Title: NFL Blitz 2000 Genre: Sports Publisher: Midway Developer: Midway Platform: Nintendo 64

The Bottom Line Last year was a big year for Midway, and out of all the titles they released in ’98, Blitz is arguably the most significant. Each and every year an avalanche of football titles are released for both the N64 and PlayStation giving those wanting a new football game almost too much choice. Despite perennial releases such as Madden and Quarterback Club vying for gamers’ dollars, Blitz found great success. It was easy to pick up, fun to play, and really looked and played like one would expect an arcade football game to look and play like. Not ones to rest on their laurels or pass up a chance to milk Blitz for all it’s worth, Midway has taken the Blitz we all know and love and added a bevy of new features sure to please those familiar with Blitz and those new to the series. Among the most notable of Blitz 2000’s features are "Blitz Passing", 4-player support, and a comprehensive playbook editor. Longtime Blitz fans, and football game fans in general, will really appreciate the new features Blitz 2000 offers up, but those looking for a straight up simulation or those who don’t like football games won’t find much to like. A Closer Look Ideally, every sequel should improve upon its predecessor or predecessors. As most people will readily attest to, idealism and realism are rarely synonymous. Usually, most game sequels offer up a few superfluous new features, most of which would hardly justify purchasing said sequels. This is especially true when it comes to sports games. Fortunately for Blitz fans and new Blitz players alike, Blitz 2000’s new features are far from superfluous. Although it’d be very difficult to try and single out one of Blitz 2000’s new features as being the most significant, it’s fairly easy to single out quite a few of the new features as being very significant. The aforementioned "Blitz Passing, 4-player support, and playbook editor are definitely among them, but the NBA Jam-esque "On Fire" feature and the improved AI greatly contribute to the Blitz 2000 experience as well. Before all the new features can be discussed the basics need to be covered. Graphically, Blitz 2000 only looks slightly better than last year’s version. The players still look very bulky and rough around the edges when seen up close, but that’s really a minor qualm. The various menus look a bit sharper, and some minor effects, such as lighting encompassing the words "option" or "resume game" when selected for example, look nice and sharp. Some minor collision detection problems can be seen, albeit infrequently. When players are dancing around after a touchdown or going after a player who’s dancing around after a touchdown, one or both players will often partially or entirely disappear into the wall that’s directly behind the endzone. Again, this is minor, but it could’ve been fixed before the game was released. The long and the short of it though is that Blitz 2000’s graphics are essentially identical to the first Blitz’s graphics. Some of the weather effects, such as the fog, look quite good, and the stadiums look good as well, but the overall graphical improvement is very minimal. It’s a pity Midway didn’t decide to have Blitz 2000 utilize the N64’s Expansion Pak. Regardless, the graphics are good, just not as good as they could have been. As far as modes of play go, Blitz 2000 has a total of three. They are Arcade mode, Season mode, and the new Tournament mode. Arcade mode pits you against a CPU opponent or up to three human competitors in a single game. When the Arcade mode is selected players are presented with five options; Play, Options, New, Load, and Save. Play simply prompts you to select which controller you’ll be using and which team you’d like to play as. The Blitz matchup screen is back, complete with the three-slot icon code system whereby you can change each icon in each slot to enable varying weather conditions, player sizes, and a field goal percentage display among other things. Under the Options header you can adjust difficulty, quarter length, screen size and width, volume levels for music, sound effects, and the game’s announcer as well as what each button on your controller will do. The help boxes from the original Blitz have also returned and, as was the case before, they can be turned on and off. New has you enter a name and a pin number, just like in the first Blitz. It then saves that name and pin number to your Controller Pak. If multiple people are playing and you’ve only got one Controller Pak, everyone’s data will be saved to that one Controller Pak. You then get taken back to the Arcade mode submenu where you select Play and choose your team. The Load and Save options allow players to load and save all their different types of data including player records, system options, and game options. Furthermore, at the conclusion of each game in Arcade mode a multiple choice, football related trivia question will pop up. If you answer the question correctly you’ll get a certain number of points that are saved along with the rest of your data. The Season mode lets you take a team of your choice through an entire NFL season. After you’ve played one game you can select the Results option which lets you take a look at your schedule, the overall standings in all three divisions of the AFC and NFC, as well as statistics such as total number of passing yards, pass attempts, rushing yards, and return yards among others. You can also adjust the screen size, screen width, music volume, sound effects volume, and announcer volume just as you can in Arcade mode. If you don’t feel like playing a particular team on your schedule or simply want to try and advance to the post season a lot quicker, you can simulate each game, but often when you simulate a game you get pegged as the loser. You’re also able to load and save your progress and settings just as you can in Arcade mode. The Tournament mode pits you against between two and eight opponents, be they computer controlled or human, in a single elimination or best two out of three tournament. Once you start a tournament you have to name the tournament, select the number of teams that will be participating, choose single elimination or best two out of three, set team names, and manually set matchups or have them randomly selected. You’re also able to adjust options just as you are in the Arcade and Season modes and you can view detailed results just as you can in the Season mode. Loading and saving is again an option. The three different modes are nice, but Blitz 2000 really shines because of the new features Midway has added. Although not totally new in that it was contained in last year’s Blitz for the N64, Blitz 2000’s play editor is extremely detailed. Upon selecting the play editor option at the main menu, players are prompted to enter a name and pin number. Once that’s done, you select a team and begin creating plays. You can create up to nine offensive and nine defensive plays. When creating an offensive play you can customize things such as receiver routes, quarterback position, lineman blocking direction, play type, and overall formation. You’re also able to edit your play, test your play out by running it from various points on the field, and, of course, name your play. Play editors are one of the best features of football sims, and it’s nice that Midway was able to once again incorporate a play editor into Blitz without compromising the simplistic and intuitive arcade-like gameplay that’s a big part of why Blitz is so fun to play. Even though one of Blitz’s greatest traits is its simplistic control, Midway has made the control as simple and easy to pick up as is possible. The new "Blitz Passing" system assigns a receiver to the left C, up C, and right C buttons. Instead of having to push the control pad or analog stick in the direction of the receiver you want to pass to, you can simply hit the left C, up C, or right C buttons and thereby pass to each buttons’ corresponding receiver. The left C button passes to the receiver who’s the furthest left, the up C button passes to the receiver who’s in the middle, and the right C button passes to the receiver furthest to the right. New player animations and taunts will have you relishing every hard tackle, sack, and hit you dish out as well as those long touchdown runs and leaping fingertip catches. The extensive assortment of wrestling like maneuvers are back again as you can nail your downed opponent with a legdrop, backbody drop, suplex, and a number of other punishing moves. Of course, you can be hit with the very same maneuvers. Plays from the first Blitz as well as all new plays compose the playbook and the mix turns out to be a very good one. The "On Fire" feature, reminiscent of NBA Jam, serves to pump up your players by giving them heightened abilities. When you have one receiver catch three passes in a row or you sack the opposing team’s ball carrier twice in a row for a loss your team then becomes "On Fire". You’ll notice smoke emanating from your players at the line of scrimmage when your team is "On Fire". Increased speed and power are the benefits of being "On Fire", and said speed and power are most definitely noticeable. When "On Fire" and on offense, for example, you’ll notice your receivers can continue striding towards the goal line even when they’ve got one or even two players from the opposing team hanging on to their backs. Blitz 2000’s music is more of the same fast paced up-tempo rock found in the first Blitz. The sound effects are crisp and clear, but they were crisp and clear in the first Blitz as well. The music is very repetitive and borders on annoying, but the sound effects help to draw you into the game making the music a bit less noticeable. The new taunts are also very amusing and have you mocking opposing players right along with the players on your team. On top of all that, Blitz 2000 has many new stadiums, updated ’99 rosters, all the NFL teams including the expansion Browns and Titans, plus improved weather effects, new camera angles, new animations, new secret players and codes, a full NFL license, all the real NFL players, and the previously mentioned improved AI. Unfortunately, as far as the AI is concerned, many of the plays that repeatedly garnered the player big yardage in the first Blitz do so again in Blitz 2000. Most notably, the passing play "Da Bomb" can be done over and over again and will work approximately eight times out of ten. Nevertheless, beating the computer is harder in Blitz 2000 than it was in the first Blitz. Another big negative is the fact that you have to have a Controller Pak devoid of any other save data in order to save Blitz 2000 data. Having to have a Controller Pak that's completely empty in order to save is a bit ridiculous. Also, when loading data, you’ve got to load the several different types of data that the game keeps track of separately. So, you’ve got to load your Season data, Playbook data, Player Record data, and System Options data one at a time. Loading shouldn’t be that much of a hassle. Lastly, one of the biggest flaws of the first Blitz was the lack of control the player had over special teams. You couldn’t control punts or extra point attempts. Blitz 2000 allows you to control punts, but extra points are simply tacked on after a touchdown with the mere press of a button. Complete and total control over special teams would’ve been a very nice addition. Aside from some minor issues with aesthetics, AI, and data saving, Blitz 2000 is an excellent football game. It definitely offers up enough in the way of new features to justify purchasing it. It’s still the same old Blitz fundamentally, but that’s actually a good thing. Those who are planning to purchase a Dreamcast and are interested in getting Blitz 2000 might want to hold off on doing so until the Dreamcast version hits stores on September 9th. However, those who aren’t planning to get a Dreamcast right away and who want an excellent new football game to play need look no further than Blitz 2000. With its blend of arcade and sim elements Blitz 2000 really is a complete package and a football game that no Blitz fan or football game fan should pass up. Graphics: +Very colorful and crisp +Menus look more polished and slick than those found in the first Blitz +Effects like fog and rain look extremely realistic -Players still look blocky when seen up close -Some minor collision detection problems -Expansion Pak not utilized Sound: +New and amusing taunts +Crisp and clear sound effects draw you into the game -Generic and repetitive up-tempo rock tunes grate on you after a while Gameplay +"Blitz Passing" system makes control as easy and straightforward as it can be +Playbook editor allows for tailor made offenses and defenses +Excellent mix of plays from the first Blitz and all new plays +"On Fire" feature adds an interesting twist to the game giving players additional speed and power -Although improved, the AI is still susceptible to certain plays -Slightly more control over special teams, but still not enough control Replay Value +Arcade, Season, and Tournament modes offer up plenty of diversity +Up to four players can go head to head Overall +Fans of the first Blitz will find more of the same over the top, no rules football action they enjoy +4-player support means many long hours in front of the TV with friends +Playbook editor allows for customizable offenses and defenses +Control is concise and as easy to pick up as it can be due to the new "Blitz Passing" system +"On Fire" feature adds an intriguing element to the gameplay -Graphics look good, but aren’t as improved as they could have been -Music is repetitive and becomes annoying -In order to save you’ve got to have a Controller Pak that’s completely empty -Different types of data have to be loaded individually; unnecessary hassle -Not enough special teams control Graphics: B+ Sound: B- Gameplay: A- Replay Value: A- Overall: A-

Title: The New Tetris Publisher: Nintendo Developers: Blue Planet Software and H20 Software Platform: Nintendo 64

The Bottom Line Many might conclude, and rightfully so, that the point has just about been reached, or has been reached already, where nothing new can be done with Tetris. Blue Planet Software in conjunction with H20 Software have set out to show that more still can indeed be done with the classic Tetris formula. Sporting some fantastic new features including slick new graphics, a brilliant soundtrack, and a wonderful multi player mode, in addition to the addictive Tetris gameplay we all know and love, The New Tetris is a puzzle game any puzzle game fan with an N64 should seek out immediately. However, those who find puzzle games monotonous and boring , certainly may find The New Tetris' multi player mode to their liking, but will otherwise find nothing much else to like. A Closer Look Debates almost certainly run rampant among Tetris fans as to which version of Tetris is the best. With so many incarnations of the game available, it'd be quite difficult to establish any broad sweeping criteria for determining which Tetris incarnation is indeed the best. Nevertheless, the new features found in The New Tetris would certainly lend credence to any contention that it is, in fact, the best version of Tetris ever created. Conceived by Russian mathematician Alexey Pajitnov, Tetris is one of the most enduring and popular videogames of all time. Along with other games such as Minesweeper and Solitaire, Tetris is easy to pick up and play but virtually impossible to master. Its sheer simplicity would seemingly negate any possibility of having the addictive qualities that it does, yet many a gamer has given countless hours of their life to this game of block arrangement. Tetris knockoffs for the PC and many consoles are readily available and Tetris is, without a doubt, the best puzzle game ever created. Graphically, The New Tetris isn't a radical departure from its brethren, but it does take advantage of the N64's capabilities. The blurry textures we've all come to expect from N64 titles are present in The New Tetris, especially during the viewing segment that accompanies each constructed Wonder, but they're minimal. Some very nice graphical touches are present in The New Tetris and may not be immediately apparent to the casual observer, but they really accentuate the overall look of the game. From flickering torches on the steps of a temple on the Mayan stage to drifting clouds and falling rain on the Greek stage the backdrops are extremely detailed and nice to look at. Other graphical touches are even slighter. As anyone familiar with Tetris knows, each block from the selection of blocks is composed of tiny square blocks. Now, in The New Tetris, when a falling block connects with the ground or another block the many little blocks that compose it completely solidify. They then look like one whole block instead of a block composed of little square blocks. Overall, the graphics look very colorful and polished and are what one would expect from a game for a 64-bit platform. At the game's main menu players have four different choices. Those choices are one player mode, multi player mode, Wonders, and options. The options mode has a credits option so you can see who had a hand in the game. On top of that the options mode has an audio option that lets you adjust the music and sound effects levels as well as the mode of music and the song that's currently playing. By mode of music we mean to say that you can have the music play randomly, in an automatic order, or you can choose the track you want to currently play. You can also view player scores and transfer game data to a Controller Pak in the options mode. In the single player mode you're first prompted to enter the name of your choice. Once that's done you then have to choose whether you'd like an opponent or not and the type of game you'd like to play. If you choose to compete against a CPU opponent you can choose one that has a difficulty of easy, medium, hard, very hard, and master. After that decision has been made you must choose between three different game modes; those being Marathon, Sprint, and Ultra. The objective in the Marathon mode is to simply clear as many lines as you can. As you complete more and more lines the rate at which the pieces fall increases thus making the task of clearing lines more difficult. In the Sprint mode players have three minutes to collect as many lines as they can. The Ultra mode is essentially a time attack mode in that your goal is to clear 150 lines as fast as you possibly can. Once you've gotten a game underway you'll immediately notice a space in the upper left-hand corner of the screen that contains a block. This is a part of the hold piece feature. What you can do, by pressing the L button on your controller, is place pieces in that space that you can later use. As soon as your game starts there's a piece in the hold piece box, so the first time you put a piece there you'll get the piece that was there when your game started. For example, if you've got a straight line piece dropping that you don't currently need, you can place it in the corner box by pressing L. By pressing L again you would swap out the current falling piece for the straight-line piece you saved. This adds a whole new dimension of strategy to the classic Tetris formula. Spin Moves are also a significant component of the gameplay. Occasionally, while playing, you'll find that you could fill a gap with the piece that's currently falling, but it wouldn't quite fit. This is where Spin Moves come in. A Spin Move can be performed with any piece but the square. To do one you wait until your piece has fallen into the opening of the empty space you want to fill. Once the piece enters the space and the then the gap you want to fill, you have to quickly rotate it in the right direction before it comes to rest. This doesn't sound too hard, but it can be very difficult. When you clear a line by performing a Spin Move certain other filled spaces will turn to 1X1 blocks and will fall, possibly causing more lines to be cleared. If the top part of the piece you spun clears a line, all of the pieces that are above that line will be turned into 1X1 blocks. If the bottom part of the piece you spin clears a line, the pieces below that line will turn to 1X1 blocks. If both parts of the piece you spun clear lines, all of the remaining pieces on the screen will change to 1X1 blocks and drop. Also included in The New Tetris are Multi-Squares and Mono-Squares. A Multi-Square is a 4X4 square formed by different shapes. When a Multi-Square has been created it will turn silver. When you happen to clear lines containing part of the Multi-Square you'll get credit for the lines you cleared as well as bonus lines. Mono-Squares are formed when you make a 4X4 square with four pieces of the same shape. These squares are gold in color. Because creating a Mono-Square is more difficult than creating a Multi-Square you get more bonus lines for clearing lines containing part of a Mono-Square than part of a Multi-Square. For each line containing part of Multi-Square you clear you get five lines and for each line containing part of a Mono-Square you clear you get ten lines. The fact of the matter is that creating either type of square can prove quite arduous, but the payoff is well worth the trouble. Players will also notice that they can readily see their score, name, and the next three blocks set to fall on the right-hand side of the screen. Although The New Tetris' single player mode is fun, the multi player mode is what really makes the game shine. Up to four players can compete simultaneously. In much the same manner as the single player mode, all competitors in the multi player mode are first prompted to choose a name. After that's done, a choice must be made between Marathon mode, Sprint mode, or Ultra mode. Below the game choices is a header called Garbage, with choices for either Directed or Hot Potato. Directed garbage allows you to dump the lines you've cleared onto an opponent's screen. You must clear more than one line at a time to generate garbage though. By pressing the left C and right C buttons you can choose which of your opponents gets to have your mass of garbage. Needless to say, this can evoke some pretty heated exchanges as we found out when we got a multi player game going. Hot Potato garbage mode is probably what you'd figure it would be. When just playing a two-player game the player with the "hot potato" is the one with a red outline around his or her playfield. When three or four people are playing, the player with the "hot potato" is the one with a gray mist covering his or her screen. All garbage generated by the other players is sent to the player with the "hot potato". When the player with the "hot potato" clears one or more lines, the potato is figuratively passed to another randomly selected player and the gray mist covers their screen or a red outline surrounds it until they clear one or more lines. Each player is designated a color. First player is red, second player is green, third player is blue, and fourth player is yellow. The hold box for the swap piece is located on the top right or left of each player's game field and their name and score are located right below their playfield. Below each players score is a little box containing four smaller blocks. This box displays the color of each competitor. When each player's box shows blue, for example, all the garbage generated by the red, green, and yellow players gets dumped on the blue player. Once the color changes all the generated garbage goes to the player who corresponds to that color. Every line that's completed in either the single player or multi player mode goes towards completing each of seven different Wonders. Each Wonder has its own collection goal or, in other words, amount of lines you need to complete in order to earn the Wonder. When you achieve a wonder you gain access to a new stage background and new music. The Wonders option at the main menu lets you see what Wonders you've completed, how many lines you still need to complete in order to complete any unfinished Wonders, what players have contributed to the completed Wonder or Wonders and how many lines they contributed to it or them, as well as a tour of sorts for all the Wonders you've completed. The tour is done in complete 3D and shows you the Wonder itself as well as some of the surrounding environment around the Wonder. Yet another excellent feature of The New Tetris is its save method. After lines are completed in either the single or multi player modes they are counted, saved to the cartridge, and credited towards the construction of whatever Wonder is currently not completed. What happens, then, if you're playing a rented copy of The New Tetris or perhaps a friend's copy? Well, the game's designers thought of that. In order to ensure that you get credit for every line you complete you can save your progress to the N64's Controller Pak so you can transfer your completed lines to another copy of The New Tetris or else just keep the data. Controller Pak compatibility is it as far as peripheral compatibility goes as the game isn't compatible with the Rumble Pak or Expansion Pak. The brilliant soundtrack of The New Tetris can't be overlooked amidst the bevy of features found within the game. Composed by Neil D. Voss, the same guy who did the soundtrack for Tetrisphere, The New Tetris' soundtrack is filled with dance and techno-esque tracks complete with chanting, counter melodies, and an overall rhythmic sound. As any N64 owner will tell you, good music in an N64 game is a definite rarity. We can say without hesitation that the clarity and quality of The New Tetris' music is the best yet for the N64. The only problem with it is that each track can get a bit too repetitive at times. Regardless, the music will make you want to turn your stereo up, which isn't something done too often while playing an N64 game. The sound effects are relatively standard and aren't really too noticeable. We find it difficult to think of a recent puzzle game with the depth and polish of The New Tetris. From the excellent graphics to the fantastic soundtrack and the many modes and options, The New Tetris will please Tetris fans and puzzle game fans in general. Tetrisphiles will find the single player mode to be the old Tetris they know and love with some excellent new twists. Those same fans will find the multi player mode to be among the most engaging they've ever played and almost certainly the best they've ever experienced in a puzzle game. Those who have others readily available to play with should certainly give strong consideration to purchasing The New Tetris. The game is as addictive as past Tetris titles and has a substantial amount of replay value due to the comprehensive multi player mode. However, those who wouldn't be able to play the game's multi player mode very often probably won't find enough in the way of new features and gameplay elements to justify purchasing the game. Nevertheless, The New Tetris is about as good as a puzzle game can get, and is a more than worthy addition to the burgeoning lineup of Tetris titles currently available. Any puzzle game fan or fan of multi player games should give The New Tetris a long, hard look. Graphics: B+ +Very colorful and vibrant +Delicate touches such as flickering flames and raindrops in the backgrounds accentuate the overall graphical look -Blurred textures on some stages and during the Wonders viewing sequences Sound: A- +Complex tracks with counter melodies, chanting, and a general rhythmic feel make you want to turn the sound up all the way +Music sounds crisp and clear, as do sound effects +/-Sound effects are good, but aren't anything special -Some tracks are a bit too repetitive Gameplay: A- +Swap piece feature adds new dimension to classic Tetris gameplay +Four-player multi player mode is highly competitive and lots of fun to play +Inclusion of garbage, and two types at that, lets players take the offensive against opponents +Single and multi player modes each with three modes of play gives The New Tetris depth and diversity +Spin moves are difficult to pull off but give a substantial payoff -A mode that deviated from the classic Tetris formula would've been a welcome addition Replay Value: A- +Three modes of play, included in both single player and multi player modes, keeps the game from getting monotonous +Extensive multi player mode will have you and your friends going at each other's throats for hours on end -Single player mode just doesn't offer enough in the way of new features and elements to keep you playing for an extended period of time Overall: A +Puzzle game fans will love the extensive list of features and the many gameplay modes +Fans of multi player games will find the combative elements very appealing +Wonderful soundtrack will have you turning the sound all the way up +Swap piece feature and garbage puts a welcome twist on the same old Tetris -Those without human opponents readily available won't find enough in the single player mode to justify purchasing the game

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Copyright © 1999 Ian Johnston

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