Pro Jank Footy

Pro Jank Footy takes gamers especially Australians back to the NES days where you could play the game of football from the side on point of view.

I had to look up what ‘jank’ means and it turns out that when talking about games, it means ‘Clunky, glitchy, or awkward mechanics and physics that feel cheap or unintended but can sometimes be charming.’

A good Australian Rules Football game is hard to find maybe it is the quirkiness of the sport that makes it difficult to replicate.

Sports games are generally good, but they cannot 100% recreate what is experienced in person.

This is not your conventional game of football as you can get cards that can turn the game on its head which can be of help or be a hindrance to your team.

If you like a straight laced game of football, you can turn the option off in versus mode.

The creators of the game have a great sense of humour, there are team names like the Chips, Prawns and Fizzies, even team songs have been invented for them.

Players names aren’t like plays on real footballers but nicknames like Pham, Aunt Sal and The Pav.

You can play on a ground that is a car park, it would have been funny if the ball bounced off shopping trolleys.

The ball up in the centre is the toughest part of the game as you have to press the buttons that appear on screen to get your bar up, getting your bar up allows you to win the contest and knock the ball forward.

Sometimes after a goal is scored, a graphic does pop up showing some kind of scene like above and finishes with the score at the time.

Like the real thing, you play four quarters but unlike the real thing you don’t swap ends after each quarter so you’re always playing left to right.

Playing with a controller is very much recommended as you’ll be all over the place on the keyboard.

Players do have a habit of running away from the ball so make sure that you have selected the nearest player.

The commentary is amusing even if you do hear some of the lines repeatedly, long time players of AFL games on PC or consoles may recognize some of the comments.

It is a charming game, I wish there was a totally serious version of the game around without the cards and the car park grounds but versus mode does fill in the need nicely.

Rating: 4 out of 5.