Super Football

Super Football was Atari Corporation's attempt to offer 7800 owners its own version of American football at a time when the sport was only just beginning its journey toward full simulation on game consoles. The player controls the team from a top-down view, choosing plays, runs, and passes and trying to break through the opposing defense all the way to the end zone. Compared to later sports simulations, the game's control system is simpler and more arcade-like – the emphasis is on quick decision-making and reaction skills rather than a complex playbook. Defense and offense are controlled the same way as the opponent's, so the player quickly picks up the basic principles of the game and can focus on reading the opposing player's movement on screen.

The graphics are on par with the average of the 7800 library – the field is clear, the player characters are large enough to follow the action, and the animations of runs and collisions on the line are smooth. The audio is limited to basic whistle, impact, and crowd effects, which keeps the game within the standard typical of the time. It supports two players against each other, which was then an almost mandatory feature for sports titles and one of Super Football's main strengths. The game offers no season mode or roster management, focusing purely on the match itself, which makes it accessible even to players who just want a quick diversion without learning complicated systems.

In its contemporary context, Super Football wasn't among the titles that fundamentally pushed the sports-game genre forward, but it served as a decent choice for American football fans on a platform whose library of sports titles was hardly extensive. Today it's interesting mainly as evidence of how Atari envisioned sports simulation on its own hardware in the late 1980s – straightforward, arcade-like, and without unnecessary complications. Even with this simpler approach, the game remains a brisk, readable choice for anyone who wants to play a quick game of American football with a friend on one console, without unnecessary studying of the rules.

Why play it: For a brisk, readable way to play a quick game of American football with a friend on one console, without unnecessary studying of the rules or unnecessary complications.