The Friday Five: My All-time favorite video football games (Hazy Memories Version)

As long as I’ve played video games, I’ve always enjoyed sports titles more than anything. More specifically, football is where it was at when I started out, and it’s still my favorite sports-type game today. I think football has always been more appealing not just because I enjoy watching it more than any other sport, but because, quite simply, the seasons are shorter. The 16 games of an NFL season are just more bearable than slogging through a 162-game MLB season or even the 82 games of an NBA season.

With that said, here are my top five football games of all time:

5. NFL Blitz (PSX)

NBA Jam was a big deal back in the mid-90’s – both in the arcades and at home – so when a football themed game came out, it was sure to be a hit.

Blitz was the first game I bought for the original Playstation, and I played it for hours, even coming back to it when I added more games to my collection. Being an arcade game, the rules were stretched for Blitz: 30 yards for a first down, no pass interference, free extra points, etc. That was no matter, however, as the game was simply fun as hell to play. Where else would you be able to elbow drop your opponent after he ripped off a 50-yard pass on you?

Despite the fun factor, the game did have its shortcomings. There was no season mode, though for an arcade game that was understandable. The passing mechanism seemed counterintuitive; I never really figured out how to pick a specific receiver at a specific time. And finally, there was no create-a-player mode. This seems like an oversight – custom tackles/late hit moves, anyone? – considering that just about every other game on the market had it at the time. But despite these minor annoyances, the game had an undeniable replay factor, and for that, it sneaks in on my list.

4. NFL ’95 (Genesis)

If my memory serves me correctly, this is the game that replaced Joe Montana’s Sports Talk Football or whatever the hell it was called. It doesn’t make the list because it was flashy or innovative. It’s here for a selfish reason.

I was kinda good at it.

NFL ’95 was on par with the other games of its time; it had real NFL players, a full season mode, running stats, etc. The gameplay was slower compared to the Madden series at the time, which in hindsight is probably why I was good at it in the first place. Like all video games to some extent, the game was susceptible to ridiculous blowout scores. I once lent the game to a friend, only to come back and look at his season and see scores of 84-0 and 72-6. Just because someone can dominate the game doesn’t mean it sucks, though.

One thing that ties this game to every other game on this list – except for Blitz – is that it had a bread-and-butter play that you could exploit time and again for big gains or touchdowns. In this case, mine was the HB Screen. Brett Favre to Edgar Bennett. Those were good times.

3. Quarterback Club ’96 (Genesis)

QB Club would’ve been primed to fade away into the footnotes of video football history if it wasn’t for one mode on the game: the Historical Simulations. For those not in the know, the game gave you scenarios for you to play out; most were from the past; some of them were set in the future. Either way, your mission was to change history (or write it, in the case of playing Super Bowl 40: Panthers vs. Jaguars). Were you a long-suffering Buffalo Bills fan who desperately wanted Scott Norwood’s kick in Super Bowl XXV to be good? Did you hate the Packers so much that you’d like to erase their victory in Super Bowl I? Then this game mode is perfect for you. The scenarios ranged from quickies like 4^th-and-long, last-second Hail Marys to trying to come back from 20 down with 14:00 left in the 4^th quarter. There were 50 in all (and you got some secret thing or another for beating them all), and I spent more time trying to beat them than playing the actual game.

And what about the standard game mode? It was nothing special from what I remember. I don’t think there was even a regular season mode at that point in the series. But the animation was pretty sweet for being on the Genesis, so from a visual standpoint QB Club ’96 had something going for it. But the Historical Simulation Mode was the highlight, and it was an addition to a game that I believe launched the movement towards the plethora of mini-games and modes we see now in the Madden series.

2. Madden (2005-Present, PS2)

I nominate a time period here for a couple of reasons: 1) In the 90’s, the series pretty much sucked. It might have something to do with the fact that I suck, but this is my list. The create-a-player mode first implemented in Madden ’96 was a fucking joke. You had to put your player through drills (that amounted to a bunch of button-mashing) in order to determine how good he was. The gameplay itself seemed sloppy and inconsistent. The running game was almost non-existent. But that would all change once the PS2 versions came out.

(I was a Gameday fan on the PS1, so if the game started getting good then, I stand corrected.)

In addition to all the standards we have come to know and love, Madden 2005 and beyond added a metric shit-ton of features to make your video football experience as realistic as possible. Instead of seasons, you got to run the whole franchise. A superstar mode was added – which I never played – where you could make your created player into an icon both on and off the field. Training camp drills, practices, e-mail alerts… Jesus H. Christ on a crutch it was overkill! But it was still the best game in town. (I never had the experience of playing the “2K” series from Sega, so bear with me here.)

The graphics were stellar; the options, as I stated before, were endless. All of the sudden, the passing and running games were realistic. And of course, you got John Madden’s trademark commentary.

Not to be a killjoy, or a smarmy internet hater, but the series does have its faults. For one, the pass coverage is ridiculous. Defenders come out of nowhere to knock the pass down or intercept it. There is no pass interference to be found. Long passes, at least for me, are always a gamble that I seem to lose. The other complaint I have is that, for a lesser player such as myself, the game can get to complicated against a human opponent. Line shifts, coverage audibles, blitz coverage, and hot routes… a certain mastery of these things are necessary to defeat the Madden fanatic. I don’t have the patience to do so. However, that doesn’t take away from the face that is the best football game today. And now, with EA’s exclusive NFL license, for all intents and purposes, Madden is the only game today. Football is Madden. Madden is football. Become assimilated or be destroyed.

1. Tecmo Super Bowl

So much has been written about TSB that I’m not sure what to say that hasn’t already be said. Mention the name “Bo Jackson” and I bet most any guy aged 20-30 immediately thinks of Tecmo. I wonder if it’s just nostalgia that makes this game so memorable. Is it just the retro cool of the game that makes guys my age nearly cream their pants? I don’t know.

What I do know is that Tecmo Super Bowl is the Nirvana of video football games. I don’t think it is remembered for what it was, but for what it stood for. It blew the roof off of what was around at the time. It wasn’t the most technically gifted (though it was way ahead of its time with full seasons, rosters, and running stats.) but God damn was it good.

Much like a Nirvana song, you could just pick up and play. The games were quick and simple, the action was furious. Sure, it was quite easy to run up the score against the computer, but that just led to new challenges like trying to rush for 400 yards with the Raiders or throw 10 TD passes in a game with Joe Montana. For such a simple game, the possibilities seemed endless.

The Nirvana comparisons stop with age, however, because as time went on the TSB brand went down the drain. If you’ve never played it on Genesis or SNES, don’t bother. It sucks.

Tecmo Super Bowl gave us the long-standing tradition of the “no fucking way” game; no matter how good you’ve been playing, there comes a game when the computer has all the answers. My most memorable was when I led the Houston Oilers to a 14-2 regular season record, cruised through the playoffs… and then got my ass handed to me in the Super Bowl 26-2 by the 49ers. This may seem like a major flaw in the game – and it is, to an extent – but I keep coming back for more. Every once in awhile, anyway.

Unlike my previous video football shortcomings, this game was actually fun to play against other people. And that’s what video games are supposed to be about, right?