Review: Super Shock Football

Overview

Electronic football is back and this time it's, well...okay, so it's still technically electronic, but now you can play it on your phone anytime you want. That's got to count for something, right? Either way, this is a great attempt at capturing the very entertaining and often frustrating game of electronic football.

Features

Yes, the game vibrates just like the original board game did and you can also turn off this feature in the options menu as well. You can challenge a friend for a two player, split-screen match or just play the game alone if you wish. The game is Open Feint enabled so you can brag about the 40 plus achievements you have unlocked or any high scores you've accumulated throughout the game. Another main feature from the original board game found here would be the "real-time physics" in the game. Yup, the little guys move around in a completely random and incoherent way just like in the original game. So you really don't have any idea where they might run to once they have the ball. Since the characters run all over the place, the devs have added lateral passing into the game so you can always pass the ball off to another player. This comes in very handy when your player is running the wrong way or out of bounds. There are over 20 preset plays to choose from, but you can also move your players around any way you wish in order to create your own custom plays. The app includes five original teams all decked out in retro uniforms to match the vintage look of the entire game. In a recent update, the devs have added a passing timer, improved the defensive A.I., the ability to rotate players before the play starts, a fast forward button once the action starts, Open Feint with Chat, and a few other minor tweaks here and there as well. Another big update is coming as well that will give you more cool stuff like multiplayer over Bluetooth, the ability to "bump" the field in order to affect the players movements, instant replay, you'll be able to create your own custom team, and much more.

Breakdown

The Good:

I absolutely loved the look of this game. The devs have done an amazing job at making this app really feel like those old electronic board games from the seventies. From the stadium and uniforms, to the authentic crowd noises and referee whistles. As frustrating as it can get sometimes, I also loved the fact that the players go in very random directions once the ball is in play. Really, one minute they are heading for the end zone, the next the are running the complete opposite direction. However, that was half the fun of the original board game so I really enjoyed that part of this game.

The Bad:

I really don't like the new passing timer that was added. Before, the game was far too easy, but now the game is too hard. You really don't have much time to get the pass perfect and the controls for the passing target are a little bit off. Overall these two things make for a bad combo and you will throw a lot of incompletes because of it. There's not a lot of teams to choose from here and each stadium is basically the same. Some more variety there would've been nice. We'll see how in depth the create a team is when that is added in the upcoming update.

The Verdict

This really is a fun game to play. It does have a few flaws in it, but the devs are committed to making the game as smooth as it can be and the overall look and feel of this game make it a win in my book. If you are looking to recapture the feeling of playing the old electronic football games of the past or just want a very simple and casual football game to play, I'd give this one a try.

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