October Game 2 - Grave Yardage
Well, the plan to write "a couple [of posts] a week" fell through. October in education is something else.
Anyway, this week's game is Grave Yardage, the Activision game that simulated football using monsters (you can play it here). It is, as far as I can tell, a video game adaptation of Blood Bowl, the miniature game from a few years earlier, but is different enough to be legally distinct. I'm sure there are people that know more about the history of both games out there, and please point me in the right direction if you know where to find them!
The game opens with a winged eyeball descending onto the field before dodging out of the way of some monsters trying to capture it. In this game the eyeball represents the ball and, because it is winged, it can travel with a mind of its own. This can be a bit frustrating as it moves away from where you want it go, but it affects both teams equally so I guess it's fair.
Being a game from the late 1980s, there is of course some simple copy protection. You can find all of the answers here to avoid it. There are some basic options you can choose, and there appears to be a way to design your own teams, but I haven't explored that much.
After that, it's time to do the coin toss mummy spin! Whichever team the mummy is pointing to when it stops is the ones who start with the eye.
Finally, it's time to play. The eye is shot to the opposite side of the field with a cannon and I'm not sure how much control the player has over it. Once someone catches the eye their job is to run through the mud, which slows players down, and dodge the landmines, which will take you out. You can attack opposing players to avoid being tackled, but again, I'm not sure how much control the player has over that. The focus of the game is on action and violence and not strategy, so a lot is left up to RNG.
The screenshot below is after a score. Each score is worth 100 points and the game has the player say something cute as well.
Overall I really enjoy this game. I played it as a kid, which was weird because I didn't come from a family that watched sports so I'm not sure why my dad got a copy of this game. But it's been fun to revisit and I think I'll play a few more games before Halloween.
Also, as an aside, the game was designed and programmed by Glen Wolfram who went on to work on my favorite baseball game - Front Page Sports Baseball '96.