pavona21's Full Review: NFL Blitz 2002 for GameCube
Dumb and Dumber....Titles
As usual, I naturally must start out a review with something that has basically nothing to do with the game, but could be more interesting than the game itself. NFL Blitz 20-02 has one of the single most annoying titles a game has ever had. What is up with that stupid dash? When I first bought the game, I was hoping that everywhere I saw a dash it was just a little sticker that I could peel off to reveal the real, dashless title. Is this a sign of what's to come in the video game world? Could imagine seeing Madd-en 2-003 Gam-ecube? Or how about Fi-nal Fantas-y 130-09 PS-78? But does it get worse? Of course it does! How about B-@$$ Masters 2000 N64? And finally how about Seaman DC(wait...that's already on the different side) Either way Midway, you should know better by now. Video game titles just don't as well with the dashes. I hope to god I don't see one in next year's edition. And that was the pointless, yet possibly humorous beginning to my review, onto the history of the game.
Blitz: The First Quarter Sucking Vaccuum
When you think about midway and blitz, what exactly comes to mind? The first thing that enters my mind when I hear those two words is the word(sucks) arcade. On one hand, you have midway who has long been known for their arcade legands Mortal Kombat and NBA Jam. Then you have blitz, which may have sucked up more of my quarters than any other game ever created to take quarters. The one thing that I always disliked about midway's home console games, especially blitz, is that they were always a lot better for the arcade. Luckily though, since I'm all grown up now(or at least that's what people tell me) I haven't been to the arcade any time recently enough to even dream of playing Blitz 2002 there. But, as always, I've came back for more on the console series. Ever since blitz debuted on N64, I have now owned every single blitz yearly title produced. The real truth is that they're all the same game with a different year on them. The only reason that I continue to buy blitz is just so that I have an escuse to get my friend re-addicted to the game, to enjoy a few sleepness nights, and to tell myself that I'm playing a new and improved game. The bottom line(literally, I put this there) is that Blitz is blitz. If you liked blitz before you'll like it again. If you hated blitz once, you should stay away from it again.
You Know That Blitz Is Associated With Nintendo
Nfl Blitz 2002 or 20-02 was the game that I was going to originally make my first GC game purchase ever. Yes, way back when it was actually schedualed to be released sometime in late November. But, then the delays came. The first one pushed it back to late December, the second one pushed it back to late January, and the third one pushed it all the way back to April. At this point, I new we were talking about a Nintendo game. But, by some act of god, the game that was once the master of put backs got a relay.(if that's a word) Instead of coming out in April, Blitz was schedualed to come out March 19th, a release date that actually stuck for more than a month. And on March 19th I was right there after school to be with Blitz on it's first day. Ever since then, Blitz and I have been together.
Blitz: The Greatest Thing Since Jumbo Boxes Of Lucky Charms
In order to understand blitz, you have to understand what it's working with here. Blitz is the essence of steriods and football, a complete mix that lies somewhere between the superbowl and wrestlemania. The greatest thing about blitz though is that it is more addictive than any drug currently the black market.(not that I would know) Blitz is the kind of game that starts out as a friendly video game battle between friends and ends up as a full 3 hour experience of trash talk, cursing, off the wall football action that spectators could only dream of seeing. Blitz is different than any other kind of football we've ever seen.(before it) In real life, we know that the rams would spank up the lions like a father-son relationship in the 1950's, but this is different. A team up 40-21 after the third quarter can easily lose, regardless of who's playing. But, that's just the way that the ball bounces in the game. Blitz is not for the weak hearted who cower behind the zebra's penaltay flags, it's not for the people that take a dive to try make it look like a penalty, hell, it's probably not for the people that talk to their mother on a regular basis. This is no-holds barred football supreme. No refs, no rules, no mercy.
Game Modes: 7/10-I hope you all have friends
Simply said, blitz is not the greatest single player experience on turf. As a matter of fact, I could end this paragraph right here. If you don't have any friends, blitz isn't going to be your friend either. But, just for the fun of it, I may as well mention the game modes. There are 4 major game modes in blitz 2002. An exhibition, a quick play, a tournament, and a season mode. The exhibition and quick play modes are basically the same. In quick play, you pick a team and an opponent and play. In exhibition mode you do the exact same thing except with a few more options. In the tournament mode, you and a few players can compete bracket style to see who is the king of college hoops(as I think of March madness being over) I mean Blitz. And in the season mode, you can try to take your blitz-like team through the coarse of the entire season all the way to the lombardi trophy.
But, blitz still must be blitz. There is absolutely no way in heck that any one player will play a season mode more than twice. It would be unheard of. The truth of matter is that players will spend the large bulk of their time playing in the exhibition and tournament modes. Sure, I would have liked to see a franchise mode, a fantasy draft, or even a create a player mode, but that's the great thing about blitz. Since not even it thinks that it's realistic, it doesn't have to be. Sure, the modes are scarce, but the ones that are in fact there are good. Plus, now that they have an engine set up for the next gen systems, we can hope that we'll a few more modes next year. For now though, you'll get plenty of enjoyment out of the ones that are already there.
Passing Vs Rushing
Another thing about the game of blitz is that it's not for the running back.(boy this game is exclusive) One thing you can do in blitz is pass and pass well, one thing you can't do is run period. Try going up the middle, you'll get stopped for a 2 yard loss. Try pitching to the outside, and you'll busted into the ground for a short loss. Try running it anywhere else on the field, on the sidelines, or in the crowd and you will get destroyed. But, that's where the passing game comes into play. Since you can pass the ball as many times as you want to before you cross the line of scrimage, the passing game is a formitable enemy. And there are dozens and dozens of different pass plays to choose from. You can have them go out short for a screen, go out long for a hail mary, and everything in-between. Try to run, and you'll lose, try to pass, and you will contend.(unless you play me)
Playbooks: New and Improved But Still The Same
In this years edition of blitz, the play books run the same, but a little differently as well. Here, each play is split up with it's formation, and then with it's page. So instead of the easy follow style of Madden, you kind of have to go looking around for a while to find your play. But aside from that, the play books have been slightly expanded. Along with all the old favorites like the "da bomb" and the "qb post" there are also a few new add ons to the play books. There are new formations that feature plays like the "flea flicker" to give you a slight amount of new enjoyment. The best new addition to the formations catagory is the sandlot formation where you can run plays like the afformentioned flea flicker that you knew and loved from your old school playground football days. Also, each team now has one page of their own plays. I wish that it would have been more than just one page, but at least it adds just a little variation to each book.
Picking plays can be just as difficult as finding them though. This is mostly due to the fact that you have to go 30 yards for a first down instead of just 10. On first and 30 you may be able to get by just running a short screen, but when it gets up to 3rd or 4th and 30, you may have to consider pulling out the big boys and making them run a fly route. Equally as complex is the offense vs defense playcalling. If the defense calls a prevent formation, you may not want to consider running "da bomb" but instead run a shorter screen. This is why blitz finally added the option to audible a play at the line. Just a small amount of added detail in the game can make it all the more intelligent and competetive which is why I highly enjoyed the new audible feature.
Controls 9/10-Easy as 3.141592654(pie)
Off the terribly butchered math joke, the controls in this game are very easy to learn and quite responsive. For starters, the A button acts as the action button for selecting plays and snapping the ball. Everything else runs just as easy. For example, when passing you just aim towards the player you want to pass to with the analog stick, hit Y, and hope to god that it lands in their hands. If it does, you may want to start using turbo with the R button, and even hurdle over a few tacklers with the X buttons. The controls literally took only 10 miuntes of screwing around to fully figure out how to use, and if that doesn't work, there is always a control configuration screen. Easy to figure out, responsive, and arcadish controls help the blitz game shine for your hands.
Graphics: 8/10- Big Blitz Breakthroughs
The graphics in this game are a big improvement when comparing this years edition to those of the past. The players look great from head to toe here. The helmets shine, the jerseys look meshed, the muscles pop out and bulge, and the players look larger than life. The graphics in this game are exactly what an arcade football game's graphics should be. They're are out of control, but not offensively so. Even the fields and stadia look very well in blitz. You wouldn't expect an arcade football game like this to focus in so nicely on texturing and lighting, but Blitz does it. The grass looks like real grass, the turf looks like real turf, and the stadiums looks like a real stadiums. Of course, the animations that you have come to know and love are still there. You can atomic drop someone on the sidelines, clothesline the QB as he's getting up, and boby slam everything walking in the game. Blitz will be Blitz you know.
A nice edition to the blitz series is the new replay function. It's by no means a perfect, or even great example of a replay function, but it sure is better than nothing. And, the game runs pretty fast as 60 frames per second, but you still will see a little choppiness when checking out the replays. Hands will merge into bodies, helmets will collide and join each other, the usual of course. While this is a minor problem, it is not visable in the actual coarse of the game and is surely no reason to hate blitz. Overall, big improvements on the graphics side, but still not perfection.
Audio: 9/10-I liked it, but I'm a sick man
The old school blitz sound effects are back once again and better than ever. The overwhelming sound of a body being crushed into the ground via bodyslam is exhilerating, and even wonderous. When a player gets hit, you'll know it, and love it. Even the overexaggerated sounds of a dropped pass or missed field goal will put a smile on your face. And this year there is even more jawing from player to player. You'll hear "that hurt" and "get up!" in the background of some ground rocking slams. Again, maybe overdone, but all in fun. The commentator is back, and this time has a partner in crime. They will excite for about a game or two, then you will just zone them out. Typical sports game commentary though. Even though the commentating may suck, the sound effects and overdone hitting audio's will make up for it.
Overall
I personally loved blitz, but that's coming from a fan of the rest of the series' games. If you liked blitz once, you'll like it again, and even more. If you once hated blitz, I would still recommend renting it to see if the hate still burns. So, basically blitz is a good buy for the former fan of the series, and a good rent for every other gamer out there. This game will keep me going for a few months, and after that, I'll be dreaming of blitz 20-03 for the good old Gamecube. Thanks for reading,
-Pav
GameCube New graphics engine offers higher polygon characters and stadiums 1,500 new animations for player movement Violence> (previous item), Platfor...More at Amazon Marketplace
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