Walter Payton Football on the Sega Master System is one of those old-school sports games that somehow nails the chaos of football without getting bogged down in complicated controls. You pick your team, line up, and immediately get thrown into these fast, scrappy plays where breaking tackles feels more like luck than skill—but in a good way. The sprites are chunky, the plays are basic, and Payton himself is weirdly overpowered (just like real life).

It’s not deep by today’s standards, but there’s something satisfying about how raw it is—no fancy animations, just you, a pixelated defense, and the desperate hope your running back doesn’t get flattened. If you’ve got nostalgia for 8-bit sports games, this one’s a solid time capsule.