NES Play Action Football

The Good
Ten years ago I would have been downright embarrassed to admit that NES Play Action Football was one of my all-time favorite NES games (sports or otherwise). I actually went out of my way to find an old copy of this game on eBay a few years ago just to see if I still liked it as much as I did when it came out. Amazingly, the answer is “almost.” No matter how many times I play this cart, and no matter how many flaws become apparent, I still adore it.

I am definitely going against the critical tide on this one; if you look around on the Web, I think you’ll find that most people dislike this game. Most of the criticisms strike me as unfair and even a bit ahistorical. The graphics, for example, are nothing special—but they are clear and colorful, and they more than get the job done. The same goes for the music and sound. I will always have that catchy little action tune running somewhere in my subconscious! Besides…who can’t be impressed with digitized speech in an 8-bit title? (More on that below).

The real draw of the game at the time of release (and maybe today as well) is the presence of real NFL players. Now that may seem like no big whoop now, after umpteen years of Madden games, but when Play Action Football came out, it was brand new. If this wasn’t the very first console game to have real football players in it, then it must have come pretty darn close. These aren’t average joes, either. We’re talking certified Hall of Fame legends here: Joe Montana, John Elway, Dan Marino, and Lawrence Taylor, just to name a few. If you couldn’t get excited about that in 1990, then you had no business calling yourself a football fan! The selection of teams was astute as well. Most of the teams are playoff-caliber, with a few exceptions just because they had star players and represented key geographic areas (Chicago Bears, Miami Dolphins).

I think what really makes this game so darn lovable to me is all of the nice little touches here and there. There are chain measurements when the spot is close to the first down marker, and whenever you get a first down, the referee calls it out in digitized speech. When you make an interception or score a touchdown, you get an attractive “big screen instant replay” cut scene. Unlike many games of this era, you play full fifteen-minute quarters. Team statistics are displayed at the end of every quarter. Things like this, along with the impressive-looking playbook, make the game feel much more realistic than it really is.

By the way, unlike most console football games of the 20th century, you can actually run the ball effectively in Play Action Football! And did I mention that there is actual directional kicking, which even the vaunted Tecmo Bowl didn’t have?

I should also add that this game is praised (even by detractors) as one of the few games to make good use of the NES 4-player multitap. I haven’t ever played this game against human opponents myself, but if the people who hate this game give it multiplayer props, then I’ll take their word for it.

The Bad
Obviously, the fact that I love this game doesn’t mean it’s flawless. Indeed, some people will say the game is so seriously flawed that they can’t enjoy it, which is a cryin’ shame.

I suppose, for example, that there aren’t really enough teams here. Eight teams is a good mark for the time of release, but Tecmo Super Bowl included every single NFL team just a year or so after this cart came out! There are no official team mascot names or logos either, so you are only getting “Miami,” and not the beloved Dolphins. Also, the great wide receiver Jerry Rice is noticeably absent from the 49ers’ roster.

The game action unfolds quite slowly, especially compared to Tecmo Bowl. If you like running and pulling off complicated plays, then this is your game, since it gives you plenty of time to work with. Also problematic is the weak opponent AI. Frankly, the AI has a tendency to behave insanely at times—faking punts deep in its own territory, not calling timeouts when it obviously should, and attempting long field goals while passing up shorter, almost automatic ones. It’s as if the AI was programmed to consistently snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

This combination of slow action and easy solo mode means that, while NES Play Action Football is a blast to play, it just isn’t a very challenging title. It is certainly possible for the human player to lose to the CPU, but you can’t seriously expect to be beaten when you take the best team (San Francisco) for yourself. The lack of difficulty is especially disappointing considering the absence of a “coach” mode (a la Tecmo Super Bowl) that might have helped to even the odds. Then again, I may be the only person left in the world who enjoys using the coach mode in American football games, so perhaps it doesn’t really matter.

The Bottom Line
Not perfect by any means, Play Action Football is still a helluvalotta fun to play. Only the classic Tecmo Super Bowl offers clearly superior gridiron competition on the NES.

REVIEW DATA
Last Update: 9-13-2009
Review System: NES Top-Loader (USA-NTSC)
Star Rating: ***+ (out of five)

The Good
NES Play Action Football was years ahead of its time. Unlike arcadey games like Tecmo Bowl and 10-Yard-Fight, NES Play Action Football was a football simulation. Of course, being on the NES, it was technically limited. However, it was still light years ahead of the rest, and it took Madden a couple tries before it could surpass it.

NES Play Action Football plays slowly and methodically. The "big play" is possible, but the game is about putting together long drives. The playbook is pretty varied - about 24 offensive plays and 16 defensive plays, and some plays can be executed in different ways. Each team has a unique page of offensive plays, and the rest of the playbooks are the same for each team.

The game lacks an NFL license, but features 8 teams with real (in 1990) NFL players. The city names and uniform colors are modeled after the real teams, but while Joe Montana is #16 and wears the red jersey for San Francisco, he is not a "49er".

Gameplay occurs in a strange isometric, angled perspective. I've never seen a football game use the same perspective (except the ill-advised Super NES sequel), but it works rather well. It might seem awkward to control, but it actually handles quite naturally. On pass plays, the view changes to a VERY FAR zoomed out view. It actually works fantastically well - I wish the Madden guys would take note. A TV doesn't offer true depth perception, but NES Play Action Football's overhead cam view allows you to really see the pass routes develop.

NES Play Action Football was one of the few 4-Player NES games. Owners of the NES Satellite or NES Four Score could play 2-on-2 ball. This is, in fact, one area where the game really shines. Chalk it up alongside Super Off-Road and Gauntlet 2 as a must-have 4-player NES game.

The Bad
As mentioned above, the action is very slow paced. It is quite possibly the slowest moving football game ever. This is not as bad as it sounds. It's certainly preferable to a lot of other NES games that move too fast for the system, and have a lot of flickering sprites as a result.

Having more than 8 teams would've been nice. If you weren't a Los Angeles (Rams), San Francisco, Miami, Chicago, Washington, Denver, Houston, or New York (Giants) fan, then you're outta luck.

The audio is serviceable, but won't exactly make you want to pump up the volume. The crowd sounds were very good for their time, though, and the static-filled digitized voices sure seemed like hot stuff in 1990. I can also recall the in-game music, note-for-note, to this very day (13 years later, though I have played it a bit here and there since then).

The Bottom Line
NES Play Action Football is an unheralded classic. Everyone champions Tecmo Bowl, but NES Play Action Football was a much deeper and more substantial game - and remained tops in football sims until around Madden '93 or '94 (which, of course, had the benefit of the powerful 16-bit consoles). Far too few people actually played NES Play Action Football, and it deserves recognition. Avoid the Super NES sequel (Super Play Action Football) at all costs, though.