Mike Ditka's Power Football review - Sega Megadrive

American Football is getting more and more popular these days. British fans saw a London-based team take on the world and win earlier this year when the London Monarchs beat the Barcelona Dragons in the World Bowl football tournament.

However, if you're completely new to the sport and haven't a clue about the rules of American Football, here's a quick run-down of the action. Points are scored by taking the ball to the opponent's end of the pitch and thus scoring a touchdown. However, should the ball hit the ground before the touchline is reached, play is stopped and the offensive team regroups to try again. Their short term objective is to reach the next ten yard line, which once crossed, gives them four more chances (“downs”). If they don't make it after the four attempts, the defensive team adopt the offensive. After a touchdown, an extra pint is earned by kicking the ball over the opposition's cross bar. The winning team, unsurprisingly, is the team that scores the most points after four quarters of play.

What the Mean Machines staff thought

The obvious question is how does this compare to John Madden's Football? Well, it doesn't fare too well - but that doesn't make it a disaster area. The sounds are terrific and the graphics, although not as realistic as Madden's, are better than those used in Joe Montana's Football. Gameplay-wise it's fun, but sadly it just doesn't have the sheer depth and variety of Madden's, and this is what lets it down in the end. I know it's annoying to keep talking about Madden's, but if you want to experience the best on the Megadrive, Madden's is the one to go for.

Mike Ditka's Power Football has been heavily influenced by its peers. In terms of appearance it looks spookily similar to John Madden's. The graphics however, are a quite rough around the edges and the scrolling's not as smooth as it could have been. The sound on the other hand is great, bordering on spectacular. There are a variety of thumping, rumping theme tunes to choose from and more sampled speech than you can shake a stick at, and if you don't like the music, there's an option to turn it off. So, all in all, a bit of an aural feast. Gameplay is as you would expect, the standard strategic layout a la Madden's, and there's a very comprehensive list of possible plays. Putting these into practice is a doddle and the menus are actually a little friendlier than Madden's. Sadly however, the game has a rough, unfinished feel to it. The response from your players while actually running or passing is a little poor. The glf-like system used when kicking for extra points is unnecessarily fiddly and the overall effect is a little lacklustre. At the end of the day, why buy this when you could have John Madden's?