Great Football

From Sega Retro

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GreatFootball title.png

Great Football
System(s): Sega Master System, Mega-Tech
Publisher: Sega
Developer:
Genre: Sports[1] (American football)

















Number of players: 1-2
Release Date RRP Code
Sega Master System
JP
¥5,0005,000 G-1321
Sega Master System
US
5058
Sega Master System
EU
MK-5058-50
Sega Master System
FR
250F250[5] MK-5058-50
Sega Master System
UK
£22.9522.95[4] MK-5058-50
Arcade (Mega-Tech System)
UK
£? ?

























Great Football (グレートフットボール) is a sports game developed and published by Sega for the Sega Master System and the Sega Mega-Tech arcade system. The game is part of the Great series of sports games. It is based on American football (Great Soccer, released two years prior, was based on the sport known as football in most of the world). A Sports Pad version was also released in America as Sports Pad Football.

Gameplay

Great Football is a very basic American football game played from a top-down perspective with a horizontally oriented field. Games consist of four quarters that are 15 minutes long (though the game time runs three times faster than real time). There are no fouls. On the title screen, one-player games are started by pressing 1 on the first control pad, and two-player games are started by pressing 1 on the second control pad.

In one-player games, the player starts the game in the fourth quarter with the computer team ahead by a random number of points. The player has the length of the quarter in which to beat the computer's score. If the player completes a set of four downs without gaining 10 yards, rather than awarding possession to the computer team (as in real football), the player is penalized 10 yards and given a new set of downs. Thus, the player is always on offense, and the only way the computer can score is if the player's team is tackled in their own end zone for a safety or if the computer intercepts a pass and runs it back to their end zone for a touchdown.

In two-player games, players play a conventional game of four quarters, starting at the beginning of the game with neither player having any points. The second player opens the game with the kick-off, so the first player starts on offense. As in real football, if the player on offense completes a set of four downs without gaining 10 yards, the other team gets possession of the ball.

Great Football SMS, Kickoff.png

Kickoff
At the beginning of the game, the defending team kicks the ball down the field from the 35-yard line to the offensive team. This is done automatically.

In one-player games, the computer kicks off after a conversion play (since the player is never on defense); in two-player games, the scoring team kicks the ball after a conversion play.

Great Football SMS, Playbook.png

Playbook
Only the offensive team picks plays. There are nine plays; the first four are pass plays, and the next four are rush plays. The ninth play is a punt or a field goal attempt, which only appears if within the 45-yard line. After a touchdown, the scoring team chooses a conversion play to attempt to earn one point from a field goal or two points from passing or running the ball into the end zone.

Before each down, the game cycles through every play, and the player chooses a play by pressing 2 when it is highlighted. In two-player games, the game continues cycling through all of the plays even after a play has been selected, in order to conceal the selected play from the opponent (though it does this in one-player games as well).

Great Football SMS, Defense.png

Defense
Defense is only played in two-player games. The team on defense must try to prevent the offensive team from gaining yards or scoring. The team member that is closest to the ball (who is indicated by a solid-colored arrow) runs in any direction using the D-Pad. The other team members move automatically. The team member can attempt to tackle a member of the offensive team by pressing 1 or 2. If the team member is on top of a member of the other team who is receiving a pass, the pass is intercepted. The player can block a punt or a field goal by pressing 2 to have the team members converge.

Great Football SMS, Offense.png

Great Football SMS, Field Goal.png

  • Great Football SMS, Offense.png

  • Great Football SMS, Field Goal.png

Offense
The team on offense must try to gain at least 10 yards toward the defending team's end zone in four downs in order to receive another set of four downs. The team member with the ball (who is indicated by a solid-colored arrow) runs in any direction using the D-Pad. The team member can pass the ball by holding the D-Pad in any direction and pressing 2. This is also how punts and field goals are performed.

During a pass play, after the hike, the quarterback can pass the ball by pressing 2 or scramble (run instead of passing) by pressing 1.

Teams

There are 12 fictional teams, divided into two leagues. In one-player games, the player must select an opponent from the same league as the chosen team. In two-player games, each player chooses a team from different leagues.

Great Football SMS, League Select.png

League select
League Team
AFC
Great Football SMS, Teams.png
Spartans
Great Football SMS, Teams.png
Dukes
Great Football SMS, Teams.png
Sharks
Great Football SMS, Teams.png
Bombers
Great Football SMS, Teams.png
Foxes
Great Football SMS, Teams.png
Huskies
NFC
Great Football SMS, Teams.png
Bucks
Great Football SMS, Teams.png
Wildcats
Great Football SMS, Teams.png
Boomers
Great Football SMS, Teams.png
Knights
Great Football SMS, Teams.png
Beavers
Great Football SMS, Teams.png
Gators

Magazine articles

Main article: Great Football/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Logo-pdf.svg
Print advert in (GR) #66: "Máios 1990" (1990-xx-xx)
Logo-pdf.svg

Physical scans

Master System version

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
{{{{{icon}}}|L}} Division by zero.
Based on
0 review
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
(UK)
73
[6]
(UK)
67
[7]
(UK) PAL
67
[8]
(DK)
25
[9]
(UK) PAL
60
[10]
(UK)
82
[11]
(FR)
69
[5]
(UK)
55
[12]
(UK)
67
[13]
(UK) PAL
70
[14]
(UK) PAL
50
[15]
(UK)
70
[16]
(UK) PAL
60
[17]
(DK)
40
[18]
(FR)
55
[19]
Sega Master System
61
Based on
15 reviews

Great Football

Master System, JP
GreatFootball JP backcover.jpgNospine.pngGreatFootball JP cover.jpg
Cover
GreatFootball SMS JP Cart.jpg
Cart
GreatFootballSMSJPManual.pdf
Manual
Master System, US
GreatFootball US cover.jpg
Cover
Greatfootball sms us manual.pdf
Manual
Master System, US
"Made in Taiwan" variant
GreatFootball US TW cover.jpg
Cover
Greatfootball sms us manual.pdf
Manual
Master System, EU
GreatFootball EU cover.jpg
Cover
Master System, EU ("No Limits")
GreatFootball EU nolimits cover.jpg
Cover
Master System, EU (Sega®)
GreatFootball EU R cover.jpg
Cover

Mega-Tech version

Mega-Tech,

Technical information

ROM dump status

System Hash Size Build Date Source Comments
Sega Master System
 ?
CRC32 2055825f
MD5 2cf4d65cb09c276a96ad73e724fb825c
SHA-1 a768f44ce7e50083ffe8c4b5e3ac93ceb7bd3266
128kB Cartridge

References


Great Football

GreatFootball title.png

Main page | Comparisons | Development | Magazine articles | Reception


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Games in the Great sports series
Soccer (1985) | Baseball (1985) | Tennis (1985) | Golf (1986) | Ice Hockey (1986) | Baseball (1987) | Basketball (1987) | Volleyball (1987) | Football (1987) | Golf (1987)