Touchdown Football

Name:	Touchdown Football
Company:	Atari
Model #:	CX-7823
Programmer:	Scott Marshall (Imagineering Inc.)
Year:	1988
Released?	Yes
Notes:	Originally under development by Absolute Entertainment

Ahh football, the sport of kings (or was that Horseshoes?).  Since the dawn of the videogame industry every system has had at least one football game, and the 7800 is no exception.  While the 2600 was graced with four football games, the 7800 only had one during its short lifespan (or five if you count the fact that the 7800 can play 2600 games).  So how does the 7800's entry stack up?  Unfortunately not so well...

Much like Super Football on the 2600, Touchdown Football features a scrolling playfield which really adds a touch of realism to an otherwise drab football simulation.   The players are really tiny, but decently colored (no more mono-colored sprites).  Everyone's favorite Blue team is back for another season, but it looks like Imagineering decided to retire the Red team and replace them with the Black team.  Although no matter how you color them, the graphics in Touchdown Football aren't the greatest.  Then again they weren't great on other systems either so maybe we can give the 7800 version a pass on this.

So once you get past the lacking graphics you find some great gameplay right?  Nope!  Touchdown Football goes for action over realism and doesn't even do that well.  Tired of those annoying running plays that seem to endlessly bog down real football games?  Don't worry, Touchdown Football removes the running back, making most running plays impossible (although you can do a quarterback sneak).  The game usually boils down to the quarterback throwing a bunch of passes that fail to go even 10 yards.  Enjoy kicking field goals or extra points?  Forget about it!  The computer automatically kicks them for you, and often misses even at close range!  Thankfully the computer opponent isn't very good so never puts up a decent challenge, allowing for even the most unskilled player to win easily.

That being said TD Football isn't all bad news and actually does have a few nice touches.  The player can actually change the play call all the way up until the ball is snapped (the computer can do this as well).   Although not mentioned in the manual, the player can select a time out by moving the difficulty switch.  The computer AI will actually remember the last few plays you've used so if you use the same one over and over again it will catch on.  Extra points and field goals can be blocked (when they're not being missed outright).  If you're playing two players and want to hide your play call from your opponent you can hold down the fire button and it won't be displayed on the screen.  Of course finding someone willing to play this game with you is going to be the biggest challenge of all.

Ok so the graphics and gameplay aren't so hot, but there are some great sounds in the game right?  Right?  Sorry to disappoint, but like most 7800 games, Touchdown Football seems to be devoid of almost all sound except for some crowd noise which could easily be mistaken for static.  Sousa's classic march "The Liberty Bell" plays during the kickoff, but after that there's nothing.  Every now and then some creepy sounding anthem will play, but you'll pray that those times come few and far between.  Of course this isn't all Touchdown Football's fault, the lack of a real sound chip in the 7800 makes good music and sound difficult to pull off.

With small characters, poor sound, and questionable gameplay, Touchdown Football proves that Atari was never a sports powerhouse.  It doesn't help that the original game wasn't exactly the best football game even on more capable systems.  It almost seems as if this title was pushed out the door just to provide filler in the 7800's sports lineup (or lack thereof).  Surely the 7800 was capable of better than poor efforts like this.  If you must play football on your 7800, stick with the 2600's Super Football instead, you'll be oh so happy you did.

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