Pigskin 621 AD/Gameplay

Controls

 * Joystick: Use the 49-way analogue joysticks to direct Thor Akenbäk (or Atilla DeSoil, if player 2) around the field; you may position them off-screen.
 * Red Button: Use this button to cycle through the five team strategies: "GET BALL", "MAN-TO-MAN", "BAD ATTITUDE", "BLOCK" and "SCATTER".
 * Yellow Buttons: Use either yellow button (depending on whether you are right- or left-handed), to make Thor (or Atilla) and their entire team punch.
 * White Button: Use this button to make Thor (or Atilla) pass the ball to his CPU-controlled teammates; hold it down until the desired action is shown. There's three different kinds of passes to choose from - Short Pass, Long Pass and Back Pass, but the last one can't be used on some occasions.
 * 1 or 2 Player Buttons: Push these buttons to begin a 1 or 2 player game.

Thor Akenbäk and Atilla DeSoil
The game's two main characters are the leaders of two renegade bands of warriors with bad attitudes, and their goal is to punch, pass, punt, and push the pigskin past each other's end zone; a blue (or red, in the case of Atilla) arrow will be hovering over their heads during the course of the game (however, if Atilla is being controlled by the CPU, his arrow shall not be present), and when they punch their CPU-controlled teammates all punch with them. They (along with their teammates) will have to watch out for the various obstacles that litter the playing fields - but can also pick up various weapons to use them on each other's team members. It is also worth noting that their names happen to be mock-Scandinavian puns on the two phrases "sore, aching back", and "a till of the soil" respectively.

Teammates
Thor and Atilla's unnamed teammates are all controlled by the CPU, and their formation will be determined by what team strategy their captains are using; and as mentioned above, when their captains punch, they will all punch with them. At some point during the second period one of the losing team's teammates shall pay off a spectator to strike out at the winning team members with his staff, but they can leap upon him from behind - and, at some point during the third period (which changes the setting to indoors), the crowd shall shout "SEND IN THE TROLL!" as one of the losing team's teammates is substituted (with a Troll). Also, at some point during the fourth period, one of the losing team's teammates will pay off another Troll (who was watching the match) to substitute for him; it is also worth noting that Thor's gold-bearded teammate and Atilla's white-haired one only appear in Pro Pigskin Mode (described on the mode selection screen at the start of the game as being "for experienced players only!").

Paid-Off Spectators
At some point during the second period one of the losing team's teammates shall pay off a spectator (who looks like the one that blows his horn at the start of each period) to strike out at the winning team members with his staff, but they can leap upon him from behind (and temporarily stun him).

Trolls
At some point during the third period, the crowd shall shout "SEND IN THE TROLL!", as one of the losing team's teammates is substituted with a Type 1 Troll; they can run faster (and punch harder) than the teammates they replace, but they are still susceptible to tripping over obstacles and attacks made against them with concealed weapons. And at some point during the fourth period, one of the losing team's teammates will pay off a Type 2 Troll who'd been watching the match to substitute for him - and this means that both teams could have one Troll on them or one team could have two.