Joe Montana Football (Mega Drive)

From Sega Retro

For other versions, see Joe Montana Football.

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JoeMontanaFootball title.png

Joe Montana Football
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: Sega
Developer:
Genre: Sports[1][2]

















Number of players: 1-2
Release Date RRP Code
Sega Mega Drive
JP
¥6,0006,000 G-4045
Sega Mega Drive
US
$49.9549.95[4] 1205
Sega Mega Drive
US
(Classic)
$29.9529.95[5] 1205C
Sega Mega Drive
EU
1205
Sega Mega Drive
UK
£34.9934.99[6] 1205
Sega Mega Drive
SE
(Rental)
Sega Mega Drive
AU
Sega Mega Drive
CA

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Joe Montana Football (ジョー・モンタナ フットボール) is a Sega Mega Drive American football game developed by Park Place Productions and Zono, and published by Sega. Directly endorsed by professional football player and National Football League star Joe Montana, it was first released in the United States in December 1990, and is most notable for being both one of the earliest celebrity-sponsored sports video games, and one of Sega of America's first domestically-produced successes.

Released alongside a redesigned Sega Master System version, Joe Montana Football, it would also receive a sequel the following year courtesy of American developer BlueSky Software, Joe Montana II: Sports Talk Football.

Gameplay

While Sega were able to feature Joe Montana in Joe Montana Football, it did not secure the rights from the NFL to include any official team names (or other real-world players). This means teams are simply named after US cities and much of the content was fictionalised.

History

Sega signed with Joe Montana in mid-1990[7], before they had a game to show. The contract was thought to be the most expensive celebrity video game signing to date[8], with Montana both having a hand in the game's design, and promoting it before its launch in the Christmas season of 1990.

Joe Montana was likely the biggest name in American football at the time. Playing with the San Francisco 49ers, he led the team to victory at the Super Bowl XXIV in January 1990, and had picked up both the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Award (as he had in 1982 and 1985) and Associated Press Most Valuable Player Award for the 1989 season. Reportedly Montana was also a fan of the Mega Drive (Genesis in North America), with his favourite game being Arnold Palmer Tournament Golf[8].

At the time, Sega did not have the facilities in the US to develop a Mega Drive game from scratch, so had to seek outside developers. Originally it had planned to work with Mediagenic to turn Hard Yardage into this game[9], but quality concerns saw the project re-worked from scratch[10]. Sega approached Electronic Arts with the view of licensing the upcoming John Madden Football, but the deal fell through[10].

Magazine articles

Main article: Joe Montana Football (Mega Drive)/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

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Print advert in Sega Visions (US) #1: "June/July 1990" (1990-xx-xx)
also published in:
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Print advert in Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #16: "November 1990" (1990-xx-xx)
also published in:
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Print advert in Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #19: "February 1991" (1991-xx-xx)
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Physical scans

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
{{{{{icon}}}|L}} Division by zero.
Based on
0 review
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
1700 igr dlya Sega (RU)
20
[17]
Ação Games (BR)
83
[18]
Beep! MegaDrive (JP) NTSC-J
78
[19]
Console XS (UK) PAL
72
[20]
Computer & Video Games (UK)
77
[21]
GamePro (US) NTSC-U
88
[22]
Hippon Super (JP) NTSC-J
60
[23]
Joystick (FR)
88
[24]
Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK) PAL
52
[25]
Mega Drive Fan (JP) NTSC-J
72
[26]
Mega (UK) PAL
73
[27]
Mega Play (US) NTSC-U
50
[28]
MegaTech (UK)
73
[29]
Mean Machines (UK)
69
[30]
Mean Machines (UK)
69
[31]
Mean Machines Sega (UK)
73
[32]
Player One (FR)
90
[33]
Power Play (DE)
69
[34]
Sega Power (UK) PAL
72
[35]
Sega Power (UK) PAL
50
[36]
Sega Pro (UK)
79
[37]
Sega Pro (UK) PAL
57
[38]
Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J
78
[39]
Tilt (FR)
65
[40]
VideoGames & Computer Entertainment (US)
70
[41]
Video Games (DE)
69
[42]
Sega Mega Drive
69
Based on
26 reviews

Joe Montana Football (Mega Drive)

Mega Drive, JP
JMF MD JP Box.jpg
Cover
JoeMontana1 MD JP CartTop.jpg
JMF MD JP Cart.jpg
Cart
Joemontanafootball md jp manual.pdf
Manual
Mega Drive, US
JMF MD US Box.jpg
Cover
JMF MD US Cart.jpg
Cart
Joe Montana Football MD US Manual.pdf
Manual
Mega Drive, US (Sega Classic)
JoeMontanaFootball MD US Box Classic.jpg
Cover
JMF MD US Cart.jpg
Cart
Mega Drive, EU
JMF MD EU Box.jpg
Cover
JMF MD EU Cart.jpg
Cart
JMF MD EU pcb.jpg
PCB
Mega Drive, SE (Rental)

Mega Drive, AU
JMF MD AU cover.jpg
Cover
Mega Drive, CA
JMF MD CA cover.jpg
Cover

External links

Technical information

ROM dump status

System Hash Size Build Date Source Comments
Sega Mega Drive
CRC32 8aa6a1dd
MD5 f80d0fb38db6e4cb0f1218130d934887
SHA-1 64b03ad0b17c022c831d057b9d6087c3b719147a
512kB 1990-11 Cartridge (US/JP)

References

  1. File:JMF MD JP Box.jpg
  2. 2.0 2.1 https://sega.jp/history/hard/megadrive/software.html (Wayback Machine: 2020-07-20 09:51)
  3. VideoGames & Computer Entertainment, "April 1991" (US; 1991-0x-xx), page 60
  4. GamePro, "April 1991" (US; 1991-xx-xx), page 41
  5. Sega Visions, "August/September 1992" (US; 1992-xx-xx), page 20
  6. Sega Power, "June 1991" (UK; 1991-05-02), page 21
  7. File:TheDanvilleNews US 1990-03-23; Page 4.png
  8. 8.0 8.1 Game Players, "Vol. 2 No. 6 June 1990" (US; 1990-0x-xx), page 100
  9. Game Players, "Vol. 2 No. 9 September 1990" (US; 1990-0x-xx), page 57
  10. 10.0 10.1 Electronic Gaming Monthly, "November 1990" (US; 1990-xx-xx), page 26
  11. Electronic Gaming Monthly, "August 1990" (US; 1990-xx-xx), page 7
  12. GamePro, "July 1990" (US; 1990-xx-xx), page 61
  13. VideoGames & Computer Entertainment, "July 1990" (US; 1990-0x-xx), page 59
  14. GamePro, "November 1990" (US; 1990-xx-xx), page 100
  15. Game Players Sega Guide!, "Vol. 1, No. 1: Fall 1990" (US; 1990-10-xx), page 8
  16. Sega Visions, "Winter 1990/1991" (US; 1990-xx-xx), page 22
  17. 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 149
  18. Ação Games, "Maio 1991" (BR; 1991-05-21), page 45
  19. Beep! MegaDrive, "March 1991" (JP; 1991-02-08), page 35
  20. Console XS, "June/July 1992" (UK; 1992-04-23), page 131
  21. Computer & Video Games, "May 1991" (UK; 1991-04-14), page 76
  22. GamePro, "April 1991" (US; 1991-xx-xx), page 40
  23. Hippon Super, "March 1991" (JP; 1991-02-04), page 42
  24. Joystick, "Mars 1991" (FR; 1991-0x-xx), page 144
  25. Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming, "January 1993" (UK; 199x-xx-xx), page 92
  26. Mega Drive Fan, "May 1991" (JP; 1991-04-08), page 95
  27. Mega, "June 1993" (UK; 1993-05-20), page 20
  28. Mega Play, "March/April 1991" (US; 1991-04-xx), page 45
  29. MegaTech, "Xmas 1991" (UK; 1991-12-06), page 78
  30. Mean Machines, "April 1991" (UK; 1991-04-01), page 76
  31. Mean Machines, "February 1992" (UK; 1992-01-27), page 74
  32. Mean Machines Sega, "October 1992" (UK; 1992-09-xx), page 139
  33. Player One, "Juillet/Août 1991" (FR; 1991-xx-xx), page 57
  34. Power Play, "5/91" (DE; 1991-04-12), page 123
  35. Sega Power, "June 1991" (UK; 1991-05-02), page 20
  36. Sega Power, "October 1991" (UK; 1991-09-05), page 53
  37. Sega Pro, "February 1992" (UK; 1992-01-16), page 18
  38. Sega Pro, "April 1993" (UK; 1993-03-11), page 66
  39. Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 85
  40. Tilt, "Mai 1991" (FR; 1991-0x-xx), page 78
  41. VideoGames & Computer Entertainment, "March 1991" (US; 1991-0x-xx), page 32
  42. Video Games, "2/91" (DE; 1991-06-07), page 94


American Football games published by Sega
Joe Montana Football (Mega Drive) (Master System/Game Gear) (DOS) (1990) | Joe Montana II Sports Talk Football (1991) | NFL Sports Talk Football '93 Starring Joe Montana (1992) | Joe Montana's NFL Football (1993) | NFL Football '94 Starring Joe Montana (1993) | NFL '95 (1994) | Prime Time NFL Football Starring Deion Sanders (1995) | NFL '97 (1996) | NFL 98 (1997)
Joe Montana NFL Football (IBM PC) (unreleased) | NFL Football '94 Starring Joe Montana (Game Gear) (unreleased)
College Football
College Football's National Championship (1994) | College Football's National Championship II (1995) | NCAA College Football 2K2 (2001) | NCAA College Football 2K3 (2002)
NFL 2K Series
NFL 2K (1999) | NFL 2K1 (2000) | NFL 2K2 (2001) | NFL 2K3 (2002) | ESPN NFL Football (2003) | ESPN NFL 2K5 (2004)