NFL Runner: Football Dash Review

It's football season, which means that a lot of fans are huddling up in front of their televisions ready to yell and cheer at a bunch of grown men wrestle each other with heavy padding for three hours. If you're opposed to watching the sport and would rather play it virtually instead of getting up and actually playing it outside, then you should download NFL Runner: Football Dash. This is an addictive little game that injects the sport into a Temple Run-like setting, except you're in a field that could challenge the seemingly never-ending runway in Fast & Furious 6.

The objectives in the game are pretty simple: make sure you get enough coins and smash/dodge enough obstacles while avoiding the other football player who's ready to throw you into the dirt. It holds the same kind of addictive gameplay that's made other apps like Temple Run and Candy Crush Saga so popular. The game doesn't just end, it continues on, forever as far as I'm concerned because it keeps on trying to stop me from breaking records. The longer you last on the field, the more difficult it becomes to keep your guy from running into a sign or a pile of tires. You also want to make sure that you pick the right football team to represent. The further you go along on the field, the more coins you collect to keep your team on top for the day. You can even donate some of your coins in order to give your team a proper boost. I certainly did that to my team, but that was only because I was playing the Chargers and we all know how lackluster they can be.

Then there's the issue of the power ups. Now you can use your coins to get little bonuses, but if you want some really high quality power ups that will really keep your man on the field longer, it's going to cost you some money. If you're a person like myself who loves saving money rather than spending it, then you're better off honing your finger-swiping skills and waiting for the boosters that are already sprinkled into the actual gameplay, unless you want to blow 10 bucks on a McDonalds power up. When you first start out, you're given five stars. If you mess up the first time around, that'll cost you two stars. Did you mess up again? Too bad, give up four stars. Oh wait, you don't have enough? Then either you start all over again or you dish out a buck to get a star pack. It may seem cheap but if you keep doing that one too many times the next thing you know your bank account is depleted.

Football Dash manages to piss you off the same way that any super addictive game can piss you off. One minute you're sitting there, making sure that your guy is on one end of the field to get some coins, then the next it's game over. Hey, wait a minute, I just went and pushed my finger up on my iPhone. Why did I suddenly get tackled? I was just about to dodge that guy. I had it synced up right. NFL Runner: Football Dash could be a little glitchy in that regard, but everything else in the app is working fine.

Football fans will love NFL Runner: Football Dash because it's a blast to play. You could get super competitive, building up enough coin to top whatever team that you hate, or just strive to topple as many obstacles as possible. Either way, it's game on!

6.5 out of 10 arcade sushi rating