The box art for Sports Illustrated for Kids Football is pretty cool, both adults and kids will agree. You’ve got this warrior-like football player throwing a flaming football right in your face; you’ve got to be crazy to not think it’s totally awesome. A lot of kids who love football and a lot of clueless parents are going to pick this game up this holiday season for the box art alone, there’s no question about that. However, if you’re an experienced gamer, you know never to judge a game by its cover.
Aesthetics:
Let’s start with the strongest aspect of Sports Illustrated for Kids Football, the graphics. The game utilizes the same 3D engine as its baseball counterpart, which is definitely a plus. In fact, the graphics in Football look better than in Baseball because there’s a lot of zooming and rotating of the field every time the ball is air born or a play is carried out. The animation of the players is very nice, although they tend to look blocky at times, even when they’re up close. The color pallet also could have been a little better, but now I’m just nitpicking. Overall, the graphics are impressive, but not without a few faults.
Sound:
If you read my review on Sports Illustrated for Kids Baseball, you know that I found the sound in that game to be of the same quality as a Coleco Vision game. And of course, Football doesn’t improve the sound very much, although it’s not as unbearable as Baseball.
The sound effects are reminiscent of an early NES game, and for the most part, the developers didn’t take advantage of any of the Gameboy Advance’s sound capabilities. The players make one of two grunting noises every time they get hit. Ever put your ear up to a seashell to hear the ocean? Well, that’s exactly what the crowd cheering in the background sounds like. And it’s the same two-second loop playing over and over again. Note: this WILL annoy you. My advice is to turn off the volume completely.
Control:
Control in Sports Illustrated for Kids is very sloppy and unresponsive. When you try to move a player he runs like he’s wearing lead shoes. The actual control setup is kind of bothersome, especially if you’re used to the control in a game like Madden. When playing defense you switch players by pressing the A button. You press the B button to tackle the opposing team. As a ball carrier you can perform a stiff arm by using the L or R buttons, a spin move using the A button or a hurdle with the B button. There’s really no excuse as to why you can’t set the controls to your liking, but sadly that option is not found in here.
Gameplay:
First off, you should know that there are no real players or teams found in Sports Illustrated for Kids Football. It doesn’t take away from the gameplay, but it may hinder some of the excitement of seeing your favorite players or teams in a football game. I was slightly surprised at the computer AI, especially after having played the Baseball game. Whereas in Baseball the computer was dumber than dirt, in football it’s actually a little challenging.
You have the option to choose Season or Exhibition mode right from the beginning. Exhibition allows you to just play regular football against the computer without saving any stats. You just pick an imaginary team to play as and then an imaginary team to play against. In Season mode, the game keeps track of your stats. As you build up your players they become faster and stronger. You even get the option of naming your team and choosing its colors… how neat!
A few things that will have you scratching your head in confusion (not to mention annoy you) is that the computer can only keep track of eight players per team. Strange, but true. Also, after you get your first down, it’s not noted anywhere on the field. In fact, a lot of important information such as how long a run was or when the next down is aren’t shown anywhere on the screen, especially when you need it. This definitely takes away some gameplay points.
Sound:
Multiplayer is pretty standard. You and your friend both need a copy of the cartridge to access this option. There are no special features or bonuses to be found in this mode. The best multiplayer can provide you is a human opponent which is always more fun than playing against a computer, especially in sports games.
OVERALL:
Sports Illustrated for Kids has a lot of faults, most noticeably in the gameplay and sound department. Although not as horrible as Baseball, there’s nothing in Sports Illustrated for Kids Football that will overly excite football fans. My recommendation is to wait for something better to come along; you’ll be glad you did in the long run.
The Lowdown on  Sports Illustrated for Kids Football
| Aesthetics: Very Good |
Control: Below Average |
| Gameplay: Below Average |
Multiplayer: Average |
| Sound: Terrible |
Innovation: 1/6 |
| Lasting Appeal: 2/6 |
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Overall: Below Average!
"Has Some Detrimental Problems"
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Sports Illustrated for Kids Football
