ABC MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL 

 This can't possibly be a computer game. I must be watching
television. Sure, that's it! It's Monday night, and I'm sitting in
front of my television watching that winter-long classic, "Monday
Night Football." Of course! There's Frank Gifford, and (wow!) look
at those cheerleaders! Halftime entertainment, bone-crushing sound
effects, the whole nine yards (so to speak). But what's this in
front of me? A joystick? And I can control these guys? Wait a
minute, what's going on here? 

 What's going on here is Data East's latest foray into the sports
simulation arena, ABC MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL (MNF). Contrary to what
you may think when you see it, it _is_ a computer game. From
beginning to end, this game delivers consistently outstanding
graphics and animation, and possibly the best digitized sound
effects that have ever crackled through my standard PC. (This review
is based on the IBM-PC version; Commodore 64/128 version notes
follow.) 

 Somehow, Data East has managed to drive crisp, clean voice
synthesis through the tiny IBM speaker. The voices and sound effects
are incredibly realistic. When Frank Gifford speaks, it's Frank
Gifford! When a player misses a pass, you can feel his frustration
as he mutters "Oh, man!" or "Sheeoot," or even "Son of a...." You
can share in the jubilation of that snared pass ("I got it!"), the
successful handoff ("Cool!"), or the touchdown ("All right!"). And
between each play, Mr. Gifford graciously supplies you with a verbal
report of down and yards-to-go information. The game employs an "AFB
Sound Technology" that's never elaborated upon, but of which I
heartily approve! 

 As MNF loads, you're given the opportunity to configure the game by
pressing the space bar. Here you may set your video mode, controls
(keyboard or joystick), etc. Once specified, this information need
not be entered again unless you wish to change it. There's no
on-disk copy protection, and the off-disk manual protection is
entertaining: As you approach the stadium, a security guard stops
you and verbally requests your passcode. This is obtained by turning
to the designated page in the manual and simply typing in a number
printed on the bottom of the page. The guard thanks you and permits
you to enter. Next, you sit back and relax for a moment while the
game opens, almost as it might if you were watching ABC. Before
long, Frank Gifford himself is there, welcoming you to MONDAY NIGHT
FOOTBALL and directing your attention to the field where the action
is about to get underway. 

 You're presented with a view of the field from the 50-yard line, 
and you'll see a main menu resembling a blackboard (nice touch). You
can scroll the cursor (a tiny "ABC" symbol -- another nice touch) to
any number of options. From here, you may adjust the length of a
quarter (5, 10, 15 minutes), access the playmaker utility, access
the team modification utility, change interface options, or start a
game. 

 When you start a game, there are a number of different ways you can
choose to play. I was amazed by the thought behind all of this; 
these options make playing with a friend a lot more interesting. You
can: practice; play one-on-one with the computer; play head-to-head
with a human opponenent; team up with another human player against
the computer; play a four-team tournament (in any human- or
computer-team configuration); or play a 10-team tournament (ditto). 
The program randomly selects the winner of the coin toss, and
then...it's game time! 

 During the game, there are 30 offensive plays to choose from (ten
each of short, medium, and long plays), selectable from a scrolling
menu of play diagrams. There also are 12 defensive plays, which can
be increased by using the playmaker utility. During gameplay, your
point of view is determined by the action taking place: For normal
play, it's an overhead view; for field goals and extra points, it's
from behind the goalposts; between plays, it's from the sidelines. A
small window appears in the lower right-hand corner whenever there
is a flag on the play, with a referee explaining (again, verbally) 
the nature of the penalty and the yardage involved. 

 This window also informs you when a player is "down on the field" 
with an injury. Players tend to get injured when they're overused. 
Expect to find all the elements of a real football game: 
interceptions, penalties, injuries, fumbles, punts, fake punts, 
onside kicks, intentional grounding, safeties, two-minute warnings, 
and so on. Cheerleaders entertain you between quarters, and at
halftime you're treated to a "Monday Night Footbal" trivia contest. 
After the game, you'll see the traditional "soaking of the coach" by
the winning team, and you'll have to sit through a locker-room
bawling-out by the coach of the losing team. 

 A typical play might unfold as follows: Using the joystick or
keyboard, you select your offensive play. Your team assembles at the
line of scrimmage, and your quarterback begins barking out the
signals. At this point, you can choose to hand off the ball for a
running play, or wait until the ball is snapped to start a passing
play. A line of helmets at the bottom of the screen -- each
representing an eligible receiver -- begins scrolling a color
change. When the receiver you've targeted changes colors, you may
release a joystick button and check to see if he's open. If so, you
may elect to pass to him, or if he's covered, check another
receiver. You may also decide to scrap the whole pass idea and run
it yourself. But don't take all day: The offense is bearing down on
you. And so it goes (following all the conventional rules of
football), up to the time limit that you've specified at the main
menu. 

 Included are two utilities that make game playing even more
interesting: The playmaker function lets you create your own plays
for use during a game. You can assign each player something to do, 
save the play, and invoke it any time you wish. The team
modification function allows you to change team colors and athletic
ability of each position on your chosen team. Abilities are defined
by two attributes, for which you must distribute five ability
points. For instance, our quarterback may have a passing ability of
2 and a running ability of 3, or 1 and 4 (or 3 and 2, etc.), but not
exceeding a total of 5 for the two attributes. 

 Overall, MNF offers an extremely slick array of bells and
whistles. There are numerous touches to this game that make it a joy
to behold. Even after playing it a few times, I continue to be
amazed. But don't let its slickness fool you: This is a fine
football game in general. It's not statistic-oriented: Game play is
based on the positional attributes for each team (of which all NFL
teams are represented), your own game play abilities, and the plays
that you call. 

 The IBM version of MNF requires 512K of RAM (640K for Tandy), and
an MGA, CGA, EGA, Tandy 16-color, or VGA graphics adaptor. A hard
disk is not necessary, but it's recommended, since the game is
distributed on six diskettes that you'll otherwise have to swap in
and out. Although the keyboard is acceptable as a controlling
device, a joystick is also recommended for more precise control. 

 The accompanying manual is well-written and informative, providing
not only instructions for the game, but also strategy tips, 
background on "Monday Night Football" (the TV show), a Hall of Fame
of "Monday Night Football" performances, a description of each
positional player and what his role on the team entails, a glossary
of football terms, and a tutorial on how to become a better football
player. 

 Even if you're not a football fan, this game is a fine example of
where game technology for the IBM PC stands. You can therefore
appreciate it on several levels. But whatever your reason, chances
are you won't be disappointed by ABC MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL. 

 COMMODORE 64/128 VERSION NOTES 

 While it's somewhat less spectacular than the IBM version described
above, the Commodore 64/128 version of MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL is one
excellent sports simulation. There are, however, a handful of
differences between the two versions. 

 Joysticks control both one- and two-player games; there are no
equivalent keystrokes. For penalties and scores, text messages
replace the PC's animated referees. The Team Modification utility
does not allow either the selection or the alteration of a team's
colors. If you enter the Playmaker utility, the current game will be
lost, so you might want to invent plays during the pre-game
ceremonies. 

 The game package comes with one double-sided disk; although it's
copy-protected, there will still be a documentation check. There is
also an IBM instruction manual, and a C64 Reference card. 

 The graphics of the C64 version are most certainly unable to match
those displayed on a PC, but they are nevertheless very good. The
screen may seem cluttered at first -- what with the playing field, 
players, play charts, and the scoreboard. But the more you play, the
less messy it all becomes. Although the digitized voice of Frank
Gifford sounds loud, fast, and raspy (as if he were plagued by a
nasty throat problem), it does sound like the familiar voice of
ABC. Other than this, and some on-field grunting, there are no other
voices. 

 You can safely assume that the C64 version of MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL
is the low-end equivalent of the IBM version. This doesn't mean
they're literally identical, but that the C64 version looks and
plays wonderfully within the memory and graphics limitations of the
machine. The differences I've mentioned do nothing to detract from
the looks, the play, and fun built into this excellent package. 
What's more, this is an outstanding translation, for which Data East
deserves an award! 

 ABC MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL is published and distributed by Data
East. 

*****DOWNLOADED FROM P-80 SYSTEMS (304) 744-2253