Mike Ditka Power Football

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a game by Accolade
Genre: Sports
Platform: Sega GenesisGenesis
Editor Rating: 7.9/10, based on 4 reviews, 5 reviews are shown
User Rating: 7.0/10 - 2 votes
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See also: Sport Games, Sports Management Games, Football Video Games
Mike Ditka Power Football
Mike Ditka Power Football
Mike Ditka Power Football
Mike Ditka Power Football

Mike Ditka Power Football is Accolade's entry in the Genesis football league. While the graphics and game-play aren't up to par with its competition, a wealth of setup options and an extensive roster substitution feature makes this game worth a closer look.

Any Way You Like It

This is clearly one of the most option-filled sports games there is. You have all 28 professional teams, and ol' Iron Mike himself gives you an in-depth scouting report for each team. At startup, you can choose to play a single game or enter a single elimination 16-team playoff; play 3-, 5-, 10-, or 15-minute quarters; set four levels of passing ability; and decide if players tire, suffer injuries, incur penalties, or fumble.

Plus Yardage

The game's most interesting feature is its detailed individual player stats. Each player is ranked in 5 categories, Fatigue, Speed, Hands, Strength, and Accuracy. Payers perform according to their stats, but play them extensively and they run slower, drop passes, and fumble the ball.

You can make substitute any player with another player from any position! For example you could stick a fast Wide Receiver in to run a fake punt. The possibilities are endless!

ProTip: Constantly monitor your players' fatigue levels. Offensive players only rest up when the opposing offense is on the field, and the same applies for the defense.

The passing game has an innovative feature which freezes the action after the snap. Then you can scroll through the playing field to check out the coverage.

Press B to pass and hold down the direction pad in the direction that you want your receiver to run. This way, both the ball and toe receiver should reach the same spot at the same time.

Minus Yardage

With all its tremendous options, you'd expect Power Football to play like a dream. Unfortunately, the graphics, animation, and game- play are all somewhat disappointing. Game-play uses a first person, vertically scrolling perspective similar to John Madden Football, but it lacks details and smooth animation. The graphics are bright and clear, but players are often hard to tell apart when they pile up. The animation is extremely choppy especially during big gainers. You often lose sight of your player as the scrolling hiccups across the screen.

Unfortunately there are less than a dozen plays on either offense or defense, and you can't call audibles. Also, the diagrams of the playbooks aren't clearly illustrated, making it difficult to see the exact route of each player.

During kicks, keep the power meter within the blue level. Going into the yellow level gives you maximum power, but less control.

Fourth and Long

It's obvious that a lot of work has been put into Mike Ditka Power Football to make it as realistic a football game as possible; however, more of that effort should have been channeled into the graphics and game-play departments.

Unfortunately, in the face of fierce competition from John Madden '92 and Joe Montana II, Mike Ditka will have a tough time making the playoffs.

Download Mike Ditka Power Football

Genesis

System requirements:

  • PC compatible
  • Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP
  • Game modes: Single game mode

Player controls:

  • Up, Down, Left, Right - Arrow keys
  • Start - Enter (Pause, Menu select, Skip intro, Inventory)
  • "A" Gamepad button - Ctrl (usually Jump or Change weapon)
  • "B" button - Space (Jump, Fire, Menu select)
  • "C" button - Left Shift (Item select)

Use the F12 key to toggle mouse capture / release when using the mouse as a controller.

Game Reviews

The creative minds at Ballistic have just thought up another great sports title for the Genesis. This football cart boasts some very game play and a variety of different plays to perform. The view is in a quarter overhead view reminiscent of John Madden. The graphics are good and the scrolling has to be seen to be believed. Digitized voice accompanies this cart along with some great visuals. The stats are very up to date, even down to the beginning intro. The game play is truly unique! Football fans rejoice!

  • Theme: Sports
  • Difficulty: Moderate
  • Number of Players: 1-2
  • Available: December 1991

A real football experience!

Get ready to experience the bone crunching thrills of real football in Mike Ditka Football. This game has all kinds of features every football fan will enjoy. For the nice video football player, there options that allow you to adjust the difficulty of the passing game. You can also practice kicking with any team to master tne art of the long range field goal! Test your skill in a single face-off or plays an entire season in the playoff mode. Digitized voices call the plays and optional music throughout expand upon the game play even more. Other features include time-outs, substituting players and real division teams. Additional statistics screens allow you to track your progress just like the pros do! With Mike Ditka Football, you get it all!

Passing

The passing mechanism in Mike Ditka Power Football allows you to run plays from a series of specially scripted routines. With a full screen of opponents, you can perform hand-offs, short screen passes or even long bombs all the way downfield!

Calling plays

The variety of strategies designed in the Mike Ditka Power Football playbook allows for a wide array of playing possibilities. Huddle up and select from the option windows. Then move to the line and adjust your positioning to reflect pressure from the opposition!

Kicking play

Mike Ditka Power Football provides a number of different perspectives in the kick-off and field goal modes. The action plays well in both, although the field goals offer a more detailed look at the action!

  • Type: Sports
  • Release: 1991
  • Difficulty: Avg.

Mike Ditka Power Football is the latest in the Ballistic series of sports games. Mike Ditka employs some interesting features, like the perspective view down the field and an enlarged view of the players throughout the game. In Mike Ditka, you can choose from many different plays from the selection screen. After choosing your play, head onto the field for some rough and tumble football action, the Mike Ditka way.

People say:

5

Although this is a fine job of rendering the football field as well as developing the actual plays, the thing they forgot to do include the game play. The overall execution of this game tries to mirror the stunning qualities of Madden, but unfortunately comes up for a loss in every dept.

5

Mike Ditka ought to review the products that he puts his name on. His football game is not the best Genesis cart out there but it does have a good variety of plays to choose from. The action just doesn't get as intense as the others and it's at best only average.

4

I think that Ditka is a great guy and a good license for a football game, but this is a sad ripoff of John Madden. This graphics are choppy and the music is repetitive and annoying. There are a number of different plays to choose from, but with Madden 92 coming out, save your pennies.

4

This game sure tries to look like another Genesis football game, but the game play is no where near the same league. Ditka Football has some nice looks, but overall the game controls, plays and interacts with such a painful level of inadequacy, I couldn't even finish a game.

Accolade's first entry into the NES market is a pigskin picnic that updates tried-and-true football action with a number of innovations. You want sophisticated play selection and formation options? You've got 'em! You want penalties, injuries and player substitution? You've got those, too.

Unfortunately, you also get a number of things that you don't want, like fuzzy-looking players, annoying "flicker" and a passing game that's straight out of the Twilight Zone. In a fictitious league of six teams, you can challenge the computer or compete against another player. An enjoyable "two-players vs. computer" option is also available, as well as a coaching mode that lets you choose the plays and sit back to watch them unfold.

Actually, the passing game is not flawed, it's just strange. When your quarterback takes the snap, you can freeze the action on the entire field while you cycle through your eligible receivers. As you check out your teammates' locations, one player at a time, the screen can scroll in all directions to give you a complete picture of the defensive formation. Once you've identified an open man, the pass is thrown and everyone starts moving again. It's nice to have an unlimited amount of time to choose a receiver; real-life NFL quarterbacks would need one heck of an offensive line in order to enjoy such a luxury. But having the ability to stop the action in the middle of a play seems inappropriate in a game that strives for realism in other areas.

The on-screen referee is another notable oddity: He's a three-foot-tall mutant with an oversized head and the most frightening pair of eyes I've seen since The Exorcist. Thankfully, the rest of the game is bolstered by great music and a number of screens that show "still photos" of tackles, player substitutions, extra-point conversions and a vicious dual face-mask penalty. The halftime show is pretty good, but it's overshadowed by a terrific pregame coin toss. Details like these can help to make or break a video game, and in this case they help to cover up some minor flaws that would have crippled the game if they had been more noticeable.

I was lucky enough to get a chance to ask Mike Ditka about his involvement with the game, and he echoed Accolade's claim that his input was used in the early stages of development. But he was honest enough to admit that his busy schedule doesn't allow much time for playing video games (most of his free time is spent playing golf), and that he hadn't seen the finished product as of mid-September. It's unfortunate that the designers didn't capitalize on Ditka's status as one of the NFL's most colorful personalities. I was expecting an occasional screen shot of the gum-chewing coach scowling on the sidelines behind a pair of dark sunglasses.

As a football fan, I felt misled by some of the finer details that weren't as realistic as promised. As a native and resident Chicagoan, I was extremely disappointed that Ditka didn't have more of a presence in the game. But as a video-game player, I really enjoyed Big Play Football. It may not meet the standards set by Tecmo Bowll (a popular football title that's regarded by many gamers as the number-one NES sports simulation), but it's a lot of fun for folks who are looking for a contest that balances equal amounts of action and strategy. Now, about Mike Ditka Golf...

Snapshots and Media

Sega Genesis/Mega Drive Screenshots