LJNâs 1989 release of NFL Football arrived with the prestige of a full league license, offering players the chance to command all 28 teams of the era with authentic logos and colors. However, the initial thrill of seeing the official shield on an NES cartridge quickly dissipates once the kick-off begins. The game suffers from a perspective that feels cramped and a pacing that is agonizingly slow compared to its contemporaries. While it attempted to provide a more "serious" simulation of the sport than the arcade-style titles of the day, it ultimately stumbled over its own ambitions.
The mechanical execution of the game is where the experience truly falters, as the play-calling menus are cumbersome and break any sense of momentum. On the field, the flicker is rampant and the animation is choppy, making it difficult to track the ball during long passes or navigate through a collapsing pocket. The AI is notoriously unbalanced; the computer often executes perfect defensive plays while your own teammates seem to wander aimlessly. This lack of responsiveness turns what should be a tactical gridiron battle into a frustrating exercise in trial and error.
In the grand landscape of 8-bit sports titles, NFL Football is a prime example of a licensed product that relies more on branding than gameplay quality. It was released just as the genre was beginning to find its footing, yet it was almost immediately rendered obsolete by the fluid, high-octane action of Tecmo Bowl. For modern collectors, it serves primarily as a piece of NFL history rather than a playable classic. Unless you are aiming for a full set of the infamous LJN "rainbow" library, there is very little reason to pull this one off the shelf for a kickoff.
