Speed Back Walkthrough

American Football! No matter what other folks say about our favorite sport - that the ball doesn't look like one; that the name 'football' sounds stupid since you usually carry and throw the ball rather than kick it to the goal, etc., nothing beats this game. And if you are a HUGE football fan who wonders what it's like to be in a football court... playing as a quarterback and darting for the goal, then Speed Back is a game you have to check out!

Brought to us by ESPN, the graphics and animation quality of this online sports game is simply great and fluid. And the FUN-packed game play didn't hurt its reputation. Anyway, the objective of this football game is to score touchdowns. With defenders swarming the place and running towards you, any fan of the sport will agree that pulling off a touchdown is not an easy feat. You only have 3 tries represented by the footballs on the lower-left part of the screen. If you are tackled by an opposing defender; if you run out of bounds, etc., you will lose a life and you need to start the level from square one. Once those footballs on the lower left part of the screen run out, it's game over! On the other hand, if you pull off three touchdowns consecutively, you bag an extra try.

One thing that I like about the game is that the difficulty ramps up pretty smoothly. In the first levels, even a 9-year old kid who knows the controls and basics of the game can easily run past the defenders and touchdown. HOWEVER, as you progress to the later levels, the defenders get faster and more agile... and you have to keep up your speed. You need to be quick on your feet. You have to fake out your opposition and keep them guessing as to which direction you are going through to ultimately run that football to the end zone.

As mentioned earlier, aside from running and faking your direction, this sports game features 2 moves that you should use to advantage and help you get to the end zone: (1) stiff arming and (2) spinning. The former, stiff arming (press the A key), is excellent for clearing off opposing and charging defenders that are directly in front of you. On the other hand, the second move, spinning (press S), is good for evading defenders just when they are about to tackle you. Sounds good? Cool! BUT remember, you can only use these special moves once in every turn. You have to be wise in using them.

Along with these special moves, there's also the speed-boosting power-up indicated by that lightning icon. It's like the nitro-counterpart in racing games. These power-ups will occasionally appear in the football court. This will give you that sudden burst of forward speed, and it's perfect for blazing through the end zone when the field is clear. HOWEVER, this power-up doesn't protect you from opposing defenders and their tackles. That said, you shouldn't pick this power-up when there are defenders directly in front of you... unless, of course, you can stiff-arm your way through the crowd.

Summing things up, ESPN's Speed Back is fun and addicting. It's simple to control, the graphics and animation are fluid, and it's about football! Well, enough talking, make it to the end zone and hear the crowd's wild cheers!