facebook twitter

NFL Tour!

The popular NFL Street franchise lives on in the next generation with it latest installment: NFL Tour. But will it live up to the Street name, or will it be stopped short?

First Impressions: Whenever possible, we try to give our loyal website viewers the most video footage and most in depth unbiased reviews imaginable. Part of that development is our "initial impressions" where we offer up our first impressions of the title that we are playing.

This gives our website visitors more of clear understanding of what to first expect out of the game when they initially pop it into their consoles.

If you scroll to the bottom of the page in the Rent vs. Buy section of the review and do not see the "final impressions" assessment then it's safe to say that you are reading our initial impression of the game. Once the final impression is up, there will be no further video or review done to that particular title.

Final Impressions: The final impression is just that, our completed breakdown and overall thoughts on the game based off of our entire game playing time.

You can locate the final impressions assessment in the "Rent vs. Buy" section of the review (always located at the very end of all of our reviews). Here you will be able to read our final thoughts on the title and also see any potential grade changes that were made to the game as well (higher or lower). Should a grading change occur, it will be clearly noted with the previous grade, the new grade, and why the change occurred.

Although this approach is more time consuming and requires many more man hours, our entire goal has always been to provide the best and completely unbiased reviews possible and we feel that the inclusion of the Initial Impressions and Final Impressions sections will give you a better view of what to expect from a new game.

All that we ask in return is for you to continue to support Krakrabbit.com by visiting the site and letting others know about our cause. Together we can supply our fellow gamers with the most impartial information so they can make an informed decision on whether to buy or rent this particular title.

Loss Of Yards: A lot of you may be wondering, "what is the difference between Street and Tour" and after spending time with the game, the simple answer is that they play on a field. Yep, that's about the game that's truly different.

In fact, NFL Tour takes a big step backwards this time around; massively slimming down the modes is the biggest problem. The two mini-games are called Smash & Dash, and Redzone Rush.

Smash & Dash is basically keep-away in a very small, round arena, where someone carries the ball, trying to stay away from the other player. If the ball carrier is tackled, there will be an instant fumble and the ball is up for grabs.

In Redzone Rush, each team takes turns trying to score from the 20-yard line, repeating this until someone scores a touchdown.

Countrywide Backyard FB: The other modes are a regular exhibition game, online play, and the main "draw-in" the Tour mode. If there is any amount of depth in NFL Tour, it's in the Tour mode. In Tour mode, you will choose a team, create a player, and then compete in a tournament style game system.

The best thing about Tour is the gameplay; you will play game after game in a repetitive fashion, but the actual gameplay is fun. You play in an outside arena (complete with walls) with seven players on each team.

You can pick from a small number of pass and run plays, with a few options and trick plays thrown in. Just like in real football, you have four downs, and must gain ten yards to get a first down. There are no punts or field goals, and when you score a touchdown you have to choose a regular play for one or two points.

NFL Tour tries to implement an evasion type style of play. Tour has a few different ways to break out big plays; one way is to juke, another is to just truck or evade the blocker, but the most enjoyable way is to run up a wall and make them miss.

Sadly the wall-running mechanics don't work very well, and you will often run over to a wall, only to get tackled because you thought you were able to run up the friggin' wall!

It will be fun to blow up blockers, run up wall to evade a tackle (if it works) and just bust out huge plays every down, but after game after game, this formula gets a little old. Also, it's nearly impossible to stop the CPU, and you will often find that you will win quicker if you just let them score, instead of wasting clock time trying to slow the process.

Mute: NFL Tour features some pretty nicely detailed character models, and the domes that you play in are also detailed pretty realistically, but...there are several different arenas, but other than slightly different-looking cityscapes, they all look the same and don't play any differently from one another.

Also, the tackles don't look very vicious, and players convey very little personality before, during, or after the play. Shouldn't Chad Johnson do something after he breaks a field spanning play, breaking three tackles along the way?

By far the worst part of NFL Tour is the unbearable play-by-play of ESPN's Trey Wingo. His entire book of comments center around the fact that sports games announcers repeat themselves over and over, so he uses about a dozen "jokes" that all sound similar to "You ever notice how video game announcers repeat themselves too often? You ever notice how video game announcers repeat themselves too often?"

He will repeat these jokes several times over, during the same drive. Also, he will throw in completely irrelevant to the game, spouting off things like "you know where I can get a good fishing spinner, anything?" FISHING? You have no idea how much you will want to kill yourself after playing through one game of Trey's comments.

Rent vs. Buy: NFL Tour is a decent game, and the fact that they didn't price it at the standard sixty-bucks is a great feature. The gameplay is highly enjoyable, but the rest of the game doesn't follow. The sickeningly horrible Trey Wingo, the repetitive games, and the lack of any depth at all hinder this game dramatically.

The simple controls, and the easy pick up and play feel of the game are great, but the game suffers from a "you score, I score" formula that's unstoppable.

Even though the game isn't sixty-bucks, I still feel that you just don't enough out of this game. If you want to have an arcade fix, get NFL Street, but stay away from this unless it's in the "$20 MUST GO" bin.

Report Card

NFL Tour is a decent game, and the fact that they didn't price it at the standard sixty-bucks is a great feature. The gameplay is highly enjoyable, but the rest of the game doesn't follow. The sickeningly horrible Trey Wingo, the repetitive games, and the lack of any depth at all hinder this game dramatically. (Krakrabbit.com)

C+


comments powered by Disqus

Latest Headlines

Want to know which titles are booming overseas? How about patch notes and announcements for your favorite games? This is the place to get your daily gaming headlines from around the world.
Click For Latest Headlines!

Streaming Video

Enjoy watching streams of your favorite games? Want to see the latest demos? If the answer is yes, you have come to the right place!
Click For Streaming Video!

Screenshots

Enjoy eye candy? So do we! Check out the latest and greatest screenshots from recent and upcoming hot titles in the gaming world!
Click Screenshots!

Release Dates

Want to know when the next greatest game is coming out? This is the place to see the schedule of gaming releases for the near future!
Click For Release Dates!

Countdown

Waiting for the next big console or game to drop? Check here for an up to the minute countdown to the latest and greatest in gaming!
Click For Countdown Timer!


demo-image
Ratings Guide

The rating system employed by the review staff at Krakrabbit.com is one that anyone put through an education system are familiar with: simple letter grades!

demo-image
F.A.Q.

The goal of our F.A.Q. section is to give our viewers a better understanding of what Krakrabbit is about and what our mission goals for this website are.

demo-image
Contest

We like giving away free stuff! If you like getting free stuff you might want to check our contest page often to see what type of wicked prize(s) we are currently giving away.

demo-image
Letters To The Editor

You got something to say? Well don't just sit there looking at the screen, click on the "Letter To The Editor" icon and shoot us an email about what's on your mind. You never know, maybe we will even respond!