To be honest, it's actually quite easy to learn - so I'll tell you how this goes:

1. You're always on offense.

2. On each play, you have three options. You can run with the quarterback, pass right or left to somebody who will rush it in, or you can pass it to your reciever.

3. If a pass gets intercepted, you are knocked back 20 yards from the line of scrimmage, but you start over at first down.

4. Upon earning ten yards from the spot of a first down, you will earn another first down and extra time and points. The earlier down you get the first down, the more points and time you earn.

5. If you do not get a first down after four tries, then you are knocked back 10 yards and start over at first down.

6. If you pass the goal line, a touchdown is scored, and you win tons of points. You have the chance at an extra point. If converted, you score more points. I think you can try to run it past the end zone as well. Think you get more points if you accomplish that as well. After all of the festivities, we start another half(or game, depending where you are), with another kickoff.

7. If you cannot make the end zone at the end of the allotted time, but are still running, you can keep running until you're tackled. After tackling, if you make the first down, you get time back and you're allowed to keep playing. If not, your game is over.

OK... that was more lengthy than what I thought - but I was trying to be as descriptive as possible. Any questions / errors, let us know :)

-- Gameboy9 (goldengameboy@yahoo.com), January 17, 2000

Answers

Ok ... I'd just written up a guide of my own. I'm going to re-edit it later so it only covers missed spots - if any. It wouldn't be a bad idea if all the questions, answers, and additions go in this thread so all the Ten Yard Fight help is easy to find.

Aqua (last I checked anyway)

-- Aquatarkus (aquatarkus@digicron.com), January 17, 2000.

The controls are a 4-way joystick and 2 buttons. One button, the lateral pass button, throws the ball straight left or straight right in the direction you are moving the guy with the ball. The other button, the forward pass button, throws the ball up the screen to the player on your side with his hand raised. In either case, the path the ball travels must not move through any unoccupied defenders.

Before the play, the forward reciever will run right to left across the screen. Pressing the forward pass button will send him up the screen to start the play, allowing you some control over the path he'll take through the defense.

You are knocked down when you are grabbed by two players, hit by a flying player, or grabbed a fourth time after shaking off three players. To shake off a player that has grabbed on, shake or spin the joystick. (similar to Kung Fu Master grabbers from T2) On a keyboard, hit at least three of the movement keys quickly in a somewhat random order. Either way, you don't need need to tap the pass buttons to break a tackle quickly.

You can throw a forward pass as long as the ball has not moved past the line between the two teams starting points, even after a lateral pass.

You get four tries, called downs, to to move the ball far enough forward. Before each try, a pair of numbers is displayed on the right hand side of the screen. It will say something like "1st 10", "2cd 8", "4th 1" etc.. The first number is the down, the second number is the number of yards to go. "4th 1" means it is your fourth (and last) try and there is one yard left to go.

There is a small window on the right hand side of the screen that shows your current field position. This window also shows a red line. That red line shows where you have to reach to get a new cycle of downs. The red area at the top of the window is the end zone.

After you reach the end zone, you will have an opportunity to score bonus points. There will be an arrow moving back and forth under a U shaped goal. The easiest way to score the 1,000 bonus points on this play is to hold the joystick straight down and press the forward pass button the third time the arrow moves under the goal. With a little practice you will be able to do this every time ... getting the 1,000 points on this play isn't hard at all. Trying to get the 3,000 points for running the ball into the endzone instead is very hard, so don't worry about it.

The defense uses a fixed number of formations. Some formations are more unpredictable than others, but basically if you find a method that works against a certain formation it will work almost every time against that formation. The key to ten yard fight is remembering what to do against a large number of formations.

The ideal play - what gets the most points and preserves the most clock time - on first down will include a forward pass and go about 12 yards total before being knocked down. You'll get 1,000 points for the pass, 1,000 points and 10 seconds for making 10 yards on "1st 10", and only use 12 to 14 seconds on the clock for a net loss of 2 to 4 seconds. The reason for going 12 yards is so you will be visibly past the red line in the right hand window ... it is possible to be on the red line but be ruled short.

Ok. I think between the two of us that covers it.

Aqua

-- Aquatarkus (aquatarkus@digicron.com), January 18, 2000.