Football

Atari's take on football rejected most of the rules and conventions of Vince Lombardi's game in favor of an almost surrealistic experience. Teams consisted of three-man squads composed of players who more closely resembled appliances than people. They moved their way up and down a tiny vertical field without yardage markers, end zones, or goalposts. Aside from the four-down system, safeties, and the ability to punt, nothing of real football survived. There were no field goals or point-after-touchdown conversions. There were no interceptions, no fumbles, and no going out of bounds. Tackles were automatic on touching the ball carrier, the ball could be guided in flight on passing plays, playcalling involved little more than slightly varied formations, and the lack of computer AI made two players a requirement. Poor visuals affected play as well. Programming for the Atari 2600 was in its infancy, and little was known about how to push the system to its limits. As a result, even the rough graphics on display here suffered from problems with flickering players and ghost tackles. Stuttering animations turned plays into strange crawls through which everything seemed to be happening in slow motion. Still, the idea of "programming" players to run specific pass routes on offense or cover certain areas of the field on the other side of the ball was intriguing. And even somewhat advanced for the time, considering that the only real competition were handheld LED-based games like Coleco's popular Electronic Quarterback. Also interesting were two game options that let you call plays as a coach and then watch the computer carry them out on the field. Another good idea was Atari's placement of a line on the field, which showed where you needed to move the ball to collect that all-important first down. Other game designers took the better part of a decade to pick up on that innovation. Disappointment in Football and competition from Intellivision's strong line of sports games in 1979 and 1980 pushed Atari and other developers to design better football games for the 2600 in subsequent years. These later efforts made the initial one look like something produced in an era of stone knives and bearskins. Intellivision producer Mattel ported its NFL Football game (see below for more) to the rival system in 1982 with good results. The M-Network-labeled Super Challenge Football featured five-man teams with players that had actual moving arms and legs, along with a regulation 100-yard field complete with scrolling and yard markers. Playcalling was far more interesting, as you could individually program each lineman with specific blocking instructions. Interceptions were also possible. But that was about it in terms of sophistication--you couldn't play against the computer, you couldn't punt or kick field goals, and there was no going out of bounds. Even more strangely, you could run off one end of the field and reappear at the other. Players could have linebackers run in the opposite direction and emerge directly behind the opposing quarterback--and were actually advised to do so in the tips section of the game manual! Atari responded to the Intellivision threat with the RealSports line in 1982. This series included most of the major sports, including baseball and soccer, though football was perhaps the most successful entry in the lineup. Overall gameplay wasn't as good as that provided by the rivals at Mattel, though you could at least play solo against the computer here. Teams consisted of five players each, but the visuals were crude and tended to flicker. The field, while regulation-size and of the same side-scrolling type introduced by Intellivision, lacked hash marks and sidelines. Plays were slightly more advanced versions of those found in Football, though field goals were finally possible. With the great video game crash of 1983-1984, the viable shelf life of the Atari 2600 abruptly ended. Even its intended successors, the unimaginatively monikered Atari 5200 and 7800, were critically wounded by this slump. Games continued to be designed for all three systems throughout the 1980s, though sales were poor due to the rise of more advanced alternatives such as the NES, Sega Master System, and the Commodore 64 computer. Super Football was the last of the Atari 2600 football games to emerge. Unfortunately, it didn't hit the market until 1988, when an Atari 2600 was about as commercially and culturally relevant as a Nehru jacket. Obsolete platform or not, Super Football was very good. It could even be considered a predecessor of contemporary football gaming in that it used a scrolling 3D field, colorful, more realistic graphics, and an impressive selection of plays.