NFL Blitz Legends arcade cabinet coming soon — without the late hits

NFL Blitz, the faster, more aggressive, and concussive version of NFL rules football that took arcades by storm in the late ’90s, will return this year — and in throwback arcade cabinet form. But cabinet-maker Arcade1Up’s surprise revival of Blitz will also reflect the modern NFL’s sensitivities.

“The NFL was warm to the idea, because [NFL Blitz] was loved by fans,” Davin Sufer, Arcade1Up’s chief technology officer, told Polygon. But if they were going to re-release three of sports video gaming’s most memorable arcade adaptations in a new package, they had to be cleaned up for modern sensibilities.

“They said, ‘Guys, if you want to do this, you’ve got to address these issues,’” Sufer said.

“These issues” are the violent collisions, some of them gratuitous, after the play, and, of course, unpenalized, that both defined Midway’s NFL BlitzThey have aged poorly over the last 25 years. A quarter-century ago, the league and its media partners were actively selling the violence — even the comedy — of senses-shattering collisions served up on Sunday.

However, the League and its players have been dealing with serious issues such as concussions, chronic traumatic and encephalopathy (CTE), and settlements of $765 millions in claims over the last decade. It’s not an exaggeration to say that crisis has been the biggest barrier preventing 1997’s NFL Blitz, NFL Blitz ’99Or NFL Blitz 2000: Gold EditionFrom reappearing to being remastered.

“To clean this up, you have to change the game code to some degree, even if it’s a small degree, you still have to change game code,” Sufer said. “After the whistle, there’s a certain amount of time where [players were]Still able to do moves. It was a long time period, like, several seconds, if I’m not mistaken. It was necessary to reduce that amount of time. Once the whistle blows, that’s it. […] You can’t perform another tackle. And that’s something that you can’t change by playing with the ROM.”

NFL Blitz LegendsArcade1Up will launch the Thrill Sports Cabinet through its retail partners in the second half of this football season. The company also added NBA Jam: Shaq Edition And Golden Tee 3D Edition to its collector’s item catalog back in May (and announced the fighting game Marvel vs. Capcom 2 August 5, 2009 NFL Blitz Legends The original game is housed here. Blitz ’99, Blitz 2000 One unit, and online multiplayer between those with the cabinet.

Photo: Arcade1Up

These features, Sufer claims, keep games enjoyable and worth playing, even though some of the more memorable aspects have been removed. “We’ve kept it a lot of fun; it’s still a really addictive, fun game,” Sufer promised. “I won’t say that you won’t notice [the changes], but I will say that you’re still having a lot of fun, and it’s almost not affecting the gameplay. All the original plays are in there.”

A 49-way joystick was also used in the arcade games’ original versions. NFL Blitz Legends. This joystick can recognize positions that are short, medium or long from its center. It allows for acceleration and variable speed. A joystick with four- to eight-directional movement has only four or 8 directions. The player moves in each direction at the same speed.

“With any of the plays, you can always kind of diverge from the play,” Sufer said — meaning roll the quarterback out and just turn the play into an improvised run. “With this joystick, you can really have amazing control of the players. You’re pretty much always able to divert from passing and just go run it.”

It is important to note this distinction because arcade-style NFL Football has a tendency to be very pass focused. There are very few running plays in an NFL game, if any, and they can all be easily defended. It was one of the issues making EA Sports’ NFL Blitz revival of 2012 bland and forgettable, and therefore called attention to what it didn’t have — namely the late hits, elbow-drop gang tackles, and other cartoon violence.

NFL Blitz In 2012, a team of former players was used to play the game. NFL Blitz Legends, Arcade1Up needed to rebuild the original roster’s players with a group license from the Football Greats Alliance, representing numerous NFL alumni. In a press release, the news agency assured that many of the greats, such as Jerry Rice, Dan Marino and Deion Sands, will be back in the game. For the remainder of the roster, Sufer estimated that they’re at “maybe 85 to 90% of the original roster,” with others still being added. “We did have some unnamed players that you have to address,” he said.

Sufer said Arcade1up was consulted with NFL Blitz co-creators Mark Turmell (“I had him on speed dial”) and Sal DiVita, as well as other Midway alumni, and Electronic Arts, which now owns the Blitz intellectual property. “For better or worse,” Sufer chuckled, “our reputations preceded us. Scott [Bachrach, Arcade1Up’s chief executive]Acquainted himself with experts in this field. […]We returned to the original designers and received their permission. A lot of them offered to help us.”

NFL Blitz Legends It will be available in a 5′ tall cabinet, with a 17″ display and a lighted marquee. It’ll cost $599.99 and be available from Best Buy, Walmart, and Arcade1Up’s website. You can also order a stool with your team’s logo for $79.99.