10-Yard Fight (Japan) - MAME machine

Arcade Video game published 41 years ago:

10-Yard Fight © 1983 Irem Corp.

It's 3rd and 10. The crowd is on its feet. Cheers fill the stadium. "36-88-24. Hut-hut-hut." The ball is snapped. You grip the hard, cold, pigskin and the game is in your hands. You scramble left to avoid a flying tackle and look downfield. A receiver is open. You pump a forward pass. It's complete for a 10 yard gain and a first down.

That's the rush the player gets with 10-YARD FIGHT, the 1- or 2-player video with the continuous play feature. The thrill of controlling the action. Of calling the plays and carrying the ball. Of a real Pro contest of America's # 1 Game.

The player takes the field, takes the ball and takes on as much action as he can handle. He must score a touchdown in the time allotted to go from high school and college all the way to the Pros and the Super Bowl, with cheerleaders marking his progress-in-between.

Each level begins with the player carrying the ball on the kick-off as far up the field as he can before getting tackled. Then he's in control as quarterback, running with the ball or going for a forwards pass or a lateral to a receiver who let's him know he's open by waving his arms. If the pass is intercepted a 20 yard penalty is called. As in authentic Pro ball, the clock is stopped when the player runs out of bounds. For bonus points after the referee signals a touchdown, the player can kick the ball or run with it to score "points after".

10 YARD FIGHT
It lets YOU score like a Pro at the cashbox!

TECHNICAL
Irem M-52 hardware

Main CPU: Zilog Z80 (@ 4 Mhz)
Sound CPU: Motorola M6803 (@ 894.886 Khz)
Sound Chips: (2x) General Instrument AY8910 (@ 894.886 Khz), (2x) MSM5205 (@ 384 Khz)

Players: 2
Control: 8-way joystick
Buttons: 2

TRIVIA
Released in December 1983. 10-Yard Fight is the first slightly realistic American football game released.

Default high-score ('Best Players'):
1 36500----BMB
2 34900----RAD
3 33100----P.P
4 31700----FAL
5 29900----ZIB
6 28300----TOZ
7 27100----LWP
8 25700----JUF
9 24500----TCZ
10 22900----TCR

Mike Macy of Salina, Kansas, holds the official record for this game with 295100 points on June 28, 1986.

SCORING
Each second you have the ball: 50 points
A completed forward pass: 1000 points

Points for first downs:
On 1st: 1000 points
On 2nd: 500 points
On 3rd: 300 points
On 4th: 100 points

A successful extra point kick: 1000 points
A successful extra point run: 3000 points
Return a kickoff for a touchdown: 20000 points!

Points for scoring a touchdown:
Against HS: 5000 points
Against College: 6000 points
Against Pro: 7000 points
Against Super: 8000 points

TIPS AND TRICKS

• A spectacular American Football Game, in which the player is kept on full alert by the sheer excitement of the game, the player having to make a touch-down within the time allotted.
• From kickoff the player catches the ball kicked by a defensive player, and rushes ahead as far as possible avoiding the opposing players by moving the joystick left and right.
• If the player can gain 10 or more yards by the fourth down, he automatically receives "First Down", giving him another 4 offensive plays. If a first down is not obtained in 4 plays, the player is penalised 10 yards.
• When the player tackled by the defence, rotate the lever in a 360-degree arc quickly before he falls down, the player can get free from the tackle, but remember that player can use this technique only 3 times in each play.
• Passing Play:

1. Player can pass the ball only when the pass receiver is raising his hand. (The ball can be passed sideways and then forward consecutively.)

• If the ball is thrown to the pass receiver should be intercepted by the opponents, player wil be penalised 20 yards.
• If player steps ahead of the line of scrimmage the ball can no longer be passed and the pass button becomes inoperative.

Additional time is given every time player succeeds in making touchdown, and every time he gains a first down.

• Don't pass if the line of the pass will take the ball anywhere near a free-running defender.
• At the kickoff, you should aim to get to at least the opponents' 40 yard line, if not further. Use your rear defenders on the run up the field!
• When making a play, look carefully at the your opponent's deployment. Are they all over the right hand side? Then wait till your runner is over the left, get the ball back to the quarterback and pass straight to the running back. Then leg it straight up the left hand side. When doing this, on either side, keep as close to the edge of the pitch as possible. If you're going to get tackled, quickly dodge off the field to end the play.
• You can also send the running back up the field, and run around with the quarterback until there's a pass available. In the arcade, I used to send the running back way up the right to the very top of the screen, and then run back and left with the quarterback as quickly as possible, doing a huge cross-field throw at the last second. The opponents would get sort of 'caught in the scroll' as the ball went diagonally across and most times the running back would be away with no one anywhere near him.
• You can also run the quarterback straight through the pack - this is only sensible when you're at the 5 yard line or so.
• Down the ball as soon as you make 10 yards if you have any time left. This is because you can make 10 yards in 15 seconds and get 10 seconds back for a net loss of 5 seconds. It takes 30 seconds to make 20 yards and doing it in 1 play will get a net loss of 20 seconds (30 - 10), but doing it in 2 will only lose 10 seconds because you get 2 10 second bonuses (30 - 10 - 10). Once the clock runs out in mid-play just go as far as you can and hope it's enough to get more time.
• Learn the defense formations. Once you find the correct pass route for a particular formation it will work consistently.
• If you see a hard formation and you are short on time, your best move may be throwing an interception and hoping for an easier formation. This works best when you have 7 to 10 seconds left and don't think you can make ten yards or get downed before time runs out. Don't try it with less than 7 seconds though. 6:xx probably won't be enough time.
• Run to the right during 'first contact' after the kickoff. There is an extra computer guy waiting on the left side. The best way to use the top blockers is to let the middle blocker connect, move straight right until the top right blocker connects, then head up again.
• You can do a forward pass after a lateral. This will cut through a few formations that are hard passing from the quarterback position. If you time it well a diagonal pass left (right running back to a left receiver) can miss an active middle defender.
• If you run the ball, use the receiver to block for you. The game doesn't have 'pass interference' calls so you have to be careful not to do this by accident.

PORTS

• CONSOLES:

[JP] Nintendo Famicom (aug.30, 1985) "10-Yard Fight [Model IF-02]"
[EU] Nintendo NES (dec.1985) "10-Yard Fight [Model NES-TY]"
[JP] Sega Saturn (apr.26, 1996) "Irem Arcade Classics [Model T-22403G]"
[JP] Sony PlayStation (apr.26, 1996) "Irem Arcade Classics [Model SLPS-00341]"
[JP] Sony PlayStation (oct.27, 2010) "Irem Arcade Classics [PS1 Classics]"

• COMPUTERS:

[JP] MSX (1986) "10-Yard Fight [Model IM-02]"

CONTRIBUTE
Edit this entry: https://www.arcade-history.com/?&page=detail&id=4&o=2