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Kick off the 1996 NFL season with NFL '97 for your Sega Saturn. As
usual, Sega Sports has included full NFL and NFLPA licensing so that
all of the real players and team logos can be used. The game also
follows the 1996 NFL schedule during season play. Despite all of the
licensing, none of the stadiums are exact representations of their real
life counterparts. Though they do feature similarities. For example, if
a team plays in a dome in real life then they will play in a dome in
NFL '97.
Modes of play
include Exhibition, Practice and Season. Exhibition is for when you
only want to play one game while Practice allows players to run
offensive drills.
NFL '97 features 150 offensive and defensive plays for every team. However, you are not limited to just those plays as a play editor is included. From the options menu users can also create their own playbook simply by taking plays from each team. A full team can be created as well. Teams are not created by a create-a-player option though; instead users select players from other teams and place them on their team.
Player abilities can vary depending on some of the options selected. One setting, called Human Effect, represents how each player will perform. Placing the Human Effect on normal will base players's performance on their real life statistics and abilities. Otherwise, the performance will be due more to the skill level of the user controlling the player. Another twist is that users can choose not to control the quarterback and allow the computer to make the passing decisions.
There are a number of settings that can be adjusted too. Quarter length can be set on 2, 5, 10 or 15 minute quarters while the difficulty can be placed on easy, normal or hard. The speed of the players can be altered and the possibility of a fumble occurring can be increased or decreased. Weather can be clear, rainy or snowy and wind can be placed on windy, normal or slight wind.
