Arcade1Up’s NFL Blitz Legends Cabinet Is A Hard-Hitting Stroll Down Memory Lane

NFL Blitz; now that’s a name I’ve not heard in a long time. To be precise, it’s been over 10 years. It was January 2012 that the NFL Blitz last released on PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Arcade and Xbox Live Arcade. Even then, it was considered a retro revival title developed by Madden studio EA Tiburon. Before that, we hadn’t received a proper NFL-licensed Blitz title since Midway’s NFL Blitz 20-03 on PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, and Game Boy Advance. EA Sports was granted the Midway licensing during 2009’s liquidation. The NFL, however, has generally been resistant to the Blitz-style arcade gameplay.

Arcade1Up announced in August that the arcade company behind many replicas of Midway games like NBA Jam or Mortal Kombat had relaunched the franchise through NFL Blitz Legends. Three classic NFL Blitz titles are featured in this replica arcade cabinet. It includes the NFL Blitz, NFL Blitz 2000, and NFL Blitz 99 Gold Edition. This arcade game is a remastering of classic arcade games that were released in the 1990s. This announcement made me overjoyed to have some of my favourite football games in modern form. Arcade1Up sent me a cabinet to test and build to compare to my old memories.

The NFL Blitz Legends cabinet, like all Arcade1Up cabinets fits into most corners.

You must first build an Arcade1Up machine before you can use it. Although these processes can be simple, they are often time-consuming. It is not any different with the NFL Blitz Legends cabinets. This is the fourth Arcade1Up cabinet I’ve assembled on my own, and it is perhaps the most involved by a small margin. Thanks to the well-written instructions and clear illustrations I encountered very few speed bumps and did not need any additional tools besides a Phillips-head screwdriver.

Built well, the cabinet is strong and of high quality. It doesn’t suffer from any shakiness or uncomfortable edges. The touch-sensitive front coins slots add a pleasant feature to the machines that were painted. This cabinet stands slightly higher than the Arcade1Up cabinets. Although the only negative thing about this product is its CPU, which is a bit louder than others when playing games, it doesn’t distract from the game play. This cabinet comes with a 3.5mm headphones jack, which is great for those times when the noise level needs to be reduced.

Once you fire it up, you can choose between the titles mentioned above on offer. Each game feels similar but with different rosters and some slightly different features/presentational elements. No matter which you choose, this Arcade1Up cabinet does an admirable job of recreating the experience of finding one of the original cabinets in the wild, including rosters full of legends ripped straight from the era. For sports games of a quarter-century ago, the gameplay holds up surprising well.

Due to its wider deck this machine is capable of supporting up to 4 players localy. Or you can use the Live WiFi feature to play online once the servers become live. I had a smooth experience playing online with a handful of multiplayer games before the launch. The network was fast and there were very few latency issues. Although I still enjoy playing multiplayer on real arcade cabinets, it is my preferred method of enjoying the game. However, Arcade1Up’s online component makes me happy. Outside of simultaneous play, the online functionality also allows for online leaderboards for each title, showcasing the best players globally and among your friends. At the time of writing, leaderboards were live. However, the online play feature is only available for retail versions of the software.

However, the NFL has released a new game that was based on the concept of “What If the NFL didn’t have rules?” There will be some concessions for 2022. Since the first NFL Blitz games in 1992, the National Football League has emphasized safety and player health more. The virtual NFL Blitz Legends players are unable to perform the brutal tackles or hits that were part of the original game.

This is an excellent idea overall but it makes me feel like the NFL has made a revisionist history and that we are focusing on something wrong. Virtual players getting hit by whistles after all. I understand it’s an image move and a changing of the narrative on the NFL’s part, but at the end of the day, nobody is actually harmed when a highly polygonal Ray Lewis delivers a late hit on a highly polygonal Vinny Testaverde. Thankfully, it doesn’t detract from the core gameplay – which, to be clear, is still an absolute blast – but it does feel frivolous to make that change but not revise the previous name/logo of the Washington Commanders. 

Regardless of these minor changes, NFL Blitz Legends is an excellent package if you’re as big of a fan of the old-school arcade-style NFL games as I am. These games are available in a three-pack, which is the perfect way to experience them all. This will hopefully combine with Arcade1Up’s NBA Jam cabinet, which could inspire EA Sports once more to revive both these beloved brands.