I wasn't sure what to expect from QBC's gameplay. I was hoping it would do for football what ISS 64 did for soccer: capture the feeling and atmosphere of participating in the sport it's based on. Unfortunately, this is not what I found QBC to be.

First of all, I found QBC to be more of a simulation than pure sporting fun. Most of the game takes place with each side picking plays from on-screen menus. I know a little about football plays, but since the manual forgot to give a key for what the different colors and symbols in the play diagrams mean, I was left guessing as to what play to run. The surprising thing is that even when I randomly picked a play, I often progressed a few yards.

The actual play time (the time when you get to control the action) is exceptionally quick. Often I found that before I could even get my finger over to another button the play would be over. Since there's no practice mode, I wasn't able to find a way to get the hang of this short-lived play. Because of this, I felt very detached from the action. I pretty much just held Z to hike and throw the ball, and if one of my guys caught it, I moved around until somebody tackled me. Yeah, I was technically controlling what happened, but it sure didn't capture the excitement of playing football.

The limited action wouldn't have been so noticeable if it weren't for the lack of atmosphere in the game. Aside from the exceptionally high-res graphics (more on that later), there really isn't much to get the adrenaline going. The crowd noise is poor, the play-by-play is unbelievably repetitive, and when major events occur (such as a touchdown), there really isn't much that happens. QBC just doesn't have anything like the celebratory dances of ISS 64. There aren't even the lifelike reactions from the players on the field. In fact, looking at an instant replay I realized that all of the players run in sync, like robots.

As with just about every recent N64 game, QBC is Rumble Pak compatible. When you're stopping an offensive player, the Rumble Pak effect fits nicely. The problem is that the players are so small and scattered that the effect seems over-exaggerated for such small scale events. The effects are probably worth keeping the Pak plugged in, but there isn't much lost if you take it out.

You may have heard that QBC uses the never before used (in the US) high-res mode of the N64. If so, you heard right, and I must tell you that it looks stunning. The graphics are so sharp that it's actually possible to read the advertisements at the opposite side of the field. You can even make out the numbers and team logos on players as they scale far into the distance. Any description I can give just can't capture the look. The best I can do is to say that it's easily as sharp as a 3D game running at 640 x 480 on your computer screen. There isn't even flicker from the interlacing of the TV (perhaps the game uses the N64's flicker free interlaced mode -- but I don't know if this is the case). QBC's graphic detail is there in spades, but as I said earlier, the atmosphere of the game is sadly missing.

If I knew more about football and were more familiar with different football plays (not to mention the basics of football videogaming), I could imagine liking QBC quite a bit. The game lets you manage everything from plays to salary caps, and as a bonus you can actually control some of the action. However, I find it hard to believe that anyone other than video-football fanatics will find QBC truly enjoyable. While a die-hard football fan may be able to enjoy the many simulation aspects of the game, I wonder if he or she would be able figure out on his or her own how to control the action (I know I couldn't). The manual has little to say about how to play, and spends most of its time describing various modes and options. That doesn't help a novice like me in any way shape or form.

Overall, QBC seems to have been made with only video-football fanatics in mind. Unfortunately, this leaves the rest of the gaming population out of the loop. It was difficult for me to put an overall rating on QBC, so let me explain my choice. Since I haven't played many football video games, I don't think I can accurately say that the game is a safe buy for video-football fans. However, I can see more than enough good points and bad points to highly recommend a rental before you buy. For the non-video-football player like myself, I doubt that the game would be worth purchasing, but I highly recommend a rental -- if for nothing more than to check out the high-res graphics.