Djwlfpack
Thursday, November 20, 2008
-The roster editor is tedious, but a lot of fun at the same time. I went through and re-named all the players on my Giants team. I went with an all-time great team, and here's what I came up with:
QB: Eli Manning, Phil Simms, Y.A. Tittle
RB: Dave Meggett (for returns), Brandon Jacobs, Tiki Barber, Maurice Carthon
WR: Plaxico Burress, Amani Toomer, Stephen Baker (one of my favorites growing up), Mark Ingram
TE: Mark Bavaro, Jeremy Shockey
C: Bart Oates, Shaun O'Hara
G: Chris Snee, Gary Riesenburg
T: Jumbo Elliot, Roosevelt Brown
DT: Sam Huff (couldn't remember if he played tackle or end, so I stuck him here), Keith Hamilton
DE: Michael Strahan, Osi Umeniyora
LB: Lawrence Taylor, Carl Banks, Pepper Johnson, Harry Carson (Antonio Pierce and Gary Reasons are backups)
CB: Mark Collins, Phillippi Sparks
S: Kenny Phillips (love this guy even if he's a rookie), Myron Guyton
K: Matt Bahr
P: Sean Landeta
In terms of on-the-field, this game is so much fun. I've hit some big plays, including a nice in-stride bomb to Toomer. Unlike the NES games, you can't drop back to your end zone and chuck it 100 yards downfield and be right on the money. Not that that's a bad thing, but it was fun, wasn't it?
Running game is good. You have to fight for yards, but you can hit some big-hitters as well.
The nose tackle dive is still in the game, so unless you want to rack up 40-plus sacks, I'd probably avoid controlling him in a game. I bet we'll be seeing a lot of this online.
The AI actually puts up a good fight. I've won most of my games big, but did play a couple of close ones today, including a 3-point win over Houston. Some of the players are clearly modeled after guys from the old days, as the QB on Denver plays just like Elway and can run really fast.
I had 4 fumbles in one game against the CPU. It's weird, some games you'll see 3-5 fumbles and then zero the next. Interceptions are around 1-3 a game between the two teams.
Cut-scenes are cool. You'll see them on certain pass plays when the defensive player makes a play on the ball and the receiver either catches the ball or drops it. You'll also see a cut-scene when a player performs a super ability. And, of course, after every touchdown, field goal, PAT and punt you'll see something. The halftime show is pretty funny, especially the 80's-inspired rock band.
The field looks cool during games where there's rain or snow. Chain gang is in the game and there's a cut-scene for them to come out and measure for a 1st down. Funny how this game can have that but Madden 09 doesn't. Well, that's really sad but an entirely different point.
Music can get annoying after a while, but it's not like you're forced to listen to it.
You can trade players from one team to another and change your depth charts rather easily. This can all be done with the stylus, too.
You won't be able to get exact matches on uniform colors if you're looking to change the teams resemble the NFL ones, but you can get pretty close on most. The logo choices are disappointing, though.
All the action happens on the bottom screen and the scoreboard is on the top screen. The top screen will tell you down-distance and how many yards your player gained on the previous play. I could see a few people not liking having the action on the bottom screen if their screen is scratched up, but mine's in good shape so no worries there.
A few times my WR has been mis-identified as a defensive player in a cut-scene. The correct player does get credit for the yardage, though.
I think I'm going to take some time and put some more names in this game and then hop into season mode.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
I have played a couple of quick games so far and here's my initial thoughts:
Classic Tecmo gameplay, so everyone that played the old games will have no trouble getting into this one. The stylus controls are pretty responsive but I think I'll stick to the classic button controls.
One neat twist is that you actually change sides of the field during the game; meaning you play L-to-R for two quarters and R-to-L the other two. It takes a bit to get used to going the "opposite" way but I like it, adds to the challenge.
Players are a little slower than the NES versions. I saw a couple of fumbles in my games and also saw a couple of open WR drop passes. Not too concerned with either of those things, although I will watch the fumble frequency.
I can't believe no one mentioned this: when you start the game up, you see a list of all the teams. In the division that mimmicks the NFC East, you'll see Dallas, Washington, Philly and LA?!? Oh wait, it gets better. LA's nickname? SUPERCOCKS!!!! I am dead serious. I laughed for a good minute at that one. I'm a big Giants fan, but man, I don't know if I can change that name. I thought Tecmo had the "no bad words" filter on? Cassel's name can't get in but this team name does? Hmm.
As mentioned above, the logo and uniform editor aren't expansive, but you can get close on the colors for the NFL teams. You can also edit player attributes, so that might help make some of the players run faster, etc. It's capped at certain numbers, so you can't max out your guys right away.
You can edit all the names and numbers. I'm thinking instead of doing all current rosters I'll do some current, some classic and like with the Giants one I've started, do an all-time great team, with a mix of past and present players.
I'll be playing a lot more but so far, really like what I'm seeing.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
The Fury, once again, received a monster individual performance from running back Christian Okoye. The "Nigerian Nightmare" rumbled for 277 yards on 24 carries and three touchdowns.
"It all starts up front," Okoye said. "My offensive line has been dominating the line of scrimmage all season. I just run behind them."
Complimenting Okoye's production was a turnover-happy defense, which came away with four interceptions - two by safety Willie Wood.
"I think we did a good job of disguising our coverages," Wood said. "Len (Dawson, the Stallons quarterback) has a great arm and has a lot of weapons out there on the field. We knew as a defense we needed to make plays to keep us in the game and we were able to do that."
Fury quarterback Derrick Bly had his second consecutive solid game, completing 3-of-5 passes for 50 yards, including a 35-yarder to tight end Eric Green that set up a field goal just before halftime that gave the Fury a 20-0 lead.
Wood came away with an interception to open the second half and Okoye turned the turnover into points as he scored on a 27-yard run to open up the lead, 27-0.
After being shut out for three quarters, the Stallions found their footing in the fourth as Dawson made smart throws and Bo Jackson scored the team's lone points on a 16-yard run midway through the quarter.
The two teams will meet again later in the year, this time on the Fury's home field.
"We know we have to see these guys again," Wood said. "This game went our way but we can't expect all the breaks to go our way again, nor can we expect Len to have a sub-par game again. If we're going to come away with another victory, we have to play mistake-free football."
Monday, November 17, 2008
The Fury's defense, which had been torched by Dan Marino in the teams' first outing, came to play today, with Roger Wehrli in particular having a strong game at corner. Dick Butkus and Jim Marshall each had a sack and the Fury forced Marino to throw a pair of interceptions.
Okoye found the sledding tough in the early stages of the game, but once he found his footing, the Goats had no answer. Okoye put an exclamation point on the game with a 91-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter.
The Goats tacked a couple of late touchdowns on the board, but were unable to get the ball back to try and score the tying touchdown.
With their record at 2-6 at the midway point, the Fury will need to practically win out the rest of the way to have a shot at the playoffs. But, at least this win gives the team something to hang its hat on after suffering through a half-dozen razor-thin defeats.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Yes, Tecmo Bowl: Kickoff is coming out next week and I am really excited about that. I hope, hope, it comes close to matching the on-field experience of Tecmo Super Bowl, perhaps still my favorite game of all-time. Sure, re-naming the teams and rosters will be a pain, but once you get it done, it should help add to the enjoyment.
Football on the DS hasn't gone that well, though. Madden has tried, but largely failed. I owned last year's version and while the paper football was fun, the actual on-field gameplay was very limited. No inside running. No deep passing. Very difficult to user-control anyone on defense aside from linemen. Graphically the player models were OK standing still, but in motion became clippy and guys would often warp through an opposing player.
Tecmo, it looks like, has the player scale down and 11-on-11 for their game works well. Madden's players are too big, take up too much space and that makes for a tough game of football - at least a game to find enjoyment out of.
So, that got me to thinking, what could companies like EA do to market sports titles better to the DS and its owners? Here's a few ideas I have:
Football
-NFL Street doesn't do it for me, but the idea of 7-on-7 intrigues me. If EA is dead-set on using old PS1 player models, then just eliminate some of the players and open up the field. Trust me, I've played in 7-on-7 leagues and you can still get a very "sim" experience out of it. Run with a QB, 3 WR, 3 OL and a RB and then match up on defense accordingly.
Baseball
-I really like Power Pros. You'd never know it was a sim game by looking at it, but take the time to play it and those little guys play a great game of baseball. This year's verison played great but the lack of a season mode was a game-killer to many. So, if we can get a full season mode in Power Pros, baseball would be golden. I'd still like to see a game similar to Baseball Simular 1.000 (SNES) on the DS, as I think that mix of RPG elements and sports worked well.
Basketball
-I said I didn't like NFL Street but for basketball, I'm a big fan of NBA Street. I say create a scaled-down verison of NBA Street for DS. 3-on-3 would work better than 5-on-5 (see my football theory above) and it would be a fun pick-up-and-play game.
Hockey
-I say either go all the way old school and bring back the NHL 94 engine or do something along the lines of NHL Hitz.
Golf
-True Swing Golf has the right idea, it just needs some refinements in the touch screen swing mechanic. I haven't played Tiger Woods on DS, so I can't comment there. Mario Golf wouldn't hurt either, Nintendo (wink, wink)
Boxing
-OK, Punch-Out! is coming to Wii, how the heck is this thing not being brought back on DS. Talk about a perfect match. You could have your opponent on the top screen and then control Mac (or whomever the lead character would be) on the bottom screen with the stylus. Or just use button control. Either way, I see no reason why a game like this couldn't be brought to DS.
I could go on and on, and perhaps I will at another time. I think Lesnar-Couture is getting underway.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
In the end, wins and losses shouldn't matter that much. We're not playing for cash or any other prize, except for pride. Sure, I'd like to win more but I should take comfort in the fact that I am playing very competitive games against guys from this site, who are all very talented. The games really could go either way and I'm sure, in time, I'll be on the winning side of those close games.
I'm still taking the weekend off, though, to recharge my batteries before getting back on the online horse. In the meantime, I'm playing Madden and NCAA 09, trying to tweak the sliders on both to get the games to play close to the level that I want. I have NCAA just about right; the only thing you can't really control is the CPU playcalling, which is inherently flawed. Madden is taking a little more work as there are no CPU sliders, but I think I'm close. I just need to get the Human running game more realistic; right now it's too easy for me to average 6-plus yards per carry with Brandon Jacobs. I'm thinking of trying out the "My Skill" feature, just to see what the difference is between that and custom sliders.
Right now I'm firing up Fight Night 3. I need to get myself ready for Lesnar-Couture tonight and since there's no UFC game (yet), this what I have to roll with as I don't have any WWE games right now.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
A lot of the frustration has to do with my generic quarterbacks. They are terrible. Playing Buddy Knox today, I went to throw a simple slant pattern to my WR and my generic missed the target by a good 15 yards and Buddy came down with the easy INT. I watched the replay and my QB's feet were set, there was no pass rush in his face and yet, the ball wasn't even close to being accurate. It's so tough to win only running the ball because there are going to be drives where my opponent slows down Christian Okoye enough to where I have to get a completion to keep the drive going. And, while my opponents have no trouble passing on me, I can't complete more than 5 passes a game. Most passes wind up intercepted or fall incomplete. On the rare times I get the ball to the receiver I want, they'll drop the ball.
I've really enjoyed playing the guys in the Armchair QBs league that we have going here on the site. All of the games have been competitive and down to the wire. No cheese involved. I'm not a sore loser, either, but all these losses have piled up and taken a toll on me.
So, I've got to get away from the game for a bit. APF is a great game but it suck the life out of you. It's done it to me.
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