NFL Blitz 2000, which really is just the arcade version of NFL Blitz '99, has come home to the Dreamcast as the definitive console version. Sure you may already have the N64 and PS versions, and God only knows why you would want to play NFL Xtreme instead of Blitz, but the Dreamcast version is the closest to being a perfect port. Neither the PlayStation or Nintendo 64 could match the graphics or framerate of the arcade or Dreamcast versions. However, the reason I don't call NFL Blitz 2000 a perfect port is that once again Midway has felt that the commentary should be toned down in order to receieve a better ESRB rating. Even with that considered, it sounds as if there are still speech samples missing, as you hear a lot more repetition than you would hear in the arcade. Aside from the commentary, Blitz 2000 is a perfect port, but not much more than that.

Unlike the blood and sweat that Namco poured into Soul Calibur, Midway has opted not to enhance Blitz 2000 at all. As a result, the game can look bad when stacked up against other Dreamcast games, especially NFL 2K. The characters are extremely blocky in comparison, with not a whole lot of detail in the stadiums either. Another difference found in the latest version of Blitz is that the fields now feature different terrain depending on weather or location. Mud will kick up during rain, some fields will have dirt patches already on them, and some will be coated with snow.

Along with the general lack of enhancements in the graphics department is the lack of features. The modes, which are pretty self explanitory, are Arcade, Tournament, Season, Play Editor, and Statistics. Unfortunately for those interested, you can't have a multiplayer season. However you can set up and customize the tournament mode so that you and your buddies can fight it out to see who is the best.

While the control has been ported without a hitch, the controller is a whole different issue altogether. I'll be honest, I'm not a huge fan of the DC controller. I don't find it to be completely unusable, but other than the VMU implementation, I do think it's a step backward in controller design. The DC controller does work fairly well for plenty of games such as Sonic Adventure, and Sega Rally 2. But at the same time, I think it's awful for just about every fighter as well as Midway sports titles. Ironically Midway arcade sports titles are one of the few games that I think work really well with a N64 controller. While Midway has allowed each player to configure their controller to what they feel is comfortable, but for some reason, they didn't allow the R shoulder button to be remapped to turbo or any other function. Why they did that is beyond me, and it prevented me from setting up the controller to the way I wanted. On the upside, and yet another undocumented feature, the game works perfectly well with Agetec's (really Sega's) Arcade Stick. This will give arcade fans that arcade feel.

There are two new features found in the home version of Blitz 2000. The first is a form of icon passing for those who have trouble trying to pass to the correct player. Players can pull the R shoulder button to assign a different button to each reciever, instead of just using a direction. Now you can't complain that you passed it to the wrong person anymore.

The biggest improvement to me though, which for some reason is undocumented and rarely mentioned, is the enhanced play calling with the VMU. In the arcade, each player is given nine plays on the screen and the ability to hide their cursor so that the other person doesn't know what he's running. The catch was, you had to remember where your cursor was by remembering how many times you tapped the joystick in each direction. Midway has taken it upon themselves to utilize the VMU and display a three by three grid on it with a dot to indicate where your cursor is. Visual Concepts should take notes about this feature as I find it to be possibly the perfect VMU usage for play calling.