Front Page Sports Football Pro '95
Let me start off by saying back in 1992 when I stumbled upon the Dynamix game Front Page Sports Football, I instantly fell in love with it! After playing console video games such as Atari, Intellivision and Colecovision....it wasn't easy to find a good PC football game. (Besides, who thought of playing games on a PC?) Little did I know, my first very slow personal computer would be a great video gaming machine!
I bought Front Page Sports Football and was instantly amazed at the graphic quality and the "in-depth" playability of the game. I spent many hours creating my own players, leagues and trying to customize everything. I felt like the owner of a new league!
Needless to say... over the course of the next two or three years, I wore the game out and went though many seasons of football. Then I heard the news, Dynamix was coming out with Front Page Sports Pro '95!! (yes, the best got better!)
Trying to compete with the new console versions of Madden Football, Dynamix went further in depth and detail to create the best PC football game ever! (Especially back in those days!) You could play as any one of your favorite NFL teams, you could customize your team's name, colors, uniform details, your players attributes and skills. It let you work out in a training camp to increase your player's skills. Best of all, this was just the tip of the iceberg! Moving into playing a season as your favorite NFL team or creating your very own league, it was all at your command. The graphics were superb in those days and very "good" by old PC standards. Much detail was given to player movements and actions. The players had a very life-like quality to them and it made playing the game a lot of fun. If you played on grass, artificial turf, indoors or outdoors, the game reacted to the elements and to the conditions of the field. Especially cool was the dances or special moves the players made after scoring a touchdown! No illegal celebrations back then!!
PLAYS & CREATING PLAYS:
Once you got into the game, the stock 3000 plays were just not enough. You could customize your own playbook and make your own plays. (This could take up to hours to do) if you were real particular about what you were doing. Pull the guards or tackles, fake handoffs, pitches, fade routes, crossing patterns....it didn't matter. The scope of the playmaking was unreal!! You could create a whole slew of offensive and defensive plays and then watch them unfold during the game. (Maybe you even had to fire your offensive or defensive coordinator after a season or two for bad play calling!)
STATISTICS:
The stats kept during the game are awesome. If you created a player and watched him progress, you could see his career stats grow and watch him compete with the rest of the league's players. The stats were so in-depth that it sometimes took hours just to cycle through and see where your team and players ranked with the rest of the league. Injury reports, news and season stats just piled up and made the game so enjoyable. You honestly felt like a General Manager, Coach or Owner of a team.
CONTROLS:
I always found using a simple joystick was the easiest way to play the game. Nothing fancy, just a good ol' joystick with one or two buttons on it. You could also use the keyboard as a controller, but sometimes that becomes tedious and your fingers got tired. (If you play with a second person, one person could use a joystick and the other the keyboard. That worked well and was fun to do!)
OVERALL PLAYBILITY:
The game had a special uncanny ability to draw you back constantly. Once a game was finished, you'd want to start another. Once a season was complete, it was time for training camp and to start again. With the sound, graphics and in-depth statistical engine....you'll find hours of fun football action! Dynamix was owned or partnered with Sierra who owned the KINGS' QUEST FRANCHISE. They became huge in the PC gaming world!! Sierra later released versions of Front Page Sports Football '96, '97 & '98. Most people seem to feel that Front Page Sports '95 had the best feel and the best gameplay to it. ('97 is a close second, but that had a different graphical engine to it. It sort of lost its real feel and became more mechanical.) Once the Madden football craze hit with Sega and eventually the Sony Playstation, it seemed like Front Page Sports was a bit of history. Sierra closed the doors on the franchise in 1998.
If you are looking for a fun PC football game with all the bells and whistles, Front Page Sports '95 is the way to go. Hours of creativity, playability and sheer football enjoyment. It was the best of the best in 1995! It was a trend setter for the PC Football we have nowadays.
