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NFL 2K1 for Dreamcast
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NFL 2K1 for Dreamcast
166 reviews   4.6 of 5

Product Description

Sound

The announcing rules.Dan Stevens and Peter O'kiefe rule you cant coach great decisons.Like the one from sega to choice voice actors instead of real people(Madden:thats gotta hurt.Pure brilliance)And the tackiling noises are awesome with some hot taunts from the defense my favorite being (talking to Steve young)"you steve you want another concussion? i cracked up the first time i heard that

Gameplay

The best.The passing game greatest is the greatest of all time the running game is far better than last year.Edgerin James is impossible to stop and Manning is hitting Harrison deep but its all good Testaverde just hit Coles for 80 yards for the win.Picking off balls is pretty tough but far from inpossible while Nfl2k1 features just the right amount of fumbles.For optimum gameplay i would play 5 minute quaters in a rush but still want a true foorball expiernece? Put it to 3 minutes
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Sound

ok..i am a home theatre buff...i got the digital receiver and 6 speakers...and for once a videogame actually utilizes the sound..although not as good sounding as some of my dvd's this game is still very crisp..for a game...the crowds sound good..and to hear player taunts out of different speakers is very fly...i wish the anouncers would be more into the game..they r great but if only videogames had the intelligence to talk bout how big this game for the team...talk bout the standings in the middle of the game...stuff like that...but all in all..this is very very very very good commentary...witty at times...this is ice cream compared to Maddens sh*t...the PS2 is going to be awesome but right now..its time to dump EA...............LONG LIVE DREAMCAST...what a unit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gameplay

Awesome, awesome,awesome gameplay...at first tackling was tough but once you read the instructions or go through the tutorial you will tackling left and right..probaly the coolest thing was getting a delay of game penalty at the Silverdome when i was the Lion for TOO MUCH NOISE! LOL..Mare for Miami was kicking within the 2 min warning...so if you played the game u know the pc always milks the playclock..well..i got Schulz and Ellis to get the crowd juiced....instead they got 2 juiced and i got the penalty..lol..very cool stuff..but getting back to gameplay..it is really good...running is better then 2K...passing is cool...blocks r formed nicely..all in all ...very very good stuff..
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Sound

I love hearing the defensive players taunt the QB...its awesome. all the noise the players are making draw you into the game. the announcing crew is actually pretty good, their chatter coincides with the action perfectly about 95% of the time.

Gameplay

I have always wanted to play a football game as good as NFL2k1. All the other games i have ever played just didnt feel right, the running backs always seemed to move like molasses and the passing game seemed to rely on luck just to many times. But all that has changed with NFL2k1. First off the running game is amazing. You can sprint through holes that are made by your offensive line, and if the hole closes up you can dash towards the sideline just like real football. The speed of the runners is perfect, fast enough to out run line men and most linebackers. (lnebackers have to chase you down from an angle to catch you like in real football). Once you are in the clear you can make a mad dsh towards the end zone, and let me tell you there is nothing more thrilling. The passing game is amazing, it all comes down to great routes run by the receivers, and beutiful control of the action you have with your controller. when you see the receiver make the break, you make the pass...its a thing of beauty when it works. Even when you make the mistake of throwing into double or triple coverage sometimes the receiver will pull off an amazing jump to catch the ball, just like in real football. The new madden is sid to be a 'true simulation'...dont believe that hype! football is meant to be played fast not slow. ask any people who have ever played football, football is a game of fast speed and faster reactions..that is why NFL2k1 owns the title as the best football game ever made. Oh yea there is a a little thing called online play so you will always have someone to play against if you are tired of beating the AI.
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Sound

The sound is excellent. The announcers are very good, although they sometimes make mistakes with their comments. One example is when I've scored on the previous series they have said "They better make something happen here, as they gave the ball up on the last series". Huh? What should I do? Take that as a challenge to score in half the time?

Anyway, most of the football games, Madden included (whose commentary is awful) have their announcers come up with a bogus comment now and then. It's more worth a chuckle than anything else to me when it happens.....

Gameplay

Gameplay (offline) is very good, I have no complaints about it. It plays like your basic football game, you just have to learn the control sequences and you are all set. I have played Madden football games for years, this is my first foray into the Sega football realm. I definitely rank this one better than the Madden series, and I just played Madden 2001 on my playstation with a friend. We both agree there really isn't much of a comparison between the two.

The added dimension of this game is the online play. It is so different playing against another human than it is playing against the system. The other person is usually more unpredictable. It makes you think more as you play. I signed up for the Seganet service and I avoid people online with obvious non-Seganet connections. So I don't experience any lag, at least not so far. I usually play a game a night, and have been nothing but extremely satisfied with the purchase.
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Sound

The sound has the tone of a regular foootball game , which is very hard to do! They also have different touchdown songs for different teams(Very Impressing!)

Gameplay

The gameplay is pure perfectness, other than some special team errors. For example: when I played a game with the Rams the farthest I would get with a kickoff return was to the 20 yard line, but when I played a game with the Lions I at least got to the 50. The difference here is that the special team ratings for the Rams is a 95 and the Lions a 78. Also there are not any special plays for special teams (Can anyone say Titan's Homerun Throwback).
Other than that this game is completely flawless, other than a few glitches in commentary. The producers of this game did come through with what they promised for offenseive playbooks, which is very impressing.
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Summary

In a nuts shell, this game is great. But Im no nut, and I don't have any soft spots for errors or short comings when we're talking about gaming. In fact, I don't own a Sega system, but I do know football. On first impression, I enjoyed the good detail of the field and players. It really surprised me, coming from playing Madden 2k1 for the PSX. The animations are nice, the playbook is decent, but what killed this game is the playability and smoothness. What I mean by playabity is this; why does the QB have to sprint backwards to avoid a sack? That was almost silly. Also, the gameplay is sloooow. Im sorry, but even the psx version of Madden has faster gameplay. On the other hand its the best that Dreamcast has to offer. That says that they've worked really hard.
My advice is to pick up a PSX2 and Madden 2k1 PSX 2. I now own the game, and its by far, the very best football game ever made by any home or arcade game system. The play is smooth and fast, accurate, and the graphics will blow you away. They are that beautiful.
Thanks.
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Sound

Sounds great, as usual. The commentary is still buggy, although to a much smaller degree. Am I the only one that gets irritated by this? I'd rather have the comentary be rare and accurate rather than plentiful and flawed. No big deal though, I could really care less about the commentary :)

Gameplay

Quickly, for all the people who say this year's game has perfect gameplay, you are probably playing on the rookie setting (and probably said LAST year's game was perfect too). I'm not bashing skills here, but the first thing I want to do here is dispell some myths that have come up because of frustrated players who have probably not discovered all the nuances of both this year's and last year's games.

First, the running. Anyone who's taken the time to truly learn the running game in NFL2K will know that if anything, last year's version was too easy! By the time I stopped playing, I was able to run Terrel Davis (with the default Broncos roster) an average of like 300 yards per game. I think my high was like 5-600 yards, and this is on the All-Pro setting with 5 minute quarters!!! The key to success was the stiff arm and the hurdle moves.

Despite being easy, last year's running game was anything but realistic. Outside runs and screen passes were almost always the way to go, and when you got hit it felt like your feet were glued to the field. 2K1 fixes the feel of the run, and makes up-the-middle running much more desirable. Additionally, your player is a bit more slippery than last year, and has a TON of new animations for bouncing off of other player. Combine that with slightly better blocking than last year, and you have a great running game. Is it easier than last year's? Maybe on the rookie mode, but on All-Pro it is certainly not! In fact, it's much more challenging! The catch is, it feels much more realistic (I usually end up with about 100 yards rushing per game... quite a step down from last year eh? :D) Why is it harder, you ask? Simple: the stiff arm and hurdles are no longer super-duper get-me-through-anything moves. Also, fatigue seems to play more of a role than last year (maybe this is just me imagining things), which means running Terrel EVERY down is going to make him somewhat pooped after a while--I usually mix it up with some short passes.

This year also includes the much-wanted juke move. The juke works, but not like you would expect it to. It's not very fast when powered up, and basically serves as a temporary invulnerability move. One problem with the move is that if you follow the manual's instructions (pressing both L+R together), you can't control the direction of the juke, which leads me to this TIP: This is undocumented as far as I know. There is another way to juke in NFL2K1. Instead of mashing both buttons you must SLIGHTLY tap the L or R button, depending on which way you want to juke. Human tendancy is to mash (thus causing a stiff arm), which is why this move takes a bit of finesse to pull off :)

The running mechanics are completely fixed, in my opinion. The speed burst is hardly noticeable, and can really only be used once (doing it again results in a head charge that doesn't necessarily make you run faster). HOORAY!!! This was one of my biggest gripes about last year's game: running for long yards consisted of nothing but burst... burst... burst... meanwhile the computer players could easily catch you from behind, no matter how big they were. No more! Now if you have a fast player and he breaks into the open, he's gone baby. No repeated bursts, just flat out runnin! I love it.

Speaking of computer running speeds, the computer AI in this year's version seems pretty much identical. Everyone knows that the 2K series quite simply CHEATS like a you-know-what (more on that in a minute). The good thing is that a shoe-string catch is not always a tackle. Phew! By the way, here's a tip on tackling... don't dive! Only dive if you are desperate to get him down, but if you have some leeway, by all means the best way to take him down is simply to collide with the player. Touching a player in 2K1 automatically tackles your opponent, if you didn't know! I know I didn't figure this out for a while :D No wonder I was having such a hard time getting dudes to fall...

On the subject of defense, I must talk about the worst part of this year's game... the cheating. In last year's version you basically had times where the computer simply decided your play was not going to work. For example, your high-rated running back would get out-run by a 300 pound lineman who just busted through 3 blocks. Well, in order to make this year's version a bit more challenging, VC decided not only to keep that feature, but also to up the ante with ENTIRELY IMPOSSIBLE GAMES. Let me clarify--in All-Pro mode the computer will (at times) simply decide that you are going to LOSE this game! Sound crazy? It's not, read on. Disclaimer: I realize that, having only played the game 25 hours, this was perhaps an anomale on my part, and my never ever happen to me again, but nevertheless it happened, and so I shall report to you about it: After starting up my first All-Pro season mode, my Broncos were faced with the Rams (uh oh!). I thought I was a goner. Turned out it was a very close game, but I came out ahead by 1 point. WOOP! So far All-Pro mode was great fun! Then came the Raiders... the RAIDERS... THOSE BLASTED RAIDERS OHHH... sorry. Anyway, this game was, quite simply, IMPOSSIBLE. They blew me away, and the amount of cheating involved in that game was SO insane that I (in the midst of my little tantrum :D) reset the game in order to play it again... and again... and again... In all my NFL2K days I had never, ever, ever seen anything CLOSE to an impossible game, but here I was faced with one in my first NFL2K1 season. I never got close to winning. They ALWAYS demolished me. Running plays would work until 3rd and 4th down, where they would fail. Penalties were EVERYWHERE for my team. Wheatley for the Raiders routinely ran for 11 yard runs, and Jett routinely ran everything he caught 50 yards into the end zone.

Did this piss me off? Yes. I don't know what else to say. After I got tired of playing the Raiders I finally took control of their players and ran them back 70 yards like a zillion times and beat their butts in overtime :) Hey, if the computer's going to make it impossible for ME to win, I'm going to make it impossible for HIM to win, hahahaha!

After "defeating" the Raiders, I've gone on to have like a 7-0 season so far, and Terrel's stats are actually pretty realistic (he's the #2 running back this season).


Sorry this was so long, but the gameplay is THE GAME to me, so I had to say it all. I could go on, too, about how the pass coverage could be improved, or the wind could actually effect the ball in flight (hehe), but I hafta stop. Thanks for reading this far. I still love 2K1, even if the computer opponents occassionally fly (using their fairy magic) through the air 30 feet to stop my passes.
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Sound

The audio is also one of NFL2k1's strong points. The announcing is above-average; only a few times do you hear them repeat some things but overall is done nicely. The grunts and groans of the players, though, are very well done and even the "pump-up" music before the kick-offs are nice. One thing that sticks out in my mind about the audio is the crowd. Although the crowd's cheering and booing is pretty good, the cheers are personalized. For example, if you play as the Jet's at home, you will here the crowd chant J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS, and it really makes you feel like your in the game. As with normal football games, you can tweak the announcing volume, SFX, crowd noise etc. Nicely Done.

Gameplay

Wow. That's all I have to say. This would have to be one of the most fun football game I've ever played. The controls are simple; On defense, X is tackle, A is speed burst and the analog stick to move. Very simple. On offense passing is also simple and juke moves/spins are also a fairly simple thing to accomplish. I could tell the guys over at VC tested and tested this game to see what the best buttons would be to play this game and the overall feel of controlling your football player is comfortable yet has a small learning curve. Now how about the gameplay. It is in between a sim and arcade but it really shows that gameplay in a football game can shine when enough effort is put into it which VC definately did. Not to mention the running game is vastly improved from last year's and playbooks are now team-personalized. And don't forget the all new Franchise mode which lets you manage your team for many seasons long and...oh yea, the internet thing. REALLY adds to the replay value, definate pluses. Their are many extras too! The create-a-player isn't one of the strong points but, hey, with all of the other things that make this game so great I couldn't blame 'em.
Now the online feature is exceptional. Alright, their is slighly noticable lag and once in a while you may get a teeny bit of choppiness but remember, this is Sega's first online game so don't think it's going to be forever like this. BUT, after saying that, don't think it is totally horrible because it isn't; infact it's real fun. It's simple once you get online, just challenge someone to a game, pick a team and their you go. Make sure you have a keyboard because chatting is really a major part of it and you can't do otherwise without one. My only other complaint about it was that VC only made the it possible to connect at a maximum of around 33,160 and on average, 28,800. They decided that it wouldn't need to fun at the full 56K but if 28,000 was running semi-smoothly, I'm sure 56K will have barely any lag whatsoever when they incorporate that in next year's game. And don't forget the multiplayer experience with a few friends is real fun with no framerate drops. Overall, the gameplay is definitaly the best feature of this great game.
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Sound

The sound in this game is also excellent. I'll include presentation in this category. The music is awesome at times, but the opening song is just horrible in my opinion. An example of some good music is just before the coin toss while the screen is loading. It always gets me excited and pumped up to play the game. The sound effects are just what you'd expect - but nothing more. I've always hated the game announcers (they're back from last year) , but I've got to admit that they are awesome in this game. Always spot-on with the plays that are going on. Thrown up a couple bad passes in a row? A bad pass under pressure? The announcers will respond accordingly. Another awesome feature of the game is that charts comparing things will pop up onto the screen at key moments. If you passed for a bunch of yards in the first half and only a few yards in the second, you'll know it because a comparison will be made. All of these things add up to make the presentation of this game superb.

Gameplay

Now I'm a person who likes a good challenge. I don't really mind losing (of course I like to win). But when my computer opponent makes a 60 yard run on 3rd and 1, I get a little pissed. Gameplay is my biggest gripe about the game. Last year's game had too much long passing (all streak) and not enough running in my opinion. In an attempt to improve the gameplay, Visual Concepts has pretty much completly redone the running game. Does that mean that it's better? Unfortunately, no. At first, running the ball is just plain fun. Spinning past 3 opponents to pick up a first down is great. But after awhile you'll notice that running the ball for 10 yards almost every time isn't much fun at all. Then, the computer starts to run. You'll know that they're gonna run it, and there isn't a thing you can do. I guess you're supposed to get a running start to tackle someone, (which is realistic and a good thought) but it still doesn't work. I wish it would've been executed properly, because it would've been great. One time I punted the ball, and I was running at full speed with one of my guys at their returner. When he caught the ball, I drilled him. What happened, my guy slid right off of him, and he instantly got a burst of speed upon catching the ball and returned it for anoher 10 yards. Momentum based gameplay? I think not. The passing game has been dumbed-down. For example, say that you want to pass to a guy on the inside. By the time you throw it, there will be five guys on the ball and they'll intercept it. If you drill the ball to the reciever, it'll get blocked by the defensive line. The computer's QB is not like that at all. He completes a pass almost 100% of the time, and hardly ever gets sacked. If there's a guy closing in on him, he'll either take the hit or throw it out of bounds. He'll never throw a low ball or risk an interception. One more thing. If one of your defensive plays has a man using "tight coverage", he'll simply let his man run right passed him until it's too late to catch up to his man. This happens alot with the goal line formation.
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Sound

The sound is mostly the same as last year's version too. The same commentary is back and they are just as good as last year. There is also some new additions like the players talk to each other down on the field. The only really annoying thing is the music at the menu's at the beginning. It's kind of a poor excuse for rap.

Gameplay

The gameplay is the best part of the game and is always the most important part of any video game. There is so much to do it's hard to get bored of it. First the internet play is the main reason to keep playing. It doesn't keep track of records or anything, but it's just fun to have the satisfaction of winning against someone else besides the comp. The game stays pretty smooth, but the control is a little slower than when you play a normal game, there are also a few problems with connection. Lot's of times I have tried to connect and there is sometimes a problem and doesn't work for about an hour or so sometimes. The other big new mode is the franchise mode which many people last year were mad at the fact that Visual Concepts didn't include. I personally think that it is very fun to manage a team. There is a ton of things you can do with this mode. You sign and cut players, keep a salary cap, have fantasy drafts, and much more. The rest of the gameplay is mostly like the original except the running game. Last year's was too hard and this year's is too easy, but I would rather have too easy than too hard. It's too easy to juke and spin around defenders. The juke move is fun but very unrealistic (I juked through 4 defenders at once). The passing game is still about the same and the feature where you hold down the button to throw a bullet pass or to tap the button to throw a lob pass is nice too. The gameplay is very good despite a few problems and the game will last all the way till next year's version.
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Summary

Back in the days of the Genisis and SNES battles, the one thing Genisis held with a strangle hold was the sports titles. EA continued to come through on every level and produced quality sports games that kept Genisis a strong player in the console war. What seemed like a beautiful friendship, soon gave way during the course of Saturn's lifespan. Evetually, EA went to Sony full time. Cry's of whoa were heard all over the world as Sega was left without a sports team. Who was going to fill this void, this terrible huge void?

Then came the answer. Visual Concepts. And what a loud answer it has been. Since dropping 2 of the best sports titles year, NFL2k and NBA2k, everyone stood back. Sega didn't need EA, they had VC. After a year of hard work VC has again brought us a masterpiece in the form of NFL2k1, which all other football games will be mesured.

Sound

The sound has always been pertect in the 2k series, and of course, this is no exception. The crowd yells and bo's along with the calls by the ref. The stadium annoucer is still there, adding to the atmosphere.

The commentary also seems to be tweaked to perfection. The 2 speakers always seem to have the right comment for the situation, and don't seem near as reptive as they did last year.

Gameplay

NFL2k had great gameplay, however time after time, it was critized for its poor running game. This one flaw, proved enough to dock it from several publications "all-star" rating. Visual Concepts wasn't about to let this happen again. Now you are capable of great runs, which were always cut short in the orginal.

The passing in NFL2k1 has also been tweeked to give you a great range of power between throws. Each of the 3 levels offers precise control and helps get the ball into your recievers hands each time.

The biggest draw of course though this time is the multiplayer aspect. Visual Concepts touted this feature all year, and promised alot with this new and exciting feature. Many people worried that it would be a very slow and laggy experince. These are the people that VC wanted to play the game. Useing SegaNet, players are able to connect to several servers in different geographical locations. Once connected, you challenge another player, and are on the way. Gameplay is flawless again, with little lag if any during the course of a game. It's great fun to play 8 player games of football, if a little hetic.

Also in this years version is fantasy and franchise play which were missing in last years version. Each one of this are wonderfully deep and extend this games lifespan by several months at least. Again, the create-a-player is in there, which gives you a wide range of control of how your player looks and plays.
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Sound

If the graphics don't pull you into the virtual gridiron, the sound will. Every little sound, from the players' footsteps to the crowd chants, are executed with the greatest of ease. What's better, the commentary, which was excellent in last year's game, is ten times better in NFL 2K1. They rarely ever repeat themselves, and their comments are often very intelligent, if not witty at times. And to think, these are actors pretending to be football announcers. If I didn't know any better, I'd swear I was watching a football game on ESPN, not playing one on my Dreamcast. The commentary is just that good. Let's see if EA can top that once I let Madden NFL 2001 have its turn at the plate (wait, wrong sport... Oh, well; sports analogies were never a strength of mine...).

Gameplay

First, let me go over the faults of last year's game. Well, fault... The running game in NFL 2K was unbalanced, and properly executing running plays in some of the higher difficulty levels was nearly impossible. Well, for 2K1, the developers tightened up things, so the running game is executed much better. Pulling off running plays with regularity is no longer an exercise in frustration, but something that is pretty much necessary to succeed in this game. Blockers are more intelligent than they were in 2K, and there is an overall improvement in the game's AI. Not that the AI was weak in the first game, but the overhaul in this game is definitely noticeable. You can actually see your quarterback scrambling in the pocket, trying to find an open reciever as a linebacker barrels through the offensive line right at you. The feeling of adrenaline you get from this is unparalleled, and this is part of what makes NFL 2K1 so much fun. Each player plays like their real-life counterpart this year; Jerome Bettis plows through defensive lines, while Stephen Davis relies more on speed and agility to gain yards. Another interesting addition is the Franchise mode. If you've always dreamed of running your very own NFL team, this game is your chance. You have to deal with salary caps, free agents, recruiting players, and so forth. An incredible amount of depth is added by this feature and for sim buffs is more than worth the price of the game. Controls are tighter than they were last year, so any lag you may have experienced with 2K is nonexistent here. The biggest and most appealing feature of NFL 2K1, however, is the advent of online play. While the normal game itself is worthy of a purchase, the online features are more than worth the $50 EB charges for this title. The first game to fully take advantage of the Sega.net service, NFL 2K1 runs surprisingly well with the 56K modem, as there is hardly any slowdown or hiccuping to notice. The thrill playing someone an entire country away is something that every gamer should experience. The only problem I find with the online play is that NFL 2K1 most likely won't be compatible with a broadband adaptor should Sega decide to release one (which I hope they do; after getting a T3, I can't imagine going back to dial-up). Still, if you're looking for a great way to play online and you don't wanna wait for PS2's online features (if they even show up), then by all means get NFL 2K1. If you're still kinda weary about online play, this title is still worth your while as a single-palyer game. But still, this game is ten times more fun in online play. Let the online revolution begin...
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Rating