by Wyatt "JOEDOG" Elliott
NFL Blitz revolutionized the football video game.
It took a game that was always taken seriously and only played by true football fans and turned it into a fast paced arcade action slam fest.
Sudenly Blitz did for football what NBA Jam did for basketball a few years earlier.
It made it fun for everyone. Even if you know nothing about football, you could play Blitz and have fun doing so.
Not only that, but non football fans wanted to play Blitz. It was no longer a drag or confusing. Its fast, fun, and anyone can win.
Sice the beginning, Midway has had a new Blitz game out every year with minimum changes.
This year Midway debuted NFL Blitz 20-02 on the PlayStation 2 a little late in the football season, just after the Super Bowl. But that's okay. This is Blitz.
It doesn't play by a season. In a game filled with bad boys, Blitz is the baddest mother around.
NFL Blitz 20-02 has been completely redesigned from the ground up fot its next generation console debut. Okay, technically Dreamcast featured two NFL Blitz games in its library, but they were enhanced, not redesigned. Plus the Dreamcast is dead, so there.
By redesigned, I mean the players have been resculpted for better detail and realism. And it shows. The stadiums are better as well. The fans in the stands are filled with minor details. Each one is moving, waving and jumping, its great.
Besides the graphics, the game itself stays the same. Fast paced NFL action without the rules. Extreme violence, where unnecssasary roughness is encouraged, not penalized.
So, as improved as this game is, If you were not a NFL Blitz fan before, I can't imagine how 20-02 will change your mind any.
The commentary now features dual announcers who try to say some clever things, which are funny at first, but the game keeps repeating the same ones over and over. Its kind of annoying after awhile.
NFL Blitz offers a ton of hidden players. For you Chicago Bear fans, enter your name as BEAR 1985 (of course) and you'll play as an actual bear. It adds a little humor to an already fun game.
Midway has breathed new life into a dying series with NFL Blitz 20-02. I am so glad.
NFL Blitz is good series, it just needed a little revitalizing is all. Midway has a good series with NFL Blitz, NHL Hitz, NBA Hoopz, and next up is MLB Slugfest. I look forward to that.
Oh yes. If you are a Blitz fan from the past and now own a PS2, here is your chance to play the only NFL game with no rules, no refs, and no mercy.