NFL GameDay 2001
Score: 92% ESRB: Everyone Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment America Developer: 989 Sports Media: CD/1 Players: 1 – 2 (2 – 8 Multitap) Genre: Sports (Football)
Graphics & Sound: Just like the GameDays before it, NFL GameDay 2001 again contends for the prestigious honor of "Best Football Game of the Year." One of the reasons for this is of course, the graphics. If you have played any of the GameDays before, the graphics are just as good as the others, if not better. If you haven't played any of them before, here is an idea. 989 Sports recreated every NFL player with unbelievable detail, which goes accordingly to their actual height, weight, and body type. All of the stadiums have historical landmarks to identify the reality, and the grass progressively gets more wear and tear throughout the game. The sounds category is where I have some mixed feelings. Again, Dick Enberg and Phil Simms are your commentators, which can be good and bad (a.k.a. annoying) at times. Also, the crowd always seems to lack in intensity and realness. But the bone crunching hits that occur throughout the game definitely bring this category back up to a respectable level.
Gameplay: NFL GameDay 2001 is football made for the 21st century... end of story. All the great things that the GameDays had in the past have been enhanced. Get ready to see players breaking shoestring tackles, while dragging and shaking would-be tacklers on countless efforts, while your man with the football regains his balance by putting his hand on the ground to gain those extra yards. And when you're not sidestepping everyone and everything, prepare yourself to be either gang tackled, wrapped up, up-ended, shoved, or chop blocked. A whole new "Total Control Passing" will allow you to overthrow or under throw your receiver in any direction your precious little heart desires. NFL GameDay 2001 lets you play in either an exhibition game, a season, or in a tournament. It also has the now-standard features of a draft, play editor, and general manager mode. There is also a new Draft War Room, which will provide you with a report of team weaknesses that need to be addressed for upcoming games. I almost forgot, if you save the senior rosters from NCAA GameBreaker 2001 onto a memory card, you'll be able to load and draft them onto your NFL teams!
Difficulty: There are four different levels to choose from for NFL GameDay 2001. They are the regular Rookie, Veteran, All-Pro and Hall of Fame levels, but by no means is that the end of your difficulty settings. You have the option to change the amount of penalties and injuries that can occur throughout the game. And if that wasn't enough, the new computer AI allows the computer to learn your likes and dislikes on offense AND defense. The moral of the story: don't be caught picking the same play over and over again, or you will get burned.
Game Mechanics: The loading time for NFL GameDay 2001 sucks, but once it is up and running, you're good to go. And you can have up to eight players, pending you have the multitap, which doesn't seem to slow down the game at all. Also, this game can take up a chunk of your memory card; 15 blocks to be in fact. But the controls are the same from years past... easy. As previously mentioned, Total Control Passing is very easy to use with a simple press in the right direction. And being able to perform all the different moves is all at the end of your fingertips, whether it be juking, spinning, jumping, stiff arms, or diving.
-Red Dawg, GameVortex Communications AKA Alex Redmann
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