NFL Blitz

If you haven't been baptized by Blitz in the last year or so, than you have no business calling yourself a game player. Midway's astonishingly addictive NFL Blitz is possibly the most fun and addictive arcade game ever developed. Much better than other jam style sports games like NBA Jam and the Wayne Gretzky 3-D Hockey titles, Blitz has enough in-your-face chutzpa to charm the token off of anyone. Even if you are not a football fan you are bound to enjoy this highly detailed, obnoxiously unrealistic, hyper-fast interpretation of the sport.

ANYTHING GOES

The simple rule of Blitz is that after the coin toss, anything goes. There are no calls for late hits or pass interference. You have four downs to make 30 yards to first down again. The clock stops after every play. There are three buttons in the game, Pass, Jump and Turbo, instead of the usual 8 or 12 you'll contend with in other NFL games. The control is extremely intuitive and is easily one of the most addictive elements in the game (how many people won't play football games with you because they find them too complicated?).

The game plays insanely fast. The hits are cartoonish and completely over the top. The special moves and hidden secrets are plentiful. There is a season mode so you can play through an exaggerated NFL season with any one of your favorite teams. You can also create your own plays and introduce them to your unsuspecting opponents. And in an extremely bold move, Midway has allowed you to take your N64 Memory Pak from home, bring it into the arcade, and plug your plays into the brand new NFL Blitz '99! Are you excited yet?

Bottom line: NFL Blitz is "pick up and play" easy to learn and "can't put down" irresistible fun. It may be the finest Nintendo 64 cartridge of the year (uh, if you overlook a certain sword wielding adventurer who fancies wearing green tights).

BIG AND BEAUTIFUL

While it's true that the arcade version of NFL Blitz sports a higher-res polish than the Nintendo 64 conversion, you'd have to be one hell of a cynic to be bitter about the way the graphics turned out in this cart.

The players are huge! And they sport incredibly fluid motion captured animations and a level of detail unseen in any other football game (including last year's QBC 98). With oversized cartoon muscles ripping through their jerseys and blistering speed unmatched anywhere else, these monsters would chew up the linebackers in most other 3-D football games in a second.

It's not just the players that look awesome in Blitz. The arenas have also been rendered with true flair. Advertising and "Go Team!" banners are draped over the crowd control dividers. The on-field chalk marks and NFL logos are perfectly crisp. And in the distance you can see the huge Jumbotron TV broadcasting the carnage to the attending fans. Of course, you can expect environmental flourishes like rain, snow and night games to add to the presentation.

NFL Blitz looks fantastic. Next year's rev will probably be even more polished and sport a higher resolution (thanks to the 4MB RAM Pak) but there's really little to complain about this year. You're going to love the way this game looks.

BIG AND BEAUTIFUL PART 2

Almost as electrifying as the visuals in the game are the cart's sound effects and music. The Nintendo 64 has had its fair share of dogs in the audio department but I can assure you that you'll want to keep the volume cranked when you play Blitz. Every noise in the game has been lovingly treated. This cartridge sounds brilliant!

The fans are completely in tune with what's happening on the field. If you're a visiting team, be prepared to be called down for your heroics and if you're the home team, the fans will go appropriately nuts for you. The announcer just goes completely mental when you perform a particularly nasty tackle � which is on every play! And if you score a touchdown (or defend one), you can expect some seriously cool and very funny player grandstanding as the pros dance, saunter and tell you who's boss.

The players, by the way, are extremely vocal when they are in the heat of battle. It's this constant barrage of yells and aggressive taunts that really puts you out onto the field. If you close your eyes during a game of NFL Blitz, you'd have to work hard not to smile.

The music in the game, although brief, is equally pleasing. Of course, a rousing Monday Night/Fox Football-style anthem is introduced but it doesn't seem nearly as pompous as similar tunes in other games � maybe it's because Blitz doesn't take itself too seriously. I really enjoyed the funky hip-hop flavored dance groove that hits you at half time � I wished it would continue and that guy from NBA Hang Time (or maybe Buck Bumble's rapper ) would kick into a rap.

HESITATE AND FEEL THE HURT

If you don't have a copy of NFL Blitz in your Nintendo 64 collection, you're only hurting yourself. This cartridge is the great equalizer. It is the game that will be stuck in every N64 at every party for the rest of the year. Your friends will love it. Your mom will be able to play it. Your girlfriend will kill you at it. Your dad will cry like a baby. And you won't be able to stop playing.

Yes, the game is a lot more fun against a friend than it is against the computer but when you get bored taking on the CPU, you can always start making and saving various plays. I really don't have anything to gripe about. As far as it goes for arcade style, unstoppably fun football games, NFL Blitz for the Nintendo 64 is as close to perfect as it gets. Buy it and smile.

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