Zzap


4th And Inches

Categories: Review: Software
Publisher: Accolade
Machine: Amiga 500

 
Published in Zzap #48

4th And Inches

Thirty-two, sixteen, fourty-eight... Hut! Hut! Hut! Everyone knows that American worship American Football more than they do the Pope, but what's it all about?

Well, your basic objective is to transport the ball from one end of the field to the other, scoring a touchdown if you reach the other end. You've got a number of different offensive and defensive moves at your disposal.

You take the role of both coach and players, selecting the team, strategy and different types of play, then putting those strategies to practical use.

4th & Inches

Played using either mouse or joystick, you can go just as silly in front of the telly as the Americans do in a crowd of a hundred thousand other lunatics.

Gordo

With TV Sports Football as its competition, you've got to admit that 4th And Inches doesn't look so good. Technically, the Amiga version is just as accurate as the C64 and gives you pretty good game of American Football, but frills-wise - there just aren't any. The graphics are just a bit more well-defined than on the C64 and that's about it: no improvements in terms of presentation and nothing to add that bit of extra spice to the game.

If you like your simulations bare and boney, you'll definitely love this. Everyone else, try it out first.

Maff

4th & Inches

Whereas TV Sports Football uses the Amiga to produce some quite dazzling graphic effects, 4th And Inches doesn't show any improvements over the C64 version, released about a year ago.

There's not much in the way of sound either: just a couple of basic tunes and a second or two of sampled crowd roar. This *is* an accurate, if slightly easy, sim of American Football - but faced with a choice between this and the competition, I know which one I'd rather buy.

Verdict

Presentation 68%
Neat screen display. Joystick or mouse option. One or two players.

4th & Inches

Graphics 42%
Basic, poorly animated sprites on a bland pitch.

Sound 40%
One or two uninspiring tunes, and a snippet of sampled crowd cheering.

Hookability 62%
Unfussy American Football lovers (who don't own TV Sports Football) will love it.

Lastability 60%
If you enjoy the sport, you'll probably keep at it for quite a while.

Overall 69%
An accurate, no-nonsense sport simulation with a slightly disappointing no-frills approach.