NFL QB Club 96 on the SNES Looks Great

NFL Quarterback Club 96 is the follow up to the first game in the series. This game was released in late 1995 and uses the active roster for that season. The biggest improvement made to this game is having the NFLPA license.

This means you’re actually playing as your favorite players, or at least the ones you recognize. It is a step up from the previous game, and it shows that Acclaim had some faith in this series, despite the lackluster reviews. As I play more of these retro sports games, I’ll be able to better compare them.

Tecmo Bowl was the series that I played the most, or was the most memorable to me when I was a kid. This series wasn’t on my radar at all, and I don’t remember hearing people talk about it. I remember hearing about Tecmo Bowl and Madden, but not any of the other football games.

I’m looking forward to seeing how these games change over time. NFL Quarterback Club was one of the big series for Acclaim. It seemed like they were putting a lot of eggs in this basket, which I can’t really blame them for doing. Anyway, let’s check out this game and see how much has changed between these games.

TLDR: A good looking game that still has some gameplay issues.

Narrative

There isn’t a story for this game. It also doesn’t have a career mode, but there is an option to play a season. You can also trade players, which is something that helps this game out. I’m not sure how many football games had this around this time, but it will be interesting to see if this was a standard feature around this time.

This is primarily a simulation game. There’s nothing wrong with that. Most of the sports games at this time were either arcade games or simulation games. It would be a while before there would be a career mode added to games like this, and a franchise mode was already in a few games.

Gameplay

I don’t have a problem with the gameplay. The controls are good enough, but aren’t too much better than the previous game. There are more game modes, which is nice, and I like that the player’s names are in the game.

There are a few modern conveniences and improvements to the game. The playbooks are a little bigger, you can go no huddle, and you can trade players. Being able to go no huddle is pretty cool, and I like the play selection in the game.

Much like the previous game, there is a heavy focus on the passing game. Each playbook has more passing than running plays. I don’t mind this that much, but I do wish the controls were better than they are. While I like the look of the passing game, I don’t like how challenging it is to complete a pass.

The controls aren’t too much better than the first game in the series. Some of this might’ve been due to me playing on two different consoles. If I did a comparison with this version and the Genesis version, I might see something different. Most of the controls are fine, but I don’t think the passing game took a step in the right direction.

Overall, I like the gameplay. It is a little better than the previous game in the series, which is what you would expect. It isn’t a huge leap forward, but it is a lot of fun. Acclaim’s developers did a great job with this game and made more improvements to the formula. It doesn’t really stand out, but it doesn’t need to.

Visuals

The graphics in NFL Quarterback Club 96 are a step up from the previous game. Some parts look much better, while others are basically the same. There is enough here to say that this game is much better looking than the first game in the series. I’m looking at the SNES graphics, so that might have something to do with it.

The player sprites don’t look much different from the previous game. They still resemble spacemen. Thankfully, they have the team colors so you can tell them apart, but that is it. They all look the same and aren’t detailed enough to tell the players on your team apart from one another.

The fields look better. You see team logos in the end zones, and the yard lines are a little easier to see. Weather is in the game, and it doesn’t look all that different from the other game. The grass will change colors, and that is about it.

There are a lot of digitized photos in this game. They all look very good and add something fun to the game. A few of the team logos look a little strange. Some of them have muted colors to the point where they look too grey. The players’ uniforms are much brighter and have the team colors, which is nice.

The passing system looks very good when I compare it to other games from this time. I just like the look of how they did this. It feels more like how a modern game does things.

Overall, the graphics are an improvement over the first game. Some look much better, and others aren’t all that different. You can tell that the developers put a lot of work into it. I like the overall look of this game.  

Reviews at the Time

NFL Quarterback Club 96 received above average scores. There are fewer reviews for this game on MobyGame. The SNES version received high 7s and low 8s out of 10. These aren’t too much higher than the previous game, especially given how many reviews are archived for it.

7.5/10. There is a noticeable graphical improvement over the previous game, and I like that they got all the licenses for the players. The controls weren’t much better. I didn’t see anything that would elevate this game over the previous one in the series, but I do think this one is better because of a few minor things.

  

Pros

• Good Graphics
• Lots of Game Modes
• A decent simulation
• NFLPA license

Cons

• A little clunky
• Repetitive

Conclusion

This would’ve been a nice weekend rental back in the mid 1990s. I don’t think this would’ve pulled me away from the Tecmo Bowl games, but I would’ve played it if my friends had rented it. You can see where the developers were going with this game.

With the heavy focus on passing in these two games, I would’ve thought it was easier to complete a pass. For whatever reason, your receivers just don’t want to catch the ball, or the defense is overly responsive. The defense feels like it is way too good at deflecting passes, and wide receivers are allergic to catching.

This isn’t a bad game; it just isn’t good enough to pull me away from games like Tecmo Super Bowl III. NFL Quarterback Club 96 is better than the previous game, but it is only a marginal improvement. It looks better, but the gameplay isn’t a significant step up. There were so many football games released around this time, and this series didn’t really stand out to me.

It will be fun to see how this series changes as it moves to the PS1 and N64. If I can get ahold of a copy of NFL Quarterback Club 97, then that will be the next one I look at. If not, then I’ll just have to do these out of order.

If you liked this post, check out some of my other posts about sports games. Such as NFL Quarterback Club or NBA Jam.