NFL Blitz 2000

Variants

NFL Blitz 2000 holds a special place in the Greatest Hits library alongside Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue. Both Greatest Hits releases were the last to be discovered.

Greatest Hits Release

Over the years, NFL Blitz 2000’s Greatest Hits has generated conspiracy theories surrounding its rarity. After multiple discussions and various research, the likely scenario is that it was a literal product of its time. In 2001, Midway Games was experiencing severe financial problems, which led to the closure of its arcade business.  By 2009, they were selling off multiple divisions and closing offices.

An important clue is tied to its predecessor, NFL Blitz, and its Greatest Hits release. Or should I say, it’s the 2nd release that matters. That copy of NFL Blitz GH displays a round NFL holographic sticker. This round sticker was first in use in 2001, two years after the original game’s release. This round hologram version is just as rare, if not rarer, than NFL Blitz 2000’s GH.

There would be no reason to republish that older game unless you were trying to secure any income you could. When combined with the timeline of Midway’s troubles, they likely ordered a small batch of games to make a quick buck. However, and this is where the conspiracy comes in – the reprints were likely forgotten about and left to time in a warehouse somewhere. 2001 was still prime time for physical gaming, with PlayStation 2, GameCube, and Xbox in stores. More importantly, brick-and-mortar stores were still numerous. GameStop/EB Games alone would have still had about 4000 to 5000 stores. A 5000-copy print run would only net one copy of the game per store. This leaves out every other big box company, plus affiliates like GameCrazy and Game Rush. There would have to be more copies than that for it to be a viable bet for Midway’s bottom line.

It’s my firm belief that there are at least several pallets of both NFL Blitz GH 2nd Edition and NFL Blitz 2000 GH collecting cobwebs in a warehouse somewhere, buried under some wholesaler’s mess of other boxes and crates. They would have been part of Midway’s sell-offs when they needed to cut corners to make ends meet while trying to stage a comeback on the newer game systems. More copies of NFL Blitz 2000 GH have been slipping into the limelight with each passing year. It’s only a matter of waiting before it finally comes down from the obscure mountain.

Misprints

Not a misprint, but poor planning. Both releases have the NFL hologram decal applied to the case, and not the manual. Pulling the manual out reveals the “PLACE DECAL HERE” marker for the hologram.

There has been a miscut factory error brought to light from I Am Error.

Review

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Final Score: NA – No Review

Summary Text

Screenshots

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Videos

Trivia

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Secrets

Like every other Midway arcade game around this time, NFL Blitz 2000 is full of Versus Screen codes. Let’s get to it!

Versus Codes

At the Versus Screen, you will see 3 NFL Shapes under your team helmet. These symbols represent the Code Activation tumbler sequence for the hidden cheats. Each symbol is tied to the buttons on the arcade panel (or game console controller). In order the 1st symbol is the Turbo Button, the 2nd symbol is Jump, and the 3rd symbol is Pass.

There are 6 symbols that can appear, in order:

0 – NFL Logo
1 – Midway Logo
2 – Player Face
3 – Down marker
4 – Cheerleader
5 – Trophy

To activate a Cheat, you will need to press each button the corresponding amount of times and then press the directional pad in the appropriate direction. For example, if you wanted the Super Field Goals Cheat (1-2-3-Left), you would press Turbo 1 time, Jump 2 times, Pass 3 times, and press Left at the end. You would see a Midway Logo, Player Face, and a Down Marker as confirmation.

• NFL PlayBooks
  • Arizona Cardinals Playbook 1-0-1 Left 
  • Atlanta Falcons Playbook 1-0-2 Left
  • Baltimore Ravens Playbook 1-0-3 Left
  • Buffalo Bills Playbook 1-0-4 Left
  • Carolina Panthers Playbook 1-0-5 Left
  • Chicago Bears Playbook 1-1-0 Left
  • Cincinnati Bengals Playbook 1-1-2 Left
  • Cleveland Browns Playbook 1-1-3 Left
  • Dallas Cowboys Playbook 1-1-4 Left
  • Denver Broncos Playbook 1-1-5 Right
  • Detroit Lions Playbook 1-2-1 Left
  • Green Bay Packers Playbook 1-2-2 Left
  • Indianapolis Colts Playbook 1-2-3 Up
  • Jacksonville Jaguars Playbook 1-2-4 Left
  • Kansas City Chiefs Playbook 1-2-5 Left
  • Miami Dolphins Playbook 1-3-1 Left
  • Minnesota Vikings Playbook 1-3-2 Left
  • New England Patriots Playbook 1-3-3 Left
  • New Orleans Saints Playbook 1-3-4 Left
  • New York Giants Playbook 1-3-5 Left
  • New York Jets Playbook 1-4-1 Left
  • Oakland Raiders Playbook 1-4-2 Left
  • Philadelphia Eagles Playbook 1-4-3 Left
  • Pittsburgh Steelers Playbook 1-4-4 Left
  • San Diego Chargers Playbook 1-4-5 Left
  • San Francisco 49ers Playbook 1-5-1 Left
  • Seattle Seahawks Playbook 1-5-2 Left
  • St. Louis Rams Playbook 1-5-3 Left
  • Tampa Bay Buccaneers Playbook 1-5-4 Left
  • Tennessee Titans Playbook 1-5-5 Left
  • Washington Redskins Playbook 2-0-1 Left
• Weather Conditions
  • Weather: Clear 2-1-2 Left
  • Weather: Rain 5-5-5 Right
  • Weather: Snow 5-2-5 Down
• Visual Modifiers
  • Big Football 0-5-0 Right
  • Big Head 2-0-0 Right
  • Display Field Goal % 0-0-1 Down
  • Show HangTime Meter 0-0-1 Right
  • Headless Team 1-2-3 Right
  • Hide Receiver Name 1-0-2 Right
  • Huge Head 0-4-0 Up
  • Invisible 4-3-3 Up
  • Red, White, and Blue Ball 3-2-3 Left
  • Team Big Heads 2-0-3 Right
  • Team Big Players 1-4-1 Right
  • Team Small Players 3-1-0 Right
• Game Manipulation
  • Powerup Blockers 3-1-2 Left
  • Powerup Defense 4-2-1 Up
  • Powerup Offense 3-1-2 Up
  • Powerup Teammates 2-3-3 Up
  • Deranged Blitz Mode (in a 1P Game) 2-1-2 Down
  • Fast Passes 2-5-0 Left
  • Fast Turbo Running 0-3-2 Left
  • Hyper Blitz (2-Player Agreement) 5-5-5 Up
  • Infinite Turbo 5-1-4 Up
  • Power-up Speed (2-Player Agreement) 4-0-4 Left
  • Show More Field (2-Player Agreement) 0-2-1 Right
  • Smart CPU opponent (In a 1P Game) 3-1-4 Down
  • Super Blitz (2-Player Agreement) 4-4-4 Up
  • Super Blitzing 0-4-5 Up
  • Super Field Goals 1-2-3 Left
  • Super Passing (2-Player Agreement) 4-2-3 Right
  • Tournament mode (2-Player Agreement) 1-1-1 Down
  • Ultra Hard Blitz (In a 1P Game) 3-2-3 Up
  • Unlimited Throw Distances 2-2-3 Right
• Remove Features or Elements
  • Always be the Quarterback 2-2-2 Left
  • No CPU Assistance (2-Player Agreement) 0-1-2 Down
  • No First Downs 2-1-0 Up
  • No Random Fumbles 4-2-3 Down
  • No Head 3-2-1 Left
  • No Interceptions 3-4-4 Up
  • No Play Selection (2-Player Agreement) 1-1-5 Left
  • No Punting 1-5-1 Up
  • Allow Stepping OB 2-1-1 Left

Hidden Characters

To use these codes choose Name Entry, then enter the name and then the pin. When inputting these, a voiceover of “Lights Out, Baby!” will ring out, confirming the entry worked. Any name that contains the words ‘Season Ranked’ in the description will start the player in the mid-season with varying stats.

• Midway Arcade Team 
  • Dan Forden (Sound) FORDEN, 1111
  • Dan Thompson (Programmer) DANIEL, 0604 (Season Ranked 6/12)
  • Jason Skiles (Programmer) JASON, 3141 (Season Ranked 2/12)
  • Jeff Johnson (Programmer) JAPPLE, 6660 (Season Ranked 4/12)
  • Jennifer Hedrick (Artist) JENIFR, 3333 (Season ranked 12/12)
  • Jim Gentile (Artist) GENTIL, 1111
  • John Root (Design) ROOT, 6000 (Season Ranked 10/12)
  • Luis Mangubat (Design) LUIS, 3333 (Season Ranked 5/12)
  • Mark Turmell (Programmer) TURMEL, 0322 (Season Ranked 1/12)
  • Sal Divita (Artist) SAL, 0201 (Season Ranked 9/12)
• Midway Home Team
  • Franz Borowitz (Art & FMV) FRANZ, 1010
  • Aubrey Hodges (Sound & Music) AUBREY, 7777
  • Brian LeBaron (Testing from NFL Blitz) GRINCH, 0222 (Season Ranked 11/12)
  • Alan O’Brien (Art & FMV) AOB, 1111
  • Jeff Johnson (Programmer) JEFF, 1111
  • Roel Jovellanos (Art & FMV) JOVE, 6644
  • Michael Gottlieb (Production Assistant) MIKE, 3333 (Season, 8/12 Ranked, 3/31)
  • Brian Johnson (Software Development Manager) BRIAN, 2221
  • Nathan Blomberg (Unknown) NATHAN, 0515
  • David Schwartz (Producer, Programmer) DAVID, 3333
• Unknown Team Members
  • ??? Employee (Leftover from NFL Blitz) AZPOD, 4777 (Season Ranked 7/12)
  • ??? Employee GUIDO, 2222 (Mark Guidarelli?)
  • ??? Employee ALEC, 1197 (Small head, might be someone’s child)
  • ??? Employee CALEB, 0996 (Small head, might be someone’s child)
  • ??? Employee WHODAT, 1844
  • ??? Employee RANDU, 6666
• Misc Characters
  • Alien ALIEN, 1111
  • Brain EDDIE, 3333
  • Brain BRAIN, 1111
  • Happy Face SMILE, 1111
  • Moose MOOSE, 1111
  • MXV (Skull) MXV, 1014
  • Pirate PIRATE, 1111
  • Punk Blue Mohawk PUNKB, 2112
  • Punk Red Mohawk PUNKR, 1221
  • Sad Face SAD, 1111
  • Shrunken Head SHRUNK, 6666
  • Skeleton LEX, 7777
  • Skull SKULL, 1111
  • T-Rex TREX, 1111
  • Triceratops DINO, 1111
  • Weird Face THUG, 1111
• Midway Characters
  • Mouse from Rampage CURTIS, 1111
  • Wolf from Rampage RALPH, 1111
  • Ready 2 Rumble Boxer BOXER, 2111
  • Raiden from Mortal Kombat RAIDEN, 3691
  • Shinok from Mortal Kombat SHINOK, 8337