10 Yard Fight
Reviewed by Brian Mulholland
10 Yard Fight is the earliest, and least sophisticated of NES's football
games. Because of this you have to cut it a lot of slack, but even so the
game lacks challenge, lacks creative thought, and basically doesn't
represent the game very well.
If you are minimally careful with the football you should have no trouble
dominating on even the hardest level.
Graphics 7 out of 10
I have never put much weight on graphics in any game or era I've played,
and in this case that's good. The graphics were nothing special even
when compared to Mario Bros., and other games that were out at the same time.
However the graphics are functional. One of my biggest complaints with
modern games that try to 'wow' the consumer with graphics is that they
often injure game play in an attempt to look cool. You will never wonder
what you're looking at when playing 10 yard fight.
Music and Sound 3 out of 10
The music and sound are pretty much a non-factor in this game. But again,
the makers of the game seemed to realize that no one was going to buy the
game for the sound track and they successfully put in a repetitive, but
inoffensive rhythm. The game once again scores by avoiding negatives.
Game Challenge 3 out of 10
After a handful of practice plays you should be good enough to be a first
down machine in the game, and if you can master a few other tricks you
should dominate on every skill level. In fact I recommend you play the
toughest level BEFORE you know how to play the game. It's the only way
the computer will stand a chance.
You can't expect to rack up 75-0 and 90-7 scores like you can in Super
Tecmo Bowl and a few other of NES's football games, but this is not
because of difficulty but merely because you don't have time!!!
The game has one of those insanely fast clocks that tick away minutes
in a handful of seconds. Worse yet the players (especially the ball carrier)
all move like offensive linemen in mud. Even if you get good enough to
score on every drive (you will) you'll simply run out of time before you
can rack up the truly gaudy numbers.
Game Play-Fun 6 out of 10
Because the game is so simple it's hard to say I would ever choose it out
of my game closet over games like Super Tecmo Bowl or even NES Play Action
Football, but for the game is simple and easy, and sometimes that's what you want.
I also enjoy taking the one play the game presents and trying to simulate the
action of more modern and complex plays. OK, I'm easily amused.
As long as you don't expect the moon from the game it's reasonably enjoyable.
Frustration
If you're trying to rack up high scores, or have unrealistic expectations of
beautiful passes and complex plays you can get frustrated by the game.
You might become frustrated by the excessive simplicity, but frustration
with the game based on it being difficult is non-existent.
Replayability 2 out of 10
Once you've mastered it you might whip it out once in a while, but if you've
got a real football game you probably won't very often. It's not that the game
was bad, but it just can't compete with the games that came out later and
incorporated play calling, stat-keeping, and other improvements.
Game Value 4 out of 10
If you can get it real cheap, why not? If you have to pay real money for it
there are better values out there. It beats bad games, but it's certainly no value.
Realism and Strategy 2 out of 10
The game is highly unrealistic. The mediocre graphics make your guys look
like players from the leather helmet days, and the only offensive play makes
it look like it too.
The only offensive play is basically a triple option where the QB can run,
pass or pitch to one of two running backs. The flanker goes in motion but
you can snap it with him in any spot along the formation (including up the
middle to use him as a lead blocker). He only runs about a 10 yard pattern
before he just paces back and forth.
On either side of you in this shotgun formation (which clearly shows the
game wasn't meant to be the leather helmet days) is a running back. The
basic strategy is to have your QB run parallel to the line of scrimmage
until he's wide of the tackle on the wide side of the field. If a defender
confronts you, you flip it to the back in front of you.
If there's a good passing lane you can pass it, but ironically a pass is NOT
your best chance for a big play in this game. The defenders are usually
quick to jump on the receiver of a pass, and often approach from angles
that are more difficult to elude than when running the ball.
Worse yet, interceptions are VERY easy to throw in this game. Because 10
yard fight does not take any 3 dimensional situations into account the pass
does not have a ballistic trajectory. So if any defender gets so much as a
couple pixels on the ball it's a turnover. Plus the ball moves in slow motion
so defenders can cover quite a bit of ground to make the interception.
So pass sparingly, and when doing so make very sure you have a good clear
passing lane. Because of this, one could actually say the game IS realistic
because creating passing lanes in the blocking scheme and the defensive
secondary is a big part of modern NFL play calling.
When running, once you get you and both your blockers wide of the tackle,
turn it upfield. With a little practice you should be getting 5-15 yards a carry
in this manner. Once you master the approach angles and patterns of the
defenders you can get 25+ yards per run with the sideline presenting more
problems than the defenders.
Defensively you are asked to pick between two players each play. The
defensive alignment is more or less helter skelter and you are usually
asked to pick a safety (although sometimes you can pick a linebacker or
corner). I usually pick whomever is closer to the wide side of the field. This
is because it is very difficult to gain significant yardage up the sideline.
Don't expect much help from your computer pals on defense. Like most
football computer games these guys haven't got a clue. Sometimes they get
lucky and run into the play, but in general they will act like ineffective
versions of the computer defenders. The one thing you can say for them
is that they can usually by sheer numbers keep things in check on the short
side of the field while you run across to make the play.
If you want to cheat, you can dive and force the ball carrier out of bounds
but it's really not necessary. On the wide side you basically want to run
around the tackle and rush the quarterback with near total abandon. The
only restraint is that if the flanker came out on your side you want to stay
between the quarterback and the receiver. This completely eliminates
the pass to your side.
Once you reach the quarterback he'll probably pitch the ball. If you react
well, you should be able to switch from the quarterback to the new
ball carrier in time to make the play behind the line of scrimmage. You
will get burnt every so often for a first down, but stay consistent and
you'll shut them down almost every play.
Overall 4 out of 10
Basically there are worse things to spend your buck on, but don't expect
a lot of bang from this one. It wasn't bad for it's time, but it suffers in
comparison to later games for the same system.