Mattel Electronics Football - 1977 Hand-held Review



Mattel Electronics Football
1977
Review originally published February 24th, 2017

*My video review of Mattel Electronics Football
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On my mother’s side I have an uncle who was an old school nerd. My father and him both had a Commodore 64 and spent much time “trading” games/software. While my dad stayed with Commodore, graduating to the beautiful Amiga; my uncle went the way of DOS. Both still loved seeing what the other was up to with their chosen computers.

Both were nerding it up in various ways before the home computer explosion of the 1980’s. My uncle had quite the collection of hand held games from Mattel Electronics and others. Several years ago he felt they should go to someone who was into that old stuff; and he graced me with this collection.
^ Back of the handheld, with instructions; takes 9 volt battery

The Mattel Electronics handhelds or “pocket” games were a series of computer controlled games that you could take on the go. Milton Bradley’s Simon had been released not long before and was a huge success. With Simon, the computer program turned on various lights with the goal of repeating what you saw; Mattel set out to reproduce various sports in the palm of your hands.

The first two games released were Auto Race and Football, released in 1977 through Sears. Initially 100,000 units were made with the idea that it was unlikely to be a huge seller. It became quite apparent very quickly that internal marketing was wrong on that one. By 1978 they were selling 500,000 units a week. Succeed is an understatement; countless millions were sold of their various sports games. Many others copied them, even Mattel went back to copy themselves with various upgrades. To this day they sell these games with a “classic” label.
^ Turning the game on, moving the running back, checking out downs and score

Football; along with all of their hand held’s, represented the players on field with several LED lights. In football; you are brightest light on the field. You play as both the home and visiting team on offense. The computer always plays the defense, represented by many dimmer lights on the field. There are two difficulty modes, with the harder mode having the defense play a little faster. You are the running back, and you run. There is no passing. Using the arrow keys you must try to outmaneuver the computer in an attempt to score a touchdown or field goal. By 4th down if you are not in field goal range you may punt the ball and you will now play as the other team. You may check the downs, field position, and the yards to go via the ST button. With the SC button you check the home and visiting team scores as well as the time remaining.
^ Final score, a ripoff game from Coleco, and some other Mattel Electronics games

While at first glance these games may look incredibly boring and outdated; I can’t state how strongly I adore each and everyone one of these games. Football has become my new favorite since I sat down to understand how it’s played. You may very well be surprised at how little it takes to put your imagination in the thick of things. While by no means is this a simulation, it is guaranteed fun for any who give it a fair try. Many millions were sold back then, they are still being made today, get yourself some of these games, would ya?

*My video review of Mattel Electronics Football
* Video review for Mattel Electronics Basketball
* Video review for Mattel Electronics Baseball
* Video review for Mattel Electronics Auto Race
-1978 commercial for Mattel Electronics Football
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*Alphabetical list of writings

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