Name: NFL 98
Item: NFL 98
Author: Retro Replay

NFL 98

NFL 98 has the straightforward pull of a late-Genesis sports game that knows exactly why you picked it up: choose from the full 1997 NFL field, get into an exhibition or commit to a season, and try to make your team work. The licensed 30-team roster gives it a welcome sense of time and place, while the season and management options offer more to do than a string of isolated games.

This is a modest but worthwhile gridiron package for anyone who enjoys the directness of 16-bit football and has patience for an older game’s narrower scope. It does not need to reinvent the sport to be useful; NFL 98 earns its value by putting a complete 1997 season in your hands and giving you room to manage it rather than merely sample it.

Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

NFL 98 gets to the point quickly. The first hour is likely to be spent bouncing between an exhibition matchup and the season mode, enjoying the simple pleasure of picking a recognizable 1997 NFL team and taking it onto the field. With all 30 teams and complete rosters from that season, it has the specificity that a licensed football game needs; your choice of team feels more meaningful than selecting from a set of generic uniforms.

The season mode is where the package has its strongest hook. A single exhibition is fine for a quick game, but a season gives your decisions a longer horizon, and the team-management options make it easier to treat a chosen club as something more than a temporary side. That extra layer matters on Genesis, where a sports game can otherwise feel like a collection of one-off matches.

There is also a comprehensive in-game manual, an especially welcome inclusion for a game carrying forward the foundations of Prime Time NFL Football. Older football games can ask you to learn their particular approach before they become comfortable, so having explanations built into the cartridge is more useful than it sounds. NFL 98 rewards the gamer who is willing to spend a little time with those details and settle into a full season rather than expecting every option to explain itself instantly.

Graphics

The action uses a diagonal-down, 2D scrolling view. That camera angle keeps the field action framed from above rather than chasing it from a broadcast-style perspective, giving NFL 98 the compact, old-school look of a late Genesis football game.

Story

The story here is the football season you decide to play. NFL 98 anchors that run in the real 1997 NFL, with complete rosters and all 30 teams supplying the context for every matchup.

That real-season framing is enough to create its own stakes once you choose a club. An exhibition can be a quick rivalry game or a test drive for a team, while season play lets the same roster carry more weight from game to game.

Team management adds a little more ownership to that season-long thread. You are not being led through a scripted sports drama; you are making the club’s run feel like your own through the team you select and the season you see through.

Overall Experience

NFL 98 feels like a practical final-era Genesis NFL release: an update of an existing foundation, but one that brings the full 1997 league along with it. Its strength is not novelty. It is the convenience of having exhibitions, a season, team management, and a detailed manual gathered around a properly licensed NFL roster.

Frustration may set in if you want a football game built around constant surprises or a huge range of modes. NFL 98 is more focused than that, and it leans on the core commitment of choosing a team and playing football across either a quick matchup or a season. For the right mood, that focus is refreshing rather than limiting.

Give it a chance if you enjoy Genesis sports games and want a 1997 NFL time capsule with enough season structure to keep you playing past the first matchup. It is a solid archival pick rather than a must-play classic: dependable, suitably complete for its era, and most rewarding when you bring your own attachment to the teams and season.