NFL Kicker 13 Review

One guy who doesn't get enough attention on a football team is the kicker, yet he's one of the most important roles next to the quarterback. A kicker can save your bacon with a come-from-behind field goal, or well placed punt that puts the opposing offense deep in their own red zone. So it's high time another game came out that lets you play as the guy on the team no one will talk to. Not even the cheerleaders.

All you do in NFL Kicker 13 is kick. That's it. No running, no passing, just kicking. The goal is to get as high of a score as possible by making kicks through the goal post. Earn points by making it through. Each successive kick is harder than the last, with the distance increasing as well as the wind.

While your goal is to simply make the field goal, you'll going to want to do it by scoring combos along the way. Increase your combo meter by placing the ball through the gold marker, which is randomly placed in the field goal area. Miss the goal and the game scores you at 1X. Keep nailing it and your score will increase up to 8X. Miss the goal post altogether three times and your game is over. Another reason you want to keep your combo meter going is it gives you extra lives.

Controls are simple -- flick the ball towards the goal post with your finger. I was having a real problem with the controls at first. Sometimes it would register a huge kick and other times it would fall short even though I did the same flicking motion. The secret, like anything athletic related when it comes to ball movement, is follow-through. Make sure that when you flick up on the screen you keep your finger moving up towards the top. Do this and you'll have no problem kicking 65 yard field goals. Flick and release quickly and it's a crapshoot.

Earn coins to purchase stadium upgrades like more lights, tiers and even cheerleaders (the first thing I purchased). You can also buy power-ups at the beginning of your game. Power-ups include increasing the combo meter to 12X, slowing down time or giving yourself an extra life. The only problem with the cool upgrades and power-ups is how expensive they are. And it takes you forever to collect coins in the game. It's just another scam by publishers to get more in-app purchasing out of the player. Want those retro uniforms for the Miami Dolphins? Play for 8 hours or buy some coins. Your choice.

Stages become unlocked the more you play. After learning the basics and doing field goal you can move on to punting which isn't as much fun and is kind of confusing. Why am I only kicking into a corner again? It's also hard to gauge how hard to kick the ball. There's no meter, so flick away and hope for the best.

NFL Kicker 13 is a nice distraction for football fans but it gets old really quick. Once you get the kicking down, you're really only hoping to earn enough coins to upgrade your stadium and your player. There isn't much else to it. The graphics are really nice and the sound is great but the music gets annoying after a while. It's an ok purchase for a buck, but don't expect a lot of gameplay out of it. If you do buy it, just remember, laces out.

App Store Link: NFL Kicker 13 for iPhone & iPad | By Full Fat Productions Ltd | Price: $0.99 | Version: 1.1 | 44.3 MB | Rating 4+