Joe Montana's Football review - Sega Megadrive

Joe's the best quarterback in the business, and now he's endorsed a console game to show his style of playing. Choose your team and get ready to play!

The length of each quarter can be set with the overall length of game from 10 to 60 minutes. Normal mode is a one-off game, while Sega Bowl tests the player in three though games for the chance to win through to the championship. The 2:00 Drill is against the clock, with a mere 120 seconds to win the game!

Turning off the penalties stops the chance of pass interference and offsides, as well as preventing a five-yard loss for letting the clock run down. Once into the game, pressing the A button cycles though the various sets (4-3, Sweep, Nickel, etc), and the directional pad selects an individual play. After the snap, the A button calls up the passing display; a view through Joe's helmet!

Receivers can be selected through the buttons, but the quarterback will have a favourite to whom to pass. Running plays require only the joypad to put into operation, and the back can try to throw off tackles and dive to gain extra yards. Watch out for the fumble - if the runner is hit too often he has a tendency to lose the ball!

What the Mean Machines staff thought

Initially this looks like a poor man's John Madden's Football. However it's really quite different to play - the visor view is a novel approach that works well. Unfortunately, the computer opponent is far too easy to beat, meaning that its one-player potential is severely damaged. Obviously the designers couldn't make it too similar to John Madden's Football, thus limiting the choices in the system. I like the presentation of the game, but nothing compares to Rob Hubbard's tunes! Still, it's a far more accessible game than its rival, so younger Megadrive owners might find it preferable to Madden's.

Personally I think releasing this is a completely daft idea. The graphics, sound, playability and presentation, good though they are, are nowhere near the standards set by John Madden's Football, so who's going to buy it? It's a far simpler game, so while it might take ten minutes less to learn, the comparatively limited gameplay results in its appeal waning quickly. It also suffers from an amazingly easy-to-beat computer opponent, resulting in swift single-player boredom. If you've already got John Madden's, don't bother buying this as you'll find it too simple and limited to be enjoyable. And if you haven't got an American Football game and want one, buy John Madden's.

Have your say about this review

Jimbo - 15 Oct 2008, 00:53 GMT

I think the guys were too quick to draw comparisons between it and John Madden. Personally i enjoyed this game way more than JM. It came into its own as a two-player game. As they mentioned, it is more accessible, and i felt overall that the game was faster than the JM (none of this 3D parallax malarky). A cool game that got hammered cos the boys were infatuated with JM.

Dan - 24 Feb 2009, 16:17 GMT

Ha ha, I used to love it when that quote got thrown out - "for younger gamers", basically meaning for retards or your 90 year old nan and no-one who would actually own a console in the first place.

yo_soy - 01 Mar 2010, 14:30 GMT

This game was way too easy.

I still get wood over "Welcome to Joe Montana's football."

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