Jerry Springer has nothing on Midway.  While Springer has had shows on marital disputes, cheating midgets, and sex change operations, Midway did the unthinkable -- they gave NFL Blitz a genre operation!  What started out as a hard-hitting arcade title with simple controls has now become a simulation-arcade title with Madden-style controls.  You could say it's the lovechild of Madden and the original Blitz, but that's a story for Springer to cover, not GameZone.

If you've been keeping up with the Blitz series you might've seen this coming.  Slowly but surely Midway has been moving closer to the simulation sports genre, and further away from the arcade sports genre (which, if it weren't for EA Sports BIG games, would no longer exist).  Blitz 2000 for Dreamcast was an enhanced version of the original, but the first Blitz title for GameCube showed several minor (but significant) changes.  The graphics were more lifelike, and that was to be expected.  The playbooks were more involved, making the game comparable to most of its competitors.  The controls felt a little less like an arcade game, but the passing function was still the same -- point and shoot.  I know that, outside of Blitz fans, that style of passing is not the premiere one.  However, it's what got me into Blitz, and it's what led to my increased interest in the sports genre.

Jump forward to the fall 2003 season.  Whether we asked for it or not (and maybe Midway thinks we did – the past few Blitz games have not been as popular as the original), big changes arrived with the first Pro edition of Blitz.  "Pro" meaning "no more arcade."  There aren't many rules, and the rules that this game has are pretty lenient.  You can, for example, still tackle a guy to prevent him from receiving the ball.  Try doing that in a standard football game and you'll be penalized.  That's what I love about Blitz, and that is the only reason why I would choose Blitz over a simulation game.

The reason is because NFL Blitz Pro is like Madden with less realism.  Gamers will be shocked at how much the game has changed; everything from the menus to the control scheme – which now includes player and button-specific passing – is different.  Different to Blitz lovers but familiar to everyone else.

Although I think it goes without saying, this game includes the standard listing of game modes: Exhibition, Season, Franchise and Tournament.  There’s also a Quickplay mode in which the game pretty much selects everything automatically.

For the kid in you, NFL Blitz Pro has a Blitz Shop.  Go there to purchase things like stadiums and fantasy teams.  Also standard: the way of earning credits to spend at the Blitz Shop – simply by playing and winning the game.  You can’t earn credits in the Season or Franchise modes, but they will be earned upon winning a Quickplay, Exhibition or Tournament game.

Among the promoted features, there's the newly added 11-on-11 "authentic NFL action."  That I'm cool with.  I'm very pleased with the player increase in both NFL Blitz Pro and NHL Hitz Pro.  What I'm not too happy with is the so-called pro-style AI.  With it, I can't stiff-arm the computer-controlled opponents as easily as I used to.  They'll either avoid the arm or grab it and take me down!  In addition, it's not as easy to complete passes, nor is at as easy to prevent the opponent from completing theirs.

Now I know what you're thinking: why complain about an increased challenge?  I'm not.  When they made Blitz '99 harder than the previous version, I welcomed the increased difficulty.  But with NFL Blitz Pro it feels more like a change than an increased challenge.  Part of Blitz's appeal was the fact that it was easy to pick up and play, whether you were a sports fan or not.  The real challenge came from your friends, or strangers at the arcade, not the computer AI, which was only difficult for a short while.  NFL Blitz Pro isn't like that.  At times it seems more difficult than a simulation football game.  That's not right.

All of these unexciting, all-too-familiar things might make you think that NFL Blitz Pro isn't any good.  That's not so.  This is a fun game, but it's less fun than the Blitz titles that were developed for the previous generation of consoles.  It's hard to believe that more than half a decade has gone by since the series started.  With that much time comes a necessary change, but I don't think that being a Madden clone was the way to go.  NFL Blitz Pro is a good choice for the Madden or NFL2k fan looking for a change, but still wishes to have some elements of their beloved football series.  This game is not good, however, for the Blitz lover who desires the next evolution in the series.  It may be a sequel, but it's not an evolution.

Gameplay: 8
NFL Blitz Pro's gameplay is not at all like the Blitz you remember from 1997.  The passing system has been given an overhaul -- no longer do you move the thumbstick left and right to select a player to pass to.  Now you have pre-selected players with designated passing icons floating over their heads.  Pressing any of the proper face or shoulder buttons sends the ball flying in the direction of that player, but only good timing and a little skill will ensure that every pass is completed.  To me, this takes away the freedom that players once had.  I enjoy a good challenge, but not when it's done in this fashion.

Fun to play here and there, NFL Blitz Pro is a good time-killer.  If what you read intrigues you, rent it for a week, or buy it used.

Graphics: 8
Close, but no Madden.  NFL Blitz Pro is the prettiest game in the series, and despite its simulation gameplay elements, the graphics still can't compare to Madden, Fever, or Sega's 2k series.  Smooth animation isn't enough to award this game a high score.  More detailed player models and more realistic faces/backgrounds are necessary to boost the graphics to a 9.

Sound: 5
Quick, somebody grab a roll of Scotch tape.  The announcers have opened their mouths and they won't shut up.  Maybe they're special, because they see comedy in whatever it is they're babbling about.  The audience, however, is not so special, and is thus forced to suffer.

Difficulty: Medium
Most Blitz fans are used to easing through the single-player mode.  They're in for a surprise when they play NFL Blitz Pro.  It's not quite worthy of a hard difficulty rating, but it is a bit tougher than the earlier Blitz games.

Concept: 6.9
NFL Mlitz or NFL Badden, you be the judge.

Multiplayer: 7.5
Four-player action for you and your friends.

Overall: 7.7
NFL Blitz Pro is not as much of a Blitz game as it is as a lenient version of Madden.  You've got fewer rules, harder hits, and the ability to tackle a guy for no reason other than to mess up his play.  (You can also tackle a guy just for the fun of it – a Blitz staple that should never be removed.)  There are too many football games on the market with at least one superior aspect for me to recommend that gamers purchase NFL Hitz Pro.  It's a worthwhile rental, but if you're interested in this game, chances are you already have one of the previous Blitz games.  And if you've got that, having this one will only make you wish the series hadn't changed so drastically.