An American football coaching simulation, Mac Pro Football’s object is to put
you down on the grass, pacing the side-line, banging your clipboard and
shouting. It’s a playoff game, maybe the championship; you get to choose the
teams. Want to play the Packers against the Bears in 1980? Or the 1972
Dolphins against the 1985 Dolphins? Or maybe just the last quarter of Super
Bowl X? The teams are all here, each team and key player rated with a single
number, though you can build more detailed stats from your own games. Choose
from nine or ten strategies at each play, out-thinking either a hot-seat
opponent or three levels of computerized coaches. You can even draw out the
pass pattern using the Mac’s new point-and-click interface.

The display is split four ways: (1) a play diagram exactly like your clipboard
shows the line-up you’ve selected, and the motion as it plays out; (2) a gauge
of the ball’s position on the field; (3) a scoreboard with the details of the
last play; and (4) a summary of play statistics to put numbers behind your gut
instincts. A real-time play clock adds pressure to the simulation: you can
change your mind, but it takes time to lay out the play again. Penalties are
rare, and cannot be declined.

Created over the course of four years by a former college player, the
simulation evinces a love of the history of the professional game. You can
replay the first twenty Super Bowls, guided by a technical reference typical
of Avalon Hill’s war simulations from the same era. Weather is detailed, for
you to select, or the computer to generate, unless the home team has a dome.
Uniquely, you can change the parameters mid-game, not just the weather, but
even the score, time, down, and ball position. The focus is to challenge you
as a coach to make the right decision, even if it’s a guess.