From: splin@cauchy.usc.edu (Sen-Pin Lin)
Newsgroups: rec.games.video
Subject: REVIEW: [SNES] JM '93 vs. SUPER PLAY ACTION FOOTBALL (LONG)
Date: 17 Nov 1992 16:09:07 -0800
Organization: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
NNTP-Posting-Host: cauchy.usc.edu
Keywords: football

Objective: Compare the pros and cons of these two popular football games 
           for SNES.

I have SPAF for a few months, used to have the original JMF, and rent the
JMF '93 the other day. Each of them has been played for a certain period of
time. Basically JMF '93 is an update of JMF with better animation, a few more
plays. Besides, JMF '93 provides players' stats and a few more teams (the all time 
greats) and several nice touchs such as game stats at half time and final,
more vivid animation after a good play (TD, sack, etc), crowd's cheering or
booing, firework and celebration in the locker room once you win the champ.

TEAMS AND PLAYERS: JMF '93 supposely provides all NFL teams plus 8 all time 
great teams and some all star teams. Unfortunately, it seams like EA doesn't
want to spend the money on licensing from NFL, so no team names nor logos are
provided. This results in one L.A. team, the other being moved to Oakland.
Similarly, there is only one N.Y. team, the other one becomes N.J. SPAF 
provides 3 levels of teams: high school, college, and NFL teams. Not much to 
say about high school. In college there are nearly 100 teams, with some fake
ones(like Pale (Yale?), Standard (Stanford?), Pursue (Purdue?), I think
they are humorous but someone on the net said no.) And all 28 "real" NFL 
teams. These three levels differ in many aspects such as variety of plays,
difficulty, variety of player moves, subsitution and injuries. 
Neither of these two games have the players' names.  

FOOTBALL FIELD VIEW: JMF is from the back of offensive side, vertivally, 
showing about 40 yards. SPAF is 45 degree diagonal from the offensive side,
only about 15 yards is shown, with a radar view covering the whole field.

PASSING: Each of them has their strength and weakness. JMF '93 uses 3 windows
showing the intended receivers. The trick is to pass the ball to the open 
receiver, and use X button to reach for the ball. The weak point is that, you
can't see the running route of your receivers, and due to the limited size of
the windows, you can't see the defenders who are close (but not too close) to
the receivers. SPAF uses radar view to indicate which receiver is open. The
trick is to switch (your focus) between radar view and field view, use radar 
view to find the open receivers and the field view to actually catch the ball. 
The weakness is that you have to look at both views at the same time, and you 
can't see your reciver until the ball is about 10 yards next to him, making the 
passing too difficult for a beginner. On the other hand, I thought the passing
is too easy in the original JMF, now in JMF '93 a circle is used to indicate
the spot where the ball will go, making passing even easier. The computer seems to
be unable to counter my passing game in JMF '93 because I always use fast and 
shotgun formation, and complete the passes most of the time. In SPAF, if I use
the same passing play consecutively, I will mostly end up being intercepted.
BTW, I think there are too many interceptions in SPAF.

RUNNING: Without a doubt, SPAF is much better. The primary reason is that in a 
running game, you don't usually have an open field. With 40 yards shown as in
JMF '93, the players are way too small and too close to each other. It can be
very confusing as whether your RB has been tackled or not. In addition, the 
handoffs or laterals are done automatically, which is bad since you want to 
control your QB to handoff at the right moment. SPAF provides a much clearer
view of the individual players. The only weak point is the speed, looks like
the players are running in slow motion.

DEFENSE: Both are fine, but I still like SPAF better since I have a clearer view
of each player, and I have the ability to jump.

AUDIBLE: I never used audibles in JMF or JMF '93 since I can't choose a specific
play to use. All I have are three pre-defined plays. In SPAF, you choose your 
audibles just like the usual plays (in the beginning of each quarter). And they
are indeed very useful if you can read your opponent's defense.

CONTROL: Both are very good. It might take sometime to get used to SPAF
though because of the 45 degree view. 

GRAPHICS AND SOUND: Without a doubt, JMF '93 wins. I can't describe here, try it
yourself.

DOCUMENTATION: JMF '93 provides a complete list of stats for each player in all
teams. But the information on the defensive and offensive plays is minimal.
Whereas SPAF packs in a play book (in addition to the instruction manual) of 
every offensive and defensive play, with explanation of how each play works.
This is a big plus considering there are 60+ offensive plays and 20+ defensive 
plays in SPAF. Only the best players are highlighted in the manual, you have to 
check out the rest of them during the game play.

MISC.: JMF '93, like JMF, lets you play playoff for free. Thus a regular season
game is nothing but an exhibition game. On the other hand, in SPAF if you choose
to play a season, you start from the beginning and play 16 regular season games. 
If you rank among the top 3 in you division, you can play playoff games. It also
keeps tracks of your team's and players' stats throughout a season. JMF '93 still
use the password system to keep track of your playoff's standing whereas SPAF
has battery backup for your standing and stats in a season.
Another PLUS for SPAF in the NFL game is that, your players get tired or injured
if allowed to play for too long. Hence it's your responsibility to check the
players' status and make subtitutions. There is more strategy involved since 
you have to decide when to let your best player rest so when a big play is needed,
he will be ready.

BUGS: The type of football field seems to be chosen randomly in JMF '93. I played
S.F. in my first playoff round. The first and third are home games, but one is in
a domed stadium yet the other is an open stadium. The second game was played in 
a dome also, but surprisingly, there was strong WIND! In SPAF there are also some
silly bugs. One being the erraneous replay of a TD. But, none of the bugs in both
games affect the gameplay itself. BTW, there is an obvious slowdown in JMF '93
when you punt the ball.

Final comments: For those who hate SPAF (there seem to be quite a few) becuase of
the mediocre graphics and sound, plus the silly bugs in replays, JMF '93 is a very
good bet for you. With pretty good graphics, smooth animation, plenty of plays, and
the many teams to play (especially those all time great teams, too bad you can't
use them in playoffs), it should bring you a long time of enjoyment.
For those who (like me) prefer to have a total control of the game, a clear view
of the players, a very rich set of offensive/defensive plays and very solid 
gameplay, enjoy to play a long season, and can tolerate the mediocre graphics and 
sound, SPAF is the BEST. 

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The above is my $.02 opinion. Take it or leave it. I do appreciate your opinions
and further discussion.

Ben

p.s. I think JMF '93 is way too easy. When I got this game, I went directly to
play the playoff without any practice. I won the champ in my first try(playing
S.F. with basically one offensive play ... fast and shotgun.) SPAF is another
story. After hours and hours of practice, I still cannot master the passing game.
I used Buffalo Bills to play a season, won 15 out of 16 regular season games, 
but couldn't make the super bowl due to the lost to the Raiders. The playoffs
of SPAF seem to be too tough.