10-Yard Fight is an early attempt at arcade football. I should point out that this is American Football, and not Soccer. This game has some similarities with Atari’s football game, but it looks better.
Irem initially released this game in the arcades in 1983, and then Nintendo released it for the Famicom and NES in 1985 and 1986. At least those are the dates that I can find. There were a few changes made to the game when it was brought to the home console.
As an early football game, this isn’t too bad. 10-Yard Fight is a very simple football game that has decent controls and graphics. There is a serious lack of depth to this game. It is a reflection of what arcade sports games were back in the early 1980s.
TLDR: A decent game that was quickly surpassed by better football games.
Narrative
There isn’t a story to this game. You play a series of games until you win the Super Bowl. 10-Yard Fight is a simple arcade game that doesn’t need a story to be fun.
Gameplay
I don’t mind the gameplay. The game is divided into two 30 min halves, and the clock is always running. This is an easy game to play, and it can be fun for a while.
You don’t pick plays, and despite what the manual says, there aren’t too many options for offensive plays (Link). The manual claims that there are 133,000 plays in the game. In reality, you can do a Run-Pass-Option to the left or right. This gives you a few options, but nowhere near as many as the manual claims.
On defense, you can choose one of two defenders to control. It isn’t that bad, and it fits with the simplistic gameplay. Defense and a two-player mode were added when the game was brought to the home console. This made the game much better than a simple arcade experience.
I think one of my guys intercepted a pass. It also could’ve been a fumble recovery, but I really couldn’t tell. Either way, it is nice to see something like this in the game. As far as I can tell, there aren’t any penalties in the game.
Like many arcade football games, the offense moves more slowly than the defense. It is possible to avoid them for a while. It isn’t too different from Tecmo Bowl in that way.
Your goal is to make the Super Bowl. The player can start at any difficulty they want, but you can’t select a team to control. While a little disappointing, I can understand why this was done.
For an early football game, this is fine. The controls are very simple, and it can be challenging to play. This is a fun little game that is more of a curiosity than anything else.
Visuals
10-Yard Fight looks okay. For a black box NES game, it doesn’t look all that different from the other games released in the mid 1980s. There are a few things that I don’t like about how the game looks.
The presentation is a little boring. You have a green field and yard makings. The endzones and goal posts are easy to see. It is also easy to see the dark red sidelines.
As you advance to each level, the opponents’ jersey colors change. I like this as it gives you the impression that you’re playing a different team. Since this game doesn’t track stats or give you player names, this is a nice touch.
It is easy to see who you can pitch or throw the ball to. Your receiver, at least I think that is the position he’s playing, will raise his hand to tell you he’s open. One of the running backs will follow you as you run.
Overall, the graphics are adequate. There isn’t anything here that is going to blow anyone away, and that is just fine. 10-Yard Fight doesn’t look any better or worse than the other black box NES games.
6/10. I had fun with this game. It is nowhere near as good as Tecmo Bowl. The controls and graphics are fine. I do wonder how many people dropped this game as soon as Tecmo Bowl came out.
Pros
- Decent Controls
- Decent Graphics
- Two-Player Mode
Cons
- Limited Plays
- Few Game Modes
Conclusion
I’ve been wanting to take a closer look at this game for a while. This was a game that I played on an emulator back in the mid-1990s. At the time, I really didn’t get this game. After taking some time to play it, I think it is fine.
Like a lot of the arcade games from the early 1980s, you can’t really compare this to modern standards. It is a step up from what Atari did, but not as good as what Tecmo put out. Playing this makes me wonder how many other arcade sports games there are.
10-Yard Fight is a decent arcade football game. I’m not aware of what other sports games Irem made. They’re a solid developer and have quite a few great games in their library. I’d also like to look at the other one-off football games on the home console.
If you liked this post, please check out my other posts on NES games. Such as Ikari Warriors or Adventure Island.