Genesis

Jerry Glanville's Pigskin Footbrawl

The game is very fast-paced and should hold the interest of even the shortest attention span. The only stoppages in play occur after a team has scored a touchdown. While there are several formations to choose from by pressing the A Button, you're not going to get the "realism" of selecting plays and calling audibles that you would in, say, a John Madden Football game. If realism is what you're after, in fact, don't even bother with this one. Jerry Glanville's Pigskin Footbrawl is just all about fun.

What this game has to do with real football (and why Jerry Glanville would endorse it) are beyond me. This translation of the Midway arcade cult classic is extremely precise. The graphics are presented well, although, there never is much on the screen. The game is fun as a two-player contest, but not overwhelming.

The two playing fields consist of a meadow and a coliseum, and the medieval cartoon graphics give the game a distinct personality. But although the premise of Footbrawl is great, the implementation is lacking. For one thing, you can only control a single player (can't even switch), and your guy is constantly off the screen. The field is filled with too many obstacles that are almost impossible to avoid. The animation is rough, and you have zero control during fights. I discovered that positioning your man to the endzone and waiting for a long throw is an effective (but very cheap) strategy. The voice samples ("ouch!") are repetitive and too loud. There are a few nice touches like a green troll that enters the game late to help out the losing team. Footbrawl could have used more polish, but the game can still generate some fun.