Return Man 4 – Linebacker

Return Man 4 is the successor game to Return Man 3, also made by ESPN. With similar simple controls, rather than you in the offensive position, this football game focuses on you as defense, stopping the enemy attacker from getting to your touchdown line.
Gameplay:In Return Man 4, your job is to break through the blockers and tackle the incoming running back as he makes his way towards your touch line. Like its predecessor, you use the I, J, K, and L keys to move, and the A, S, and D keys to activate your special moves. You get more points the further up the yard line you tackle hi, so your job is to tackle him as quickly as possible without getting tackled yourself.
Features: A simple game, it is also elegant in its simplicity. As you progress through the game, your successes allow you to learn new skills, like shucking, swimming, or bull rushing. However, the amount of blockers also increases, making your job at tackling the running back that much more difficult. The difficulty ramps up after you learn your second skill, and skills are not a fool-proof way of getting around enemy blockers. As you let touchdowns through, you lose lives the game calls ‘defensive stands’. Once you run out of ‘defensive stands’ you have to start from the beginning again.
Conclusion: Return Man 4 has very simple controls, but is a difficult game. It has the same high risk in failure as its predecessor, but is much more dependent on your skill as a player. It’s a quick and easy game to get in to, but difficult to master.