QB Attack Deluxe Football

One of the biggest thrills for a reviewer in my humble opinion is coming across that surprise gem of a game. It's usually not a big market title as we all of high hopes for those, but rather from some small, unknown publisher perhaps even releasing a first game. This game hit that mark for me.

If you read my review on a regular basis you'll know I love sports games. Well, I love most games as long as they are good, but good sports games get special recognition. I'd really like to see a full, quality football game make if over to the Android and I'm sure that'll happen with the momentum the platform is getting. In the meantime, this game has taken some of the bite out of that need. QB Attack put you in the role of a quarterback having to deliver pinpoint passes to your receivers. The game's display is top down and you're given three receivers each with randomly generated routes which is an interesting and good choice. I had a similar game from Simbsoft on my Windows phone a few years back, but because it ran the same plays/routes it was easy to master. Random routes takes that away. Once you hike the ball two defenders come rushing in to apply pressure. You then touch to throw the ball. Your receivers are visually presented as bulls eye targets and you score points based on the distance of the throw and how close to the center of the bulls eye you deliver the pass. The game features three skill levels which basically shrink the size of your receivers making completions far more difficult. During a game you get 5 incomplete passes before the game is over.

The graphics are basic with red dots for the defense as they rush in and a basic, but adequate football field. The audio is even simpler with a pling sound of varying pitch depending on where in a receiver's bulls eye you've completed the pass. And the controls work great with a simple tap on the touch screen to fire a pass or move your quarterback.

This game isn't perfect... don't get me wrong. And I think my review score will be higher than that of other sites, but since pulling this game down last night I have to have played this game a hundred times. I'm hooked and am not bored yet. For $1.49 that's an entertainment deal. I do think they could take a look at HomeRun Battle 3D and learn a few things, though. First, some nice audio would be nice... crowds cheering... chants... and a nice intro musical number. Second, some sort of bonus system. It would be great if I could earn bonus balls and perhaps even pump up my score and my quarterback akin to HomeRun Battle's system. But if being a quarterback has any appeal whatsoever to you then you will want need to check this game out. It's not sophisticated, but it IS whole lot of fun and that's what is most important to me! 4.5/5 stars.

Update: Other things that would be great to see include leader boards (something I forgot in my review - my current high on easy is a little over 3800) and making the game a bit more like football. Have each pass score a few points, but also assist in marching down the field eventually leading to a touchdown which is worth big points. Fewer passes needed for a touchdown = more points (make longer passes have more benefit). The game has a lot of untapped potential.