Blast Lacrosse

In 2001, lacrosse was at its absolute pinnacle—that is to say, it had reached the outer periphery of the mainstream sports world. The National Lacrosse League (NLL) was flourishing, going nine teams strong in major markets like Philadelphia, New York and Toronto, with no fewer than four more expansion teams slated for the 2002 season. The season was also expanded from 12 to 14 games. There was none bigger, though, than the 2001 NLL championship game, which drew the largest crowd in league history, with nearly 20,000 packing into Toronto's Air Canada Centre to see the hometown Rock lose to the Philadelphia Wings. Everything was clear sailing for the NLL in the spring of 2001, and, as is often the case when even the most tenuous commercial potential presents itself to the American marketplace, a video game was in order.

What God sees when He/She watches lacrosse.

This game was the NLL licensed Blast Lacrosse published by Acclaim Sports in 2001, which is actually something of a treasure. Gameplay proceeds from a top-down perspective, sort of like NHL 94, but on a green surface with players running instead of skating. In fact, as per NHL 94, Blast Lacrosse even has its own version of "The Move"—that is, being able to score consistently by proceeding out from the corner parallel to the goal-line and then depositing the pill into the cage. For a sports game, comparisons to NHL 94 usually bode well, and this proves to be the case for Blast Lacrosse. The game is for the most part fun, which is aided by the intractably arcadey approach. Big hits, for instance, send players flying up in the air and often leave them writhing on the floor, even after play has stopped and the rest of their team is lining up for the ensuing faceoff. There are no penalties, and, as per arcade sports fare like NBA Jam or NFL Blitz, consecutive scoring plays cause players to "heat up" and then go "on fire". All told, Blast Lacrosse doesn't take itself too seriously, which is perhaps most obvious when you hear the play-by-play announcer crooning "Goodnight Irene" multiple times in course of the same contest. The voice-work is provided by Scott Ferrall, who, with his croupy, half-wit quipping sounds sort of like he's semi-feral. It's worth repeating that he’s repetitive. Regardless, sound is hardly a problem compared to the graphics. The Blast Lacrosse character models are awful, pixel-faced triangles with lacrosse sticks.

The issues of presentation do not take away, however, from Blast Lacrosse, which, on the whole nicely commemorates the three or four months in 2001 when the NLL was reaching previously uncharted heights of popularity on after-hours ESPN 8. Now the NLL has sunk considerably in profile, if it ever had a profile, and has even resorted to putting teams in exotic locales like Saskatchewan, which your correspondent thinks is located somewhere in Jamaica. Regardless, Blast Lacrosse reminds us of a time when professional “Lax” (as the initiated call it) flirted with relevance. The game might just be the most exciting lacrosse experience available, more memorable than much of what takes place in NLL arenas past and present.