A football game for dummies
If an unending dash to the endzone, clutching the pigskin to your chest, sounds like the kind of arcade NFL fantasy you’re after, then Touchdown Hero: New Season is for you. But, if a football game isn’t your thing, then this is just a solid endless runner.
Blitz the line
Touchdown Hero: NS is basically a racing game where you must speed down a straight highway avoiding traffic. The only difference is that the highway is a looping series of football fields and the cars are linebackers – who are admittedly the size of cars – trying to tackle you.
Though every opposing player in Touchdown Hero: NS is out for your head, you do have a few tools at your disposal to avoid them. The controls are incredibly responsive, allowing you to whip your runner around the screen like a rag-doll in a washing machine. Thus, your ability to dodge is directly linked to how quickly you can move your figure.
There is also a barge button to smash opposing players of all sizes out of the way. Once used this needs time to recharge however, making careful timing of its use vital as after you score your third touchdown things get hard fast.
Football frenzy
Here is where Touchdown Hero: NS adds some slightly deeper play. Lifting your figure from the screen pulls the camera out, showing you a chalkboard style screen similar to those used when planning plays in the real sport. It is a tiny addition, but one that opens up tactical options in a thematically appropriate way.
While care has certainly been poured into the look it is not without flaws. The 16-bit style lacks the appeal of similar games, though the ability to pick a city and then edit the team colors is a nice hook for fans. The changing look of each successive field also brings some variety. One nice flourish is that as you squeak past an opposing team member your player palms them off, but otherwise don’t expect any visual frills.
Most of the nine yards
Touchdown Hero: NS is a fine endless-runner, but it does nothing to separate itself from the competition other than its American Football visual dressing.
