NFL Blitz 20-03
Score: 80% ESRB: Everyone Publisher: Midway Developer: Point of View Media: GCD/1 Players: 1 - 4 Genre: Sports
Graphics & Sound: As always, this year's NFL Blitz is a cleaned up version of last year. Everything you remember from past Blitz games like the overly muscular players and hard hitting, over the top animations are still around along with a few new ones including some new celebration and tackle animations. The stadiums look great, especially when you turn on the weather effects. If you thought last year's Patriot's-Raiders game in the snow was wild, wait until you see some of what Blitz has to offer. While you will not see the same attention to detail as games like Madden and 2k3 - Blitz's style is still very appealing and makes for a great game. There is very little to complain about in the sound department. Both the commentary and on-field trash talk are funny and help give the game its unique attitude. The commentary gets old after a few games, but listening to the commentators rip on other players and each other is very funny. The music is very solid, but I never felt like it really got me into that 'lets kick pumped' mentality needed for this game. Personally, I would like some licensed tracks like the ones found in NHL Hitz.
Gameplay: Just as in the case of the Madden series, Blitz is little more than a shiny new version of the same game. This year's edition features the same arcade action as previous years, only with newly updated rosters, new touchdown celebrations, plays, and the expansion Houston Texans. This year's edition features the usual Quickplay, Season, Exhibition, Tournament, and Create-a-Player modes as well as all the options you could ever want in a football game. The actually gameplay is very straightforward and requires little (if no) knowledge of football. On offense, snap the ball, press the turbo button and throw the ball. When you are on defense, kill the man with the ball. Simple, huh? Unfortunately, this simplicity of play leads to a mindless game of football. Whereas most football games require a little strategy, all Blitz requires is a fast thumb and a lot of luck. One of the biggest issues I had with Blitz was the team ratings. I am not sure what kind of complex mathematical formula was used to get the ratings, but it is obvious that someone forgot to carry the three. For example, teams who usually feature great defenses like the Saints and Ravens have extremely low ratings while teams like the Chargers and Cardinals have stats which in no way reflect the teams they usually field. As far as football games go, Blitz 2003 is incredibly short. The game is incredibly fast and in no way resembles the pacing of a normal NFL game. Even though the game is meant to be fast, this factor can kill the game for people expecting a normal game of football.
Difficulty: Blitz 2003 offers three difficulty levels, but I was hard pressed to find any real difference. As mentioned before, Blitz is more about luck than actual skill. The only difference I noticed between the different levels was that the computer is able to intercept more and fumbles are more common.
Game Mechanics: One of the biggest problems Blitz 2003 faces is the control scheme. Since this is an arcade game, you would not expect much of a learning curve, but this is simply not the case. Everything from play calling to throwing a long ball takes some time to learn. I had the most trouble getting used to throwing the ball - especially since you can throw the ball as much as you want behind the line of scrimmage. Being a Madden player, this concept took some getting used to. The control scheme in Blitz 2003 is very straightforward, yet limited. I really did not like that the A button could not be configured to be the throw button. In every other GC game I've played, the A button is the main button and seeing that it's the biggest on the controller, Nintendo meant for it to be the most used one as well. Because of this, I would find myself hitting the A button wanting to throw to an open receiver only to have my QB jumping up and down in the backfield like a monkey. Blitz is an okay arcade and party game, but the limited skill required to play the game will probably find a very limited audience and turn off gamers used to more traditional football games.
-Starscream, GameVortex Communications AKA Ricky Tucker
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