes with a TV style presentation, which really adds to the atmosphere and the glossy package

 

What strikes you most about all Cinemaware games is how lovely they look, and this one is no different. The amazing TV style presentation when first seen is very impressive, including the bizarre sponsors of some of the games. For stats geeks there is plenty of information to be gathered and scanned through and ,with the facility to edit teams and player names, you can carry on playing with up-to-date rosters if you wish. The music is great, with some great tunes and sampled speech. It is just a shame that, played now some 24 years after release, the actual game is very basic. You have a small selection of plays and the whole thing moves incredibly slowly, even compared to some of the early Madden games.

 

The game does suffer from basic in game visuals and a lack of variety in available plays

 

I loved this when I first had it and whilst there is still a fondness in my heart for it, played against some of the modern games of its genre, it can’t stand up. However, as a gem of it’s time, it was fun to play, looked the part and at least gave UK NFL fans something to play on until the Madden series made it over here.

 

JOE MONTANA FOOTBALL (1990, SEGA)

 

One of the biggest names of 1980's NFL football stars ina pretty average representation of the hard hitting sport

 

Joe Montana Football is a licensed game, with the 4 time Super Bowl winning quarterback on the front. Choosing from only 16 teams, which are not NFL licensed so all generically named, you play through a regular season, playoffs and Super Bowl. All the regular features for an American Football game are included, as well as plenty of statistics. As with most games of its type from the time, this was played from a side on view, with the ability to select different players and diving tackles as features.

 

As with TV Sports Football, there is a real lack of depth to the amount of plays you can choose from

 

It’s hard to be nice to this game because, although the developers tried hard to make it look good, play well and be as good a representation of American Football as it could be, it was doomed on release – coming out at the same time was John Madden Football.

 

From the outset Joe Montana Football was overshadowed, with only 16 teams (12 short of a full NFL), limited playbook, side on view and sluggish gameplay. Madden games on the other hand had a tendency to flow, hundreds of plays in the playbook and preferred a first person viewpoint.

 

Compared to John Madden Football this is a fairly average effort lacking real depth and come in a pretty distant second

 

Joe Montana Football wasn’t a bad game, it just wasn’t as good as it’s rival released at almost exactly the same time. It’s fair to say it wasn’t much better than what was already on the market. When it comes to 4th and 1 and you need a quarterback sneak, up pops Madden and turns a potential first down into a 5 yard loss.