Football Frenzy

Summary

Football Frenzy[a] is an American football arcade video game developed and originally published by SNK on January 31, 1992.[1][2][3] It was the second football game created by SNK after 1987's Touch Down Fever, as well as the only football game released for the Neo Geo platform.[4]

Football Frenzy
Developer(s)SNK
Publisher(s)SNK
Producer(s)Eikichi Kawasaki
Designer(s)Tomomi M.
Programmer(s)Data Tada
Makoto
Masami
Artist(s)Mina Kawai
Nishi Futatsu
Tami Sugiura
Composer(s)Yasuo Yamate
Yoshihiko Kitamura
Platform(s)Arcade, Neo Geo AES, Neo Geo CD
Release
  • Arcade
    • WW: 31 January 1992
    Neo Geo AES
    • JP: 21 February 1992
    • NA: 21 February 1992
    • EU: 21 February 1992
    Neo Geo CD
Genre(s)Sports
Mode(s)
Arcade systemNeo Geo MVS

In the game, players have the choice to compete in matches against either AI-controlled opponents or other human players. Despite being initially launched for the Neo Geo MVS (arcade), Football Frenzy would be later released for both Neo Geo AES (home) and Neo Geo CD in 1992 and 1994 respectively, in addition of being re-released through download services for various consoles, among other ways to play it as of date.[5]

Football Frenzy has been met with mixed reception from critics since its initial launch, with some praising its presentation, visuals and sound design, while others criticized the gameplay for being difficult to grasp.

Gameplay edit

 
Gameplay screenshot.

Football Frenzy is an American football game similar to Touch Down Fever and other similar golf titles from the era, where players compete in matches against either AI-controlled opponents on a single-player tournament mode or against other human players in a two-player versus mode.[6] Most of the rules from the sport are present in the title, following the same basic gameplay featured in other football simulators including the ability of tackling players and lob the oval-shaped football into the goalpost, though the game provides a faster pace and a more arcade-style approach of the sport instead.[6] When playing solo, players compete against seven rival teams by choosing any of the ten selectable teams in order to become champion of the season.[6] Due to the lack of an NFL license, all of the teams featured are fictional.[6] If a memory card is present, the players are allowed to save their progress and resume into the last match the game saved at.[6]

Release edit

Football Frenzy was initially first launched for arcades on January 31, 1992, becoming the only football title released on Neo Geo by SNK.[1][2][4] The game was then released for Neo Geo AES during the same time period a month later.[1][2][3] The title was later re-released for the Neo Geo CD on September 9, 1994 as one of the launch titles for the system, with minimal changes compared to the original MVS and AES versions.[7][8] It has received a re-release in recent years on various digital distribution platforms such as the PlayStation Network, Nintendo eShop and Xbox Live by HAMSTER Corporation.[5] It was also recently included in the international version of the Neo Geo mini.[9]

Reception edit

In Japan, Game Machine listed Football Frenzy on their March 15, 1992 issue as being the fourth most-successful table arcade unit of the month, outperforming titles such as Captain Commando.[22] The game has been met with mixed reception from critics since its initial launch.[23]

Notes edit

  1. ^ Japanese: フットボール・フレンジー, Hepburn: Futtobōru Furenjī

References edit

  1. ^ a b c "Football Frenzy [Model NGM-034] (MVS)". arcade-history.com. Retrieved 2019-07-22.
  2. ^ a b c "Title Catalogue - NEOGEO MUSEUM". SNK Playmore. Archived from the original on 2018-08-28. Retrieved 2019-07-22.
  3. ^ a b "Oh! Neo Geo Vol. 21 - フットボールフレンジー". Beep! MegaDrive (in Japanese). No. 56. SoftBank Creative. May 1994. p. 134.
  4. ^ a b "Football Frenzy (Game)". Giant Bomb. CBS Interactive. 2019. Retrieved 2019-09-02.
  5. ^ a b Moyse, Chris (August 30, 2018). "Score the clunkiest touchdown ever as SNK's Football Frenzy returns". Destructoid. Enthusiast Gaming. Retrieved 2019-09-02.
  6. ^ a b c d e Football Frenzy user's manual (Neo Geo AES, US)
  7. ^ "NEO GEO Soft > 1993-1994" (in Japanese). GAME Data Room. Archived from the original on 2018-10-01. Retrieved 2019-09-02.
  8. ^ "Neo•Geo CD: The Arcade In A Box". GamePro. No. Premiere Supplement. IDG. Spring 1996. pp. 100–108. Archived from the original on 2018-11-29. Retrieved 2019-07-22.
  9. ^ S. Good, Owen (June 10, 2018). "SNK announces the 40-game lineup for the Neo Geo mini-console". Polygon. Archived from the original on 2018-06-10. Retrieved 2019-09-02.
  10. ^ Knight, Kyle (1998). "Football Frenzy (Neo Geo Advanced Entertainment System) - Review". AllGame. All Media Network. Archived from the original on 2014-11-15. Retrieved 2019-07-23.
  11. ^ Fan, Fanatic (June 1992). "Neo•Geo ProReview: Football Frenzy". GamePro. No. 35. IDG. p. 74.
  12. ^ Corrado, Davide (December 1992). "Football Frenzy (Neo Geo)". Consolemania (in Italian). No. 14. Xenia Edizioni. pp. 66–67.
  13. ^ Menier, Marc; Fred (April 1992). "Neo Geo Review - Football Frenzy". Consoles + (in French). No. 8. M.E.R.7. pp. 64–65.
  14. ^ del Campo, Manuel (September 1993). "Neo Geo - Football Frenzy - ¡A Por El Touchdown!". Hobby Consolas (in Spanish). No. 24. Axel Springer SE. p. 122.
  15. ^ "Reportaje - Clásicos en CD -- Titulos disponibles para el nuevo formato de SNK: Football Frenzy". Hobby Hi-Tech (in Spanish). No. 1. Axel Springer SE. March 1995. p. 29.
  16. ^ Demoly, Jean-Marc; Nini, Nourdine (April 1992). "Test - Neo Geo - Football Frenzy". Joypad (in French). No. 7. Yellow Media. pp. 120–121.
  17. ^ Demoly, Jean-Marc (April 1992). "Tests - Neo Geo - Football Frenzy". Joystick (in French). No. 26. Anuman Interactive. p. 123.
  18. ^ Noak, Philipp; Hellert, Stefan (August 1993). "Special - Neo Geo - Football Frenzy". Mega Fun (in German). No. 11. CT Computec Verlag GmbH & Co. KG. pp. 28–30. Archived from the original on 2018-10-21. Retrieved 2019-07-23.
  19. ^ Yanma; Itabashi (July 1992). "Super Soft 大特集 - 今、『NEO・GEO』がおもしろい!: フットボールフレンジー". Micom BASIC Magazine (in Japanese). No. 121. The Dempa Shimbunsha Corporation. p. 209.
  20. ^ "NF編集部にまる - ネオジオゲームㇱインレビュー: フットボールフレンジー". Neo Geo Freak (in Japanese). No. 25. Geibunsha. June 1997. pp. 124–128.
  21. ^ Drevet, Cyril (April 1992). "Tests De Jeux - Neo Geo - Football Frenzy". Player One (in French). No. 19. Média Système Édition. p. 85.
  22. ^ "Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - テーブル型TVゲーム機 (Table Videos)". Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 422. Amusement Press, Inc. 15 March 1992. p. 29.
  23. ^ Knauf, Andreas (June 1992). "News - Neo Geo - Football Frenzy". Video Games (in German). No. 7. Future-Verlag. p. 16.

External links edit