Legends Football '98 - PC Review - Gamecenter

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Legends Football '98

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He Takes the Snap
Playability is also good. The offensive line survives the Reggie White test, which means that defenses can't constantly blitz and sack the quarterback. In fact, the offensive line picks up all manner of blitzes impressively. My biggest playability complaint, however, revolves around checking receivers and coverage. Different games handle this problem differently. Some show receivers in special windows; some pan out to view the whole field (my favorite); and some "swivel" the quarterback's head to check off left and right. Legends does none of these, and if a quarterback throws a quick out, he is always taking a chance.
Another playability problem is gamepad control. It seems the game was originally designed for use with a Gravis Gamepad and its colored buttons. When receivers run down field, the words blue, red, green, and yellow appear below them, and pressing the corresponding button throws the ball. According to the instructions, using a different gamepad (like a Microsoft Sidewinder) is supposed to change these labels appropriately, but it doesn't work. Only in the manual can you find that pressing the Sidewinder "A" button corresponds to the word "red" onscreen. No problem for me. I just plug in my reliable Gravis, and it works great. However, those without Gravis gamepads might end up punting their PCs before the game is finished.
Moving Up Field
There are a couple of less serious playability issues. First, there's no time limit on kicking. In most football games there's a power bar that goes up once or twice, which gives you about one to three seconds to hit the button at the appropriate height, set the appropriate angle, and kick. Legends Football '98 In Legends, the bar goes up and down indefinitely until you decide to kick. Sure, you have to watch the play clock. But that still gives you 30 seconds to kick the ball after it's been snapped--which makes kicking overly simple.
Another quirk is season simulation. Legends, like some other titles, simulates every game of the season not played by humans. The problem, as in those other titles, is that it takes nearly 15 minutes on a Pentium 200 MMX for the simulation to finish each week, and after 15 minutes, the scores are generally no more accurate than picking numbers out of a hat. They certainly don't reflect the scores from the real world. A better solution would be to calculate realistic scores based on overall team strength and save some time.
The production values are very good, including the pregame menus, which are quick and intuitive. The opening music is the best I've heard and accurately reflects the particular era (big band to hard rock). Team logos, uniforms, pregame stadiums, and helmets are all authentic and well-rendered. The in-game graphics are also good--but not spectacular. I expect that 3D will play a big part in future games, but Legends relies on good old sprites (the wishbone of graphic representation). The players are a bit blocky and the stands are flat, but the overall presentation is good. The snow effect is especially impressive, with snow building gradually on the field as time progresses.

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Legends Football '98

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