One of the hottest sports video game franchises of the ’90s is back.
Just in time for football season, Arcade1Up is launching NFL Blitz Legends — a new, home arcade cabinet that features a trio of remastered and updated NFL Blitz titles that are returning to the scene after 25 years. The cabinet features NFL Blitz, NFL Blitz ‘99, and NFL Blitz 2000: Gold Edition.
For the launch, Arcade1Up struck partnerships with the National Football League (NFL) and the IMG-managed Football Greats Alliance (FGA) to lock in hundreds of famous players to appear in the game, including Dan Marino (Miami Dolphins), Jerry Rice (San Francisco 49ers), Deion Sanders (Denver Broncos), Brett Favre (Green Bay Packers), Jerome Bettis (Pittsburgh Steelers), Terrell Davis (Denver Broncos), and Cris Carter (Minnesota Vikings).
“We could not be more excited to bring NFL Blitz Legends to fans who have been waiting years for the return of this iconic game,” says Scott Bachrach, CEO, Arcade1Up. “Our team spent the better part of the last two years making sure we both honored the games’ past while bringing it up to today’s modern standards with AAA development efforts in partnership with the NFL and
FGA, and I think we’ve achieved that in an unbelievable feat of fun, exciting, action-packed gameplay while reengineering the original game.”
Players expecting an identical experience to the old games will notice some changes to reflect the evolution of the NFL and its sport.
Arcade1Up says that “to support the NFL’s current Player Health & Safety initiatives, a specific set of tackles and after-the-whistle hits were removed or edited in the remastered versions of NFL Blitz, NFL Blitz ‘99, and NFL Blitz 2000: Gold Edition while maintaining the level of excitement in the original games.” That means 99 of the 117 previous tackles are still included.
“I’ve always thought Blitz was one of the best games made and the fans loved it too,” says NFL legend Jerry Rice. “I like how Arcade1Up took the time to reflect today’s NFL game while celebrating the game’s greatest legends and uniforms from back in the day. Every play is still a game-changing play and I love that. I can easily see this becoming a favorite pastime.”
The five-foot arcade cabinet features a 17-inch screen, four-player action, 49-way joysticks, online leaderboards and wifi connectivity, a light-up marquee, simulated coin doors, and a matching riser. Arcade1Up will also offer matching stools for each NFL team.
The NFL Blitz Legends Arcade Game is available to pre-order through Arcade1Up, Best Buy, and Walmart. Additional retailers will stock the cabinet this fall.
