NFL Quarterback Club 98

NFL Quarterback Club '98
North American Nintendo 64 cover art
Developer(s) Iguana Entertainment
Publisher(s) Acclaim Sports
Series NFL Quarterback Club series
Platform(s) Nintendo 64
Release
  • NA: October 24, 1997
  • EU: December 1997
Genre(s) Sports, American football
Mode(s) Single player, Multiplayer

NFL Quarterback Club '98 is a football video game, released on October 24, 1997. It was developed by Iguana Entertainment[1] and published by Acclaim Entertainment under their Acclaim Sports banner for the Nintendo 64.

Features

NFL Quarterback Club '98 contained numerous features: One of NFL Quarterback Club '98's features is Simulation mode. There are two kinds of Simulation modes, Custom and Historic. Custom Simulation mode allows one to create one's own scenario, including both teams' scores, who possesses the ball, how much time is left, and where the team with possession of the ball is on the field. Historic Simulation mode contained fifty different scenarios, based on games that happened in history, and a certain task was to be accomplished, often to "change history" and win with the team that lost the game, but sometimes to replicate a team's victory.

Another feature found in the game allows one to create a player. The game allows one to enter information such as the player's position, name, jersey number, height, weight, dominant hand, skin color, and age. After one fills out this information, he or she is taken to a stat customization screen where one can edit a player's stats, such as accuracy and range (for kickers and quarterbacks), catching abilities, agility, speed, and strength (all for numerous players). After a player is created, he is put into Free Agency, where a player must be signed by a team.

Players can also create a team, using color schemes of the 30 NFL teams found in the game. Teams' playbooks, stadiums, and initials (shown next to a team's score during gameplay) can be edited, and a team may contain up to 55 players. Players can be put onto a team from any of the 30 teams already in the game, as well as Free Agents (including created players).

In addition to the 30 pro teams in the game, there were also four hidden teams, accessed by entering the code STNTXTM in the cheat code menu. Two teams, AFC and NFC, are the Pro Bowl teams from 1997. The other two teams are based on Iguana Entertainment and Acclaim, the developer and publisher of the game respectively, and feature then-employees as members of the team. Iguana Entertainment and Acclaim's teams are the two best teams statistically in the game.

There is a season mode where players can select a team and play through their 1997 schedule. There is also a playoff mode where a player can select a team and try to guide them through the playoffs. Quarterback Club '98 also featured a Quarterback Profile feature. This feature contained 30 quarterbacks, one from each team, and their college and pro football achievements in encyclopediatic format.

The game's commentary was done by Marv Albert.

Development

Acclaim was able to bring the NFL Quarterback series into the 64-bit age using technology they had been working on for several years for Turok: Dinosaur Hunter. With this, they were able to keep the game running at 30fps in high-resolution (640 x 480); something that hadn't yet been done in the U.S. They were also able to get the full NFL license, including all the teams, stadiums and rosters.[2] Their competitor for the N64 that year, Electronic Arts' Madden Football 64 was not able to get the NFL license in time for the game's release as Acclaim had acquired all the licenses for that year, but the game did feature real player names as it did get a license from the league's players' association that year. As a result, NFL Quarterback Club 98 is the only football video game for the Nintendo 64 to be fully licensed by the NFL in 1997.[3]

Reception

NFL Quarterback Club '98 has received mixed scores from reviewers. GameSpot gave it a 5.4 out of 10,[4] noting its graphics as being advanced for the time, but heavily criticizing the passing physics of the game, the sound, and the AI intelligence. IGN gave it the higher score of 7.8/10,[5] also praising the graphics but giving the gameplay, sound, and lasting appeal mediocre scores. It has a 76% on GameRankings.[6]

Other titles

References

  1. ↑ "Gaming Gossip". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 93. Ziff Davis. April 1997. p. 28.
  2. ↑ EPNdotTV (2016-01-26), Electric Playground: Season 1, Episode 8, retrieved 2018-08-22
  3. ↑ Casamassina, Matt (October 24, 1997). "Madden 64". IGN. Retrieved September 13, 2018. Football fanatics, however, will be very disappointed to know that Madden 64 doesn't feature the full NFL license, so real team names, team colors and team stadiums are not present. This means that you could be stuck playing the Chicago Bulldozers instead of the mighty Bears -- and they might be purple. Acclaim grabbed all the NFL licensing rights for its NFL QB Club '98 early and EA was left playing catch up. However, EA did manage to get ahold of the NFLPA (NFL Players Associaion) so real player names are present in the game.
  4. ↑ NFL Quarterback Club 98 for Nintendo 64 Review - Nintendo 64 NFL Quarterback Club 98 Review
  5. ↑ IGN: NFL Quarterback Club '98 Review
  6. ↑ NFL Quarterback Club 98 Screenshots
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