10-Yard Fight

• Title — 10-Yard Fight • Developer — Irem • Publisher — Arcade NES • Producer — Gunpei Yokoi (NES) • Platforms — Arcade, NES, MSX • Released — Arcade NES MSX • Genre — Sports (American football) • Modes — Single-player, multiplayer • Arcade System — Irem M-58 hardware

• Illustration — Screenshot of the arcade version 10-Yard Fight is viewed in a top-down perspective and is vertical scrolling. The player does not select plays for either offense or defense. On offense, the player simply receives the ball upon the snap and either attempts to run with the quarterback, toss the ball to a running back, or throw the ball to the long distance receiver, essentially the option offense. On defense, the player picks one of two players to control, and the computer manipulates the others. The ball can also be punted or a field goal can be attempted. The game has five levels of difficulty: high school, college, professional, playoff, and Super Bowl. If the player wins both halves of an "accelerated real time" 30-minute half at an easier level, they advance to the next level of difficulty. The player scores 20,000 points for any kickoff that is returned for a touchdown.

The arcade game was published to the Famicom by Irem first in Japan, and later in North America and Europe by Nintendo in 1985 and 1986 respectively for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The arcade game was also ported to the MSX home computer by Irem, but only in Japan. While graphically similar, there are some fundamental differences between the arcade and NES versions. The arcade version only seeks to simulate the offense, with the team attempting to score a touchdown, which ultimately leads the player to the next level. The NES version was developed to allow both offense and defense, as well as a simultaneous 2-player mode. 10-Yard Fight was, along with Kung Fu, one of only two NES launch titles not originally developed by Nintendo. Both games were developed initially for arcades by Irem. Although Nintendo developed the NES port of Kung Fu, Irem handled the system's port of 10-Yard Fight. The arcade version was released in May 2018 by Hamster Corporation as part of their Arcade Archives series.