Great Football

Sega

The great lost gaming system of the 1980s was undoubtedly the Sega Master System. Although it made a promising debut in 1986, thanks in large part to impressive 8-bit technology that dwarfed what had gone before, it was rapidly overtaken by the NES. Super Mario led a craze that made Nintendo the undisputed industry leader by 1988, assuming the same position that Atari had held nearly a decade earlier.

Little was truly great about Great Football...

Still, Sega had a brief moment in the sun during the mid to late 1980s. The relatively few games that were produced for the Master System were generally of high quality and were certainly far more complex on average than the kiddie fare upon which Nintendo was focusing. Sports games were a particular specialty. This was an area that Nintendo had not properly explored, so Sega moved into this arena with a fervor. The company developed a line of "Great" sports games encompassing most of the world's major pastimes, including baseball, golf, soccer, and, of course, football.

But Great Football wasn't very well promoted. And like many of the Sega Master System titles, it was inadequately distributed. It was even harder to find than other games from the same series, such as Great Baseball and Great Golf. Perhaps that was a bit of a blessing in disguise, as Great Football simply wasn't much fun to play. It was far less interesting than most titles in the line, like Great Baseball. Some interesting ideas were advanced, and it was nice to know that football could be played on these second-generation console systems, though the overall execution was very poor. Twelve teams from two different conferences were available to choose from, but they differed only in their names and the color of their uniforms. There were numerous passing formations, but no actual plays other than simple runs and passes.

Making plays was nearly impossible, due to the speed of the play and the strange control system. All computer defenders could move at the approximate speed of Ben Johnson before that urine test in Seoul, with the ability to catch ball carriers who were as much as 10 yards downfield. Passing was equally strange. There seemed to be no way to properly aim the ball, so making a simple completion was a struggle all by itself. The developers apparently faked their way through the design process, emblazoning the center of the field with an American eagle as if to hide the fact that they just didn't get what football was all about.

...including the scant playcalling and formation selection.

Sega released a second enhanced version of Great Football around the same time. Sports Pad Football offered slightly improved gameplay due to the requirement of special sports pad controllers, though it still wasn't worth the added investment. The sports pad idea died a quick death. Much like the earlier ColecoVision Super Action Controllers, consumers weren't interested in buying special hardware just to play one or two titles. After Sports Pad Football and Great Ice Hockey, the controllers were shelved. Football for the Master System wasn't abandoned, though it probably should have been. Sega licensed the name and likeness of Chicago Bears legend Walter Payton in 1989, but the subsequent Walter Payton Football was nearly as bad as its predecessor. Regardless, by that point, the Master System had already been eclipsed by the NES--and was even being moved to the backburner by Sega itself, which was ramping up for the launch of the Genesis.