Yet another American Football simulation muscles into
the scrimmage, and again a different approach to the
violent American national sport is offered. In Touchdown
Football you are given direct control over players,
which look more like human creatures than the dots and
blobs which we have come to love, and the whole thing
is played over a left and right scrolling pitch.
Upon
loading three options are presented: player vs player,
player vs computer and computer vs computer (more of
a demo mode than anything else). Choosing one of these
leads to another option allowing the player(s) to define
the time for each quarter (from five to fifteen minutes).
As soon as the time factor is settled the football players
casually loaf onto the field and a 'coin' is tossed
by the ref to decide which side kicks off.
Once
all that rigmarole is over the play begins and the winner
of the toss wellies the ball down the field (pressing
the fire button does the action if a human happens to
be kicking off). The other team's receiver automatically
catches the ball and is put under direct control of
the player allowing the receiver to be moved up the
field. All the other players are put under computer
control and they wander about the field and cause hassle
to the other team as best they can. Play continues until
the receiver is brought to the ground by a sprite crunching
tackle.
When
that happens a scrimmage takes place. Here the players
have to choose their scrimmage tactics, done by using
two sets of menus (one for each player), which appear
at the top of the screen. When a menu appears, moving
the joystick in one of its eight directions gives an
option. When you decide which one of the options is
just the sort of move you need, press fire. This selects
the option and moves onto the next menu screen. These
menus allow extensive planning of each move and the
player can set movements for his line, certain blockers,
receiver and wide receiver and specialised receiver
moves (left streak, wide right etc) while the defensive
player works out how he wants to thwart the offensive
move (blitz, tight right, monster left etc). If required,
the offensive player can also choose to kick the ball
-- useful if you've a fourth down and eleven! Once the
move is selected it's possible to change it, but the
penalty for doing so is that the moves aren't displayed
-- it's up to you to remember which position of the
joystick gives what.
When
everything is sorted out the scrimmage can be played.
Pressing the fire button lobs the ball from the scrimmage
to the receiver, who catches it automatically. The offensive
player has direct control over the receiver and he can
be moved anywhere on the pitch. Pressing fire makes
the receiver throw the ball to the catcher defined during
the menu period. Meanwhile the defence does their bit
too and move automatically to follow the movement planned
during the menu process. The defending player is given
control over one of the line men and can move him anywhere
(be careful not to go offside). The game continues according
to the rules until the whistle is blown.
|