GameSpot editors' review
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CNET editors' rating:
stars
Excellent
Detailed editors' rating
- Reviewed on: 09/08/1999
- Updated on: 04/28/2000
- Released on: 08/31/1999
- Originally published on GameSpot: NFL Blitz 2000 Review
Sim-style football got you down? Can't seem to get into NFL 2K, no matter how hard you try? Me neither. Luckily, for people like you and me, there's another football game on the shelves in time for the Dreamcast's launch. That game is NFL Blitz 2000, and its gameplay is about as far away from NFL 2K as you can get while still playing a football game.
Gone are the rules and regulations of standard football. In the world of NFL Blitz, each team puts seven players on the field. Also, it's 30 yards to get a first down. Those are about the only real rules in the game. Pass interference is no longer a penalty - it's a necessity. Late hits are also welcome here, complete with body slams and right hooks. The offensive playbook is packed with passing plays. You can execute running, but it's accomplished more through hitting your receivers before they cross the line of scrimmage than through actual handoffs.
The game is based on the arcade version of NFL Blitz '99, but there are a few newly added features that make the game feel fresh. You can now create defensive plays, control your punts, and use a new icon-based passing system called blitz passing. Blitz passing is good for people that are used to the sim-styled standard of icon-based passing, but most fans of Blitz will want to stick to the standard point-and-shoot passing system. Team rosters have also been updated in the game, reflecting trades as well as new teams like the Cleveland Browns. Also, the season mode that debuted in the original NFL Blitz games on the PlayStation and Nintendo 64 has found a new home on the Dreamcast. Here you have to deal with differing playbooks and more accurate strengths and weaknesses in your quest for the Super Bowl victory.
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