A Retro Review – Jerry Glanville’s Pigskin Footbrawl

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presents a 


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	(Sega Genesis)
	(Sports)
	(Single/Multiplayer)
	(Coolness guaranteed)
	(Good game)
	Good multiplayer Full of ‘tude Simple gameplay
	Unforgivable lack of quality music Redundant visuals Stiff controls
	A fun multiplayer experience and simplistic premise save Jerry Glanville’s Pigskin Footbrawl from the guillotine of criticism overall though it could (and probably should) be even better than it is

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Story

Jerry Glanville has had it with all the pleasantries of normal football and decided that now is the time to slap his name (for absolutely no discernible reason whatsoever) on top of the medieval, arcade style Pigskin Footbrawl for its Genesis exclusive release. As the knight of your team, it’s your job to make Jerry proud by punching, stabbing and scoring touchdowns to lead your squad to victory! Seriously though… who the hell is Jerry Glanville anyways and why does he wear cowboy outfits in the game when it’s set in 621 A.D.?

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Overview

Jerry Glanville’s Pigskin Footbrawl is a side-scrolling action “football” game where your objective is to outscore your opponent with touchdowns which can be done by navigating your player (or assisting a cpu controlled teammate) all the way to either the right or left side of the screen. While this may sound somewhat similar to regular football (or rugby), this convention is thrown on its head as players can punch and dogpile the opposing team with no remorse, all amongst a medieval backdrop no less! In addition to the opposing team’s snarling defenders, the play field is littered with obstacles which makes reaching the end zone that much more difficult.

Pigskin Footbrawl begins with both sides vying for possession of the ball by any means necessary. Once achieved (by either you or a cpu controlled teammate), several offensive options become available such as passing the ball forward to a teammate, kicking the ball downfield, etc. with the intention of scoring as many touchdowns as possible while of course, defending your goal from the opposing team. Be forewarned though, score too often and take a large enough lead and the medieval mob partaking in this “sporting” event will call for a troll to join the losing side which will greatly increase that teams chances since they are faster and stronger than normal competitors. Do your best to survive the mayhem of this renaissance rumble and outscore either the cpu or a friend to claim victory for your team.  

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Cast

Knight (main protagonist/main antagonist) Lightning quick MVP for his squad

Troll (protagonist support/antagonist support) Equalizing force in Footbrawl by day… dumb oaf pretty much the rest of the time

Jerry Glanville (???) Mysterious cowboy pigskin proprietor… clearly ready for a tussle at the drop of a hat

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All Right Guys Let’s Punch Everyone In The Face On 1… Ready Break! (XL section)

“No rules, no punts or penalties. It’s football with an attitude… a bad attitude.” I must confess… I have no clue who Jerry Glanville even is or why I should care about his endorsement in this game but The ‘Tude Dude is all about bad attitudes so let’s slap on a cowboy hat, get in our race car and… err play some football ? “Tired of playing excitin’ NFL games like Madden or NFL Blitz (no… not at all actually)? WELL GOOD!!!  Get ready for a medieval hootenanny disguised as a sport. They ain’t no better vidier game this side of the Mason Dixon y’all. You can keep yer’ sissified football games with RULES and BOUNDARIES… this is PIGSKIN FOOTBRAWL !!!”

I still am somewhat mystified by the inclusion of Jerry Glanville in the Genesis port of the fun arcade classic Pigskin 621 A.D  as he just shows up in still images throughout the game. Worse still, he literally does nothing in those images and has pretty much no bearing in the game whatsoever other than his dumb cowboy likeness. On that note, can he time travel? This game is set in the medieval period! Whatever… we’ll just go with it since it seemed that so many sports titles in this era just had to have some kind of celebrity (cough) attachment.

Jerry Glanville’s Pigskin Footbrawl is a simple arcade style sports game in the mold of Arch Rivals, where engaging your opponents in hand-to-hand combat is just as important as scoring touchdowns. Punch your enemies square in the face, throw long bombs down the field, recover fumbles from opponents as they trip over tree branches and more in this medieval mosh-pit disguised as a sort-of football game. There are no season modes or anything of the sort, so only single games at a time are played which is a little disappointing right off the bat if your playing alone but can be a perfect slap-in title for a quick and satisfying multiplayer affair.

There are different options to manipulate (such as period time, game speed, etc.) which can all be interesting to tweak for unique experiences I suppose but nothing too compelling. …That is until you take a peek at your controls? There’s an “attitude” button ? I was giddy when I discovered that pressing “a” on the controller would engage attitude! However, I was disappointed to find that this just changed your team’s play style which unfortunately doesn’t amount to anything at all . Different attitude options include “scatter”, “get ball” and “man-to-man” and this seems like it would add a nice element of strategy to the slobber-knocker taking place on the field but I swear none of these play out much different to me so this whole aspect feels like a lost cause.

Basically, the game starts with one team kicking the ball into the field of play and then it’s all out WAR! You control the knight of your team (who along with the opposing teams knight seems to be the fastest guy on the field) as you do your best to recover the ball and push it to whichever end zone that your team is trying to reach. The gameplay feels like a sort of tug-of-war as both teams vie for the same goal in opposite directions. The screen scrolls back in forth in relation to wherever the ball is so your player (as well as many of the cpu controlled competitors) can find themselves outside of view at times but an arrow always indicates where your at so you usually have a general idea where to run to get back into the action.

You can signal for your cpu controlled teammates to pass the ball to you by pressing “c” when they have possession and you can also perform different passes when you have the ball by holding down the “c” button until an action prompt shows up on the screen and when you release the button the displayed maneuver will be performed. While this does take some time to get accustomed to, it ultimately works okay and allows for several different options (other than just running) to advance the ball down the field closer to your end zone. You can also perform a dropkick (… I thought you said there was no punts JERRY ) which kicks the ball pretty far down one side of the field creating a “live-ball” situation that can many times prove useful. Pressing “b” punches and you might as well spam it over and over again during the game as it not only melee’s for your character but for your teammates as well, increasing your chances at jarring the ball loose from the current ball-carrier.

Blocking your path to the end zone (besides the opposing team) is a ton of obstacles such as trees, puddles and rocks, all of which will stop your character and allow for the opponents to catch up. The players can tackle each other as well and the game will go through a Looney Tunes sequence  where they dogpile into a cloud of smoke with one player emerging from the pile to get first chance at possession. Random weapons also litter the field which aid you in these sequences if you have one in your possession when touching your character with an opposing teams player so don’t be afraid to fight dirty whenever you get the chance!

You can only score by having you or a member of your team reach the end zone (no field goals or safeties) so get there early and often to stay in the lead. If one team gets too far ahead, then the game will automatically assign the struggling squad a “troll” who will not only be an extra player for them but is faster as well and will help turn the tide for the losing side in order to keep things competitive. Even adding one of these dudes is enough to drastically change the fortunes of your current game but it is possible to see more (on either team) if Pigskin Footbrawl feels it’s required – like a self-aware equalizer! At halftime, Jerry himself shows up (in appropriate medieval bull-roping attire no less) to display your many great Footbrawl achievements such as hangings, spearings and… Elvis sightings (…still looking for my 1st one)???

The controls aren’t bad by any means but they do feel a little stiff and momentum-based as you drift your character back and forth on the screen which can make it more of a struggle to determine where you want to go. While the in-game arrow that indicates where your character is at is helpful, I find myself seeing it more often than I want to since I run too far off of the screen with ease while holding down the d-pad trying to reach the ball. Still, there’s something about the feel of the momentum that is rewarding when you are able to safely navigate a long-play into your teams score area especially in multiplayer. All in all despite some flaws, the controls work just fine and contribute to the simplicity of the games overall arcade-like nature. 

The sound effects and voices in the game are clear and impressive but the music makes me wish that Jerry Glanville sung his own soundtrack as it’s boring and redundant. It sucks too because there’s plenty of opportunity for an awesome and twangy soundtrack to pair itself nicely with this slugfest but unfortunately it never happens which damages the games quality. The graphics are okay and they translate well from the arcade version but they’re not overly memorable which is all I can really say about them. Could we get just one more field to play on so variety was added to the in-game visuals or perhaps some more comedic cut-scenes?

Of course there’s ‘tude in here- just look at the cool spiked wrist gauntlets at the title screen and on the box art! There’s also an attitude button which even though it doesn’t do exactly what I want it to (I was hoping it would pull out a huge mug of ale and chug it or something like that) I give them an A for making the game scream “let’s kick some butt” when you switch to “bad attitude” (the only play style I live by)! Plenty of other examples as well contribute to The ‘Tude Meter’s spike into the maximum column including repeated punches in the face to opponents being used as a sound strategy (…badass) and the implication that a grisly visit from the executioner awaits the losers of this “sporting event” (“My name is Gladiator “)! Quite frankly, this is one of Sega’s perfect eyebrow raising titles in this category constantly tantalizing with the promise of an awesome and unique football fight that you just can’t experience anywhere else. Now that’s what ‘tude’s all about! 

In the end, Pigskin Footbrawl is a pretty good arcade port that finds its best value playing with friends since it’s sparse in modes that make it enticing for one player. Its singular focus can be lacking in depth but what it does do it does well (particularly multiplayer) and it will always be a decent game to come back to if you like your touchdowns mixed with spikes in the face! While there are several improvements that could have been made to make it better (cooler music, increased gameplay options, a celebrity representative that makes sense, etc.), Jerry Glanville’s Pigskin Footbrawl plays well enough to be a satisfying romp in short bursts but lacks the overall polish for long play-sessions. So for the best results, grab a bud and a viking helmet and duke it out on the gridiron of Footbrawl today for a quick game or two… but don’t hold your breath on trying to spot the King.    

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Critical Analysis

4/5 I’m not sure whose idea it was to combine medieval tomfoolery with football/rugby but I love it! Its shallow in fun single-player options which prevents this rating from being better but this truly is one of the more fun multiplayer games from the ‘tude era. I’m always a sucker for quick arcade style releases and this is yet another great adaptation that can be found on the Sega Genesis.

4/5 The controls are simple and responsive enough to receive a “The ‘Tude Dude likes it” rating despite the stiffness you feel from your controlled character as you sluggishly attempt to maneuver about. The overall chaos of the game coupled with the screen scrolling effect can have a negative impact on your coherency at times but I consider this more of a graphical issue than a control one as they work fine despite these inadequacies. They’re very easy to pick up in the beginning but they’re also the type of controls where you get a better grasp on them the longer you play which rewards experienced players.

3/5 Big fan of all of the sound effects with impressive voice clips and plenty of in-game grunts but what’s up with the lousy music? This game was just dying for some kind of Road Rash sounding grungy theme to go with the rest of its ‘tudey design. Instead, we get a generic and sappy jingle that quickly fades into the background once the game starts… lame.

3/5 The graphics aren’t bad and faithfully represent its arcade counterpart well but they’re plain and not very memorable in any way. I like all of the cutscenes and the character sprites are distinctive but you don’t see enough of anything different for your eyes to not go stale quickly. Can Jerry Glanville not get a more clear picture for the halftime screen he looks like a Sega CD still-image?

This is the kind of game that the Genesis flaunts in the face of anyone that questions its edginess. There’s face punching, skull piles and Jerry Glanville who’s clearly WAY too cowboy for the minivan driving Super Nintendo! Not to mention, there’s a freakin’ attitude button which is pretty sweet even if it doesn’t do anything too significant.

Good game Move over John Madd… actually no there’s only room enough for one long forgotten coach’s franchise on this shelf… sorry. Despite a shallow offering of gameplay modes and blatant lack of at-least-decent-music, Jerry Glanville’s Pigskin Footbrawl gets a better-than-expected rating for being a fun and accessible multiplayer title that works well with gamers of any skill level. It’s a little odd in design (like Pong mixed with face punches) but it fits perfectly with the gore-filled and mega ‘tudey games in the Sega Genesis library while standing out as yet another quality arcade conversion found on the system. I love the humor in the world of Footbrawl as well as it helps to breathe life into what would be an otherwise redundant execution overall.  There’s no denying that this football/fightfest is far from greatness with its lack of robust single-player offerings but it does stand out as being completely unique while offering an accessible and instantly gratifying arcade sports experience that fits the Genesis nicely. Besides that, my biggest complaint without a doubt is the inclusion of “thanks for the free check” mascot Jerry Glanville who was given WAY more life in this review than anything that happens in the game. I mean, if Sega EVER feels the need to shamelessly include an unnecessary spokesman for one of their sports title’s, how about ‘Tude League Football (what dreams may come) or ‘Tude Dude’s Pigskin Footbrawl 2: The Quest For Free Money. …Well, it was worth a shot at least. Anyways, the next time your itchin’ for some arcade-style football with a ‘tudey twist, slam in Jerry Glanville’s Pigskin Footbrawl and do the ole’ coach a solid by not only defeating your opponent… but keeping your eyes peeled for that ever illusive Elvis Presley (SERIOUSLY where is this guy???)!

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“I might not be the best at Pigskin Footbrawl, but I can spot Elvis with the BEST of ’em !”

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