NFL Blitz (PS1)

Other products by Midway

Product Details

• ASIN: B000021Y5Q
• Media: Video Game
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #14,989 in Video Games (See Bestsellers in Video Games)

Product Description

GameSpot Review

NFL Blitz is an arcade-style football game from the same team behind NBA Jam and NBA Hangtime. It packs the same punch as NBA Jam did when it was first released, with fast, loose gameplay that is as spectacular as it is addicting. While the PlayStation version is not arcade-perfect, it's close enough, with great gameplay and decent graphics.

NFL Blitz takes a few liberties with the rules of football. First of all, there are no penalties. You can dive into receivers long before the ball heads their way with no fear of getting called for pass interference. Secondly, it now takes 30 yards to get a first down. Given the scope and speed of this game, getting a first down every ten yards would have been far too easy. Also, the number of players on the field has been reduced to seven. There are 18 offensive plays and nine defensive plays, as well as plays for punting, a fake punt, field goals, and fake field goals.

The gameplay moves along very quickly once you've gotten a basic feel for things. The plays are pretty straightforward at first, though there are tons of different things you can do on each play, so as you play the game more and more, you'll figure out more and more little tricks. There are specialty moves like spins, dives, and stiff-arms, all of which will help you to gain more yardage when used appropriately. Pitting two players of the same skill level against each other turns the game into a strategic, nearly chess-like battle, while mismatched players can use the game's CPU assist, which helps people come from behind, keeping games close. Once you get reasonably good at the game, however, you'll want to disable the assistance and be judged purely on your own skill rather than rely on the cheap comebacks that the CPU assist provides.

The PlayStation does a good job of handling Blitz's graphics. It has been dropped from 60 frames per second to 30, and the field and players are significantly blockier, but the game runs at a very fast, very constant speed. The colors aren't quite as vibrant as the other versions of the game, but it still looks favorable.

Some extra speech that wasn't included in the arcade version has been added to this version, but you'd hardly notice. The speech is pretty random at times in terms of timeliness. Some phrases will be timed just right, but occasionally the announcer will announce the catch of a pass (or, in extreme cases, the throwing of one) after the play is already over. All the non-game music is intact, but the actual gameplay is without music.

The PlayStation version of NFL Blitz exposes Sony's NFL Xtreme as the cheap pretender it really is. If you're after arcade-style football, look no further than Blitz. It's easy enough to learn that even those of us that don't like sports games can easily get hooked. Blitz is the most addictive sports game ever created. Don't even rent Blitz. Just go buy it. You won't be sorry. --Jeff Gerstmann
--Copyright ©1999 GameSpot Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of GameSpot is prohibited. GameSpot and the GameSpot logo are trademarks of GameSpot Inc.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars NFL Blitz, July 28, 2000

By	Matt (California, United States) - See all my reviews

Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

I have this video game for the Playstation. I give it a 4 instead of a 5 because (this is just a personal thing) I don't like football that much. But if your a football fan I reccomend this game to you. You can chouse from any of the NFL football teams and play a single game or play a season and try to make it to the Super Boul.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Easy-to-learn football hijinks, November 10, 1999

By	Chris Adamson "invalidname" (Marietta, GA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This is the football game to play with friends and neighbors, since it only takes 5 minutes to learn the controls, yet there's still plenty of depth (and you can always handicap things by letting newcomers play with stronger teams).

Purists beware: this is "football with the boring parts taken out". First downs require 30 yards, there are 7 guys on each team, and quarters are five minutes long. In short, it's pass-happy, big-yardage hijinks.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best football game I have ever played., November 20, 1999

By A Customer

Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This game is a bone-crunching, finger jamming power trip. If you have played this game before you know what I am talking about. If you haven't then you should. Once you start you won't be able to stop. It is nothing like other typical football game like Nfl Gameday. Blitz takes out all the rules of normal football. It is 3 times as long to get a fist down, there is after the whistle hitting, the tackles are unbelievable. If you like football you will love this game.