After the success of NBA Jam, Midway translated it to the game of football with the hard-hittingNFL Blitz series. While a bit of a hard sell these days, considering all the research on concussions affecting players, the game was an absolute joy to play when it was released in the late 1990s andneeds a reboot.
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Like many other NFL video game series, it suffered when EA Sports won the exclusive license to those rights. We didn’t look at the handheld versions of Blitz but instead focused on the sit-down consoles of the era since those were the peak entries of the series.
9NFL Blitz Pro
This game puzzled many people when released in 2003 since Midway decided to push it more as a simulation game than a straight arcade experience. Blitz players were used to wild action that didn’t resemble real NFL football at all. So imagine these fans on theirGamecubes,PS2s, andXboxesseeing 11-on-11 football with 10-yard first downs? People weren’t buying the new direction, which is considered one of the worst Blitz entires.
8NFL Blitz 2002
While NFL Blitz 2002 was much like the previous entries into the series, the equation for these games was becoming stale by 2001. The graphics were behind the other football title entries of the era. There was little added to previous versions of the game despite a whole new generation of consoles being released, and this was noticed by people expecting something a bit more expanded. Still, critics said the gameplay was still fun, just getting a little worn out.
7Blitz: The League 2
Midway no longer had the NFL license, but that didn’t mean Blitz was thrown on theindie sports game heap. Midway took the gloves off for the second Blitz: The League entry. The game’s story mode includes various scandals that made headlines in the NFL.
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The game’s violent gameplay was extreme, with graphic injuries, and there is even a section where you play as a convict in a jailyard. To say this game had attitude is an understatement, and it feels like it went too far.
6NFL Blitz 2003
NFL Blitz 2003 fixed some of the issues from the previous year’s entry, and it did get more love from the critics. While the 2002 version grappled with games moving to new consoles, this entry allowed Midway to polish things, add more features and create a better product. Still, by this time in Blitz’s lifespan,Maddenwas getting more popular as people wanted a more realistic football game. The Blitz equation felt shallow, and the big flashy graphics looked like any other football game released in the early 2000s.
5NFL Blitz 2012
After Midway declared bankruptcy, EA Sports purchased the rights to Blitz and rebooted the series. It allowed the games to return to their NFL roots; by all accounts, this was a solid modernization of the classic gameplay.
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One change, however, was that late hits were taken out of the game at the NFL’s request, making this entry feel a little more corporate and sterile. Still, it was a budget-priced game, making it even more attractive to players at the time.
4NFL Blitz
First, as an arcade hit and then as a home console must-have, Blitz took NFL video gaming by storm. The fast-play ran circles around the “simulation” football games at the time. It also came at the perfect time when the N64 andPlayStationcould handle the sharp 3D visuals. The first entry on home consoles established a firm base for later entries to build upon. Considering that theNintendo 64also had a Rumble Pak and easy multi-player options, it’s hard not to gush about this era of sports gaming.
3NFL Blitz 2000
Midway set out to have more balance in their next home console installment. While there was an NFL Blitz 99' update in arcades, it was little more than a roster change. On the N64, the developer aimed to balance out some quirks in the fast and furious gameplay.
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Teams were balanced, so nobody was overly bad or good, and there was less of a difficulty cliff for you to fall off of when you advanced from the regular to the post-season. Also, the exaggerated graphics were still impressive for the era, while adding a four-player co-op was an absolute game-changer on couches across the nation.
2Blitz: The League
Without the NFL License, Midway set about creating a fantastic Story-driven campaign mode football game. While keeping the fast Blitz gameplay, Blitz: The League adds a three-division system, much like European soccer relegation. With Lawrence Taylor as the pitchman for the game, it was well-received by critics and just different enough to set it apart from Madden. It didn’t go as dark and messed up as its sequel, which now tends to get a bit cringy when we think about player health in the NFL.
1NFL Blitz 2001
By 2001, Midway had their Blitz series dialed in and refined it to a chrome finish. With the rosters updated, they started jam-packing the game with features while not tweaking the main gameplay. With theDreamcastcoming into the picture, the N64 and ‘Cast were praised for their excellent graphics and even ran at 60 frames per second. This was the zenith of the Blitz series since the arcade style of sports games was still popular, and EA Sports hadn’t snatched up the NFL license yet and taken over the football gaming world.
