Jimmy Johnson's VR Football '98 (1997)

Platforms: PlayStation
Genres: Sport

The 3D catalog: game boxes on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalog in 3D

The same catalog has a room you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real games from it when you tell them what you feel like playing. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this game is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

A no-frills late-90s football sim that keeps things grounded in authenticity with real rosters and a practical set of modes for casual weekend play.

competitivestraightforwardsimulationaccessiblenostalgicmethodicalsports-focusedgrounded

About

As Interplay's first PlayStation football game under the VR Sports label, Jimmy Johnson's VR Football '98 offers both NFL and NFLPA licenses for real teams and players. Choose from 30 NFL teams with rosters reflecting the 1997 season, five of the greatest teams from the '70s, five from the '80s, five from the '60s, or five All-Pro Teams from 1996 and 1997. You can also create up to four preseason teams (plus one season team) and stock them with up to forty created players! The game features a Practice Mode, Preseason (which is an exhibition game), New Season and a Play Editor, allowing you to create your own offensive plays and save them to memory card (up to 24 plays can be saved for each block of space). Season progress can be resumed through passwords or via memory card, which offers you a choice between a regular or advanced memory card season. Regular means you can trade and create players, but the trades will be automatic and the created players always appear on your team. The advanced option lets you play the role of General Manager, including signing free agents (by bidding on them), organizing trade offers (which can be rejected) or creating players to add to the free agency pool.

More games like this

This page is from Underplayed Gems, a catalog of older and overlooked games. Not quite it? You can browse by platform and genre, or take this one into the 3D catalog and ask the Catbot for something closer.