Wild Card Football (2023)

Even if the graphics were perfect, Wild Card Football would still suffer from the fact that it’s not very fun. The Switch has a big, football-shaped hole in its catalogue, and Wild Card Football would clearly love to fill it, but it’s pretty clear that the results fall well short of a first down.

If you're tired of Madden's raft of bugs and incremental improvements, Wild Card Football offers a completely different take on the sport that's simply focused on fun. Given the choice this year, you'll find me on Wild Card's field.

Wild Card Football's arcade experience succeeds in its main aim: to be above all a fun experience. We enjoy creating our own team, customizing it and using our powers to overcome any opponent. Nevertheless, matches quickly become repetitive, and the only interest is to play online. Frustration can set in if your opponent takes a malicious pleasure in waiting until the end of the countdown. Perhaps I'd have liked even shorter quarters, and why not cut the game in half? Technical problems also seem to greatly hamper the game on certain platforms.

If there is one word I could use to sum up Wild Card Football it would be Potential. It's a lot of fun and with some refinements it could be a very compelling annual must have for fans of the sport.

Saber's arcade-like interpretation of American football is a few yards shy of a touchdown.