When Midway first brought NFL Blitz to the arcades in 1997, it was recieved as a great arcade-style football game that was a welcome change to the cookie-cutter console titles that came out every year.  When the series moved to the consoles for the first time, companies like Electronic Arts were quick to add arcade-style modes to their own pigskin games to counter what Midway was offering, but Blitz stood out as a unique experience.  Midway enjoyed great success with the Blitz franchise until the current generation of consoles came around, when people seemed to tire of the formula, opting instead for more the more traditional football games.  Midway realized this shift, and decided to do something about it.

Reinventing the franchise, NFL Blitz Pro is set to combine the best of both football worlds.  It's 11-on-11 football, with real positions and players, full offensive lines, running backs, complete defensive backfields, and everything else you're accustomed to seeing on an actual football field.  The game has also switched to the more traditional 1st-and-10 style of play, getting rid of the offensive-minded 30 yard first down line.  Defense has become a more important aspect than in the past, since now players must defend against the run as well as they do against the passing game.  Although the rules have become less like the arcades, that doesn't mean the gameplay has.

Even with the full teams out on the field, and even with the more realistic rules, Blitz Pro is still the old Blitz we all know and love.  The game is still lightning fast, with turbo passing, high hurdling, super spins, and forearm tackles that will send ball carriers flying.  All the wild and whacked-out plays you're used to are still there, along with a few plays from the real playbooks from every NFL team.  You can even give your opponent a cheap shot after the ball is downed for some good fun.

The only huge differences between this new game compared to the old ones are the controls and the graphics.  With a full complement of receivers, each one has a respective button for "icon passing", making for fewer mistakes than the original left-right-center throwing system.  The graphics have recieved a major overhaul, with huge stadiums that rival those in the Madden series.  The character models, while still somewhat muscled-out, still look much more realistic than they used to, with a whole new array of motion-captured moves.

Judging by what Midway showed off at E3, NFL Blitz Pro is the perfect evolution for the Blitz franchise.  It's going to be great football fun for anyone who's a fan of the sport, but doesn't want to be too bogged down by the simulation aspect of a lot of the other football titles on the market.  When the game comes out later this summer, the other major football forces out there had better be careful, because Midway is looking to reclaim their stake in the football game arena.