Are you ready for some Medieval Football! Teams from two villages straight out of the dark ages battle with brutal violence and hilarious action in one of the most unusual, addictive and rare football video games ever made.
Basics
- Publisher: Bally Midway
- Release Date: 1990
- Type: Coin-Op Arcade
- Genre: Sports
The Good
- Exciting, energetic and addictive sports game with solid yet simple controls.
- Hilarious, over-the-top humor with ghoulish cartoon violence.
- Weapons, obstacles and trap doors push the experience far beyond a simple game of football.
- Well designed single and two-player action.
- The game mode changes depending on which teams is ahead, adding more variety to the game.
The Bad
- The screen is tight on the primary players so you can only see a small portion of the field, and none of the dangers up ahead.
- Sometimes there is too much chaos on the screen to keep track of where the ball is.
Features
- Single player and simultaneous two player modes.
- Pass button - Keeping it pressed down allows you to scroll between the teammates to throw it to.
- 2 x Punch Buttons - Let's you punch, attack and rumble with an opposing team member.
- Weapons - A variety of sharp, deadly tools you can use to steal the ball or axe the offensive.
The Game
Football has always been known as one of the most violent popular sports. From bone crunching tackles to all-out rumbles on the field, professional players break limbs, loosen teeth and crush knees all in the name of sportsmanship.
Regardless of how rough you consider football games of today it's not nearly as brutal, bloody and sadistic as it was in Medieval Europe when the game first evolved. Back in those dark-ages it was called Mob Football, and without any helmets, padding, protective gear or a semblance of rules, it was an anything goes game of gore.
In 1990 legendary video game makers Jeff Nauman and Brian Colin took the concept of those medieval football games, added their snickering sense of black humor and instincts for brilliant gameplay, mixed them together and the coin-op arcade game Pigskin 621 A.D. was born.
Fashioned in a cabinet with two sets of joystick and button controls, Pigskin allowed for single or simultaneous two player action, as two wacky medieval teams battle it out to keep control of the ball no matter what the cost. The unnecessary (but fun) roughness starts with not just tackles, but punches, as you sock other players in the jaw to make them fumble. This soon progresses to all out brawls if enough players are surrounding. When things start to progress deadly weapons begin to pop-up on the field such as swords, flaming clubs, battle axes and maces, which can be used to stab, chop or bludgeon your way to control of the field.
Weapons and players aren’t the only thing you need to watch out for, the various fields, both indoors and out are littered with obstacles and traps such as pools of water, trap doors, logs, rock walls and deadly devices set to trip you up with as much maiming as possible.
If one side is falling behind another, a member of the loosing team is switched out with an unstopable and indestructible troll. There is also a Troll Bowl mode which transforms all of the players on both teams into trolls for an extremely challenging play that's all about skill and not how many weapons you can chop up the opposing side with.
Each set of controls consist of four colored buttons and a joystick. The stick controls the movement of the team leader, the white button controls passing, two red buttons for punching, as well as tackling and using a weapon. Finally yellow strategy button allows you to scroll through and select different plays and action modes.
Final Thoughts
It's a shame that Pigskin 621 A.D. has never been ported to a console system or released in arcades since its initial production run. This has caused this incredible game to be all but forgotten with the exception of those few who had the pleasure of playing it back in the day, or discovered a rare-still working model. If you ever come across this rare treat, toss in some quarters and you'll soon discover that Pigskin 621 A.D. is the most original, violent, fun and funny game of football you'll ever play.