The summer CES was a wonderful experience for any gamer, but due to the hectic pace it was extremely difficult to stand still for a few minutes and really get into a new game. Between appointments in our caffeine-inspired schedules, we IE writers were supposed to wander around and see as much of everything as we could. That was the idea, anyway. Thanks to Atari's Jaguar pavilion I didn't get to see quite as much of the rest of the show as I probably should have. Although I wasn't scheduled to meet with anyone from Atari until Saturday – the last day of the show - I was easily spotted with my hands welded to a Jaguar controller every day. If somebody asked, "Where's Cyberwalrus?" the correct reply was, "Go to the Jaguar pavilion and look around; if he's not there now, he will be soon."

	It's not like I was goofing off. There was a lot of stuff to cover for the Jag, and it was all my responsibility. (Okay, maybe playing Kasumi Ninja 15 times in one day wasn't strictly necessary, but hey, research is where it's at, man!) Still, there were two games I tended to gravitate to more than the others. Kasumi Ninja was one, and that didn't take me by surprise, since I love fighting games anyway. The trouble with Kasumi Ninja is that everybody else at the show loved fighting games too, so the line was a little excessive. But tucked away in a corner of the booth was another game that grabbed me and wouldn't let go: Brutal Sports Football. This one I could play to my heart's content. Not many people seemed to notice it. Their loss.

	When I first stepped up to Brutal Football, I didn't really expect to like it that much. With the exception of Links 386 Pro and an occasional basketball cart, I don't much care for sports games. Still, I gave it a shot, more out of obligation than anything else. An hour later I was five minutes late for my next appointment. I briefly considered blowing it off entirely (hey, it worked in college!), but then a new-found sense of responsibility took hold of me. (Not to mention that my fingers were throbbing like a mother!) I dashed off, only to return an hour and a half later. It was a cycle that would repeat itself many more times in the next 48 hours.

	So if I don't like sports, and I don't like sports games, why do I like Brutal Sports Football so much? I think part of it is the fact that it's not a serious sports game. In most "realistic" sports games I have a built-in handicap, since I don't watch the stuff on TV and I don't know the first thing about the strategies involved. The strategy is Brutal Sports is simple and more to my liking: Take the ball; run down the field as far as you can; if something gets in your way, maul it; if you can't maul, pass the ball. Another thing I like is that there are no real rules. No red cards, no penalty box; you're on the field until you die; then you're under the field.

	The premise of Brutal Sports Football should be obvious from the title. This is like football, but with more violence. The primary object of the game is still to move the ball up the field and deposit it in the opposing goal, but this game is somewhat more lenient about the means you can utilize to accomplish this task. Hurting people is a good idea. If someone falls down, stomp on his guts 'til he can't move no more. If you're near an opposing player, attack him. If he doesn't have the ball, don't let that bother you – attack him anyway! Causing pain, mutilation, and suffering to your adversaries is not just a fringe benefit, it's a crucial tactic of the game! (This is a rule I'd like to see implemented much more liberally in real-life sports contests, and I think the announcers should be the first to taste the fun!)

	Of course, being a not-quite serious game, Brutal Football throws some additional features in for fun. Different divisions of the league have different players (like lizard-men) who, naturally, have different abilities. Also, the game is riddled with power-ups which you can collect to increase your speed, slow down opponents, protect you from damage, freeze the other team, stuff like that. I'm a sucker for power-ups, which is why I tend to blow up a lot when I play Raiden.

	Brutal Sports Football is due out for the Jaguar this summer, so all us Jag owners feeling the sting of the software drought will be in for a treat. Die-hard sports fans aren't likely to appreciate Brutal Football, unless they also have a healthy dose of sick humor. The casual sports fan should have a lot of fun with this cart, as should the non sports fan. So dust off your jock strap, lace up your cleats, and kick your best buddy in the face. It's gonna be a brutal season!