Super Challenge Football
Super Challenge Football — frequently asked questions
- Is Super Challenge Football on Steam?
- No. Super Challenge Football is not distributed on Steam, so there is no Steam Charts or SteamDB player count for it. Its live popularity is tracked here via Twitch viewership instead.
- What platforms is Super Challenge Football on?
- Super Challenge Football is available on Atari 2600, Intellivision.
- When did Super Challenge Football release?
- Super Challenge Football was first released on February 1, 1982.
About Super Challenge Football
The object of the game is to out-score your opponent. There's passing, rushing, blocking, and touchdowns! Simulated 15 minute quarters. You set both offense and defense. Individual control of both the quarterback and linebacker.
Summary via IGDB.
Super Challenge Football on Wikipedia
NFL Football is an American football video game developed by Mattel and released for its Intellivision system in 1980. The players each control a football team competing in a standard four-quarter game. Like Mattel's other sports video games, NFL Football did not use any official National Football League team names or player names, even though Mattel obtained a license from the NFL and used the league's logo in its box art. NFL Football has been cited as the first football video game to have a playbook.
Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA 4.0).
Game details
- Platforms
- Atari 2600, Intellivision
Details via IGDB.
Every version compared
Prices, contemporary reception and the studio credited for each release
| Platform | Year | Loose | Complete | Sealed | Period reviews | Built by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atari 2600 | 1982 | $6 | $10 | $14 | Graphics ★★★ · Play-Action ★★½ | APh (designed by Ken Smith) |
Also released on: Intellivision. We haven’t priced or authenticated that version yet.
Collector value & authenticity
Atari 2600 · PriceCharting sold data · Verified 2026-10-06
Release record
| Territory | Label | Catalog # | Rarity |
|---|---|---|---|
| North America INTV | White - "Football" | MT5658 | Scarce |
| North America M Network | Black | MT5658 | Scarce |
| North America Telegames | Silver - "Football" | — | Scarce |
Source: Catalog numbers, label types, rarity, controllers and player counts: AtariAge 2600 software database
- Region
- NA
- Released
- 1982
- Controller
- Atari Joystick
- Players
- 2 required
- Authenticity
- Low
M Network's 2600 version of Mattel's Intellivision football game, cheap and on Atari 50.
Super Challenge Football is the Atari 2600 version of Mattel's NFL Football, which began on the Intellivision in 1980. Mattel released it on the 2600 under its M Network label in July 1982. APh developed it, with Ken Smith credited as designer. The game is also listed under the name NFL Football.
It is a plain sports cartridge, and it is on Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration if you only want to play it.
What the press said at the time
| Computer Entertainer Vol. 1 No. 5 | August 1982 | Graphics ★★★ · Play-Action ★★½ |
“Do not expect all the options and nuances of the original Intellivision games, but DO expect to spend a fair amount of time mastering the multitude of functions controlled by every imaginable joystick position.”
“enough of the VCS' limitations to produce a first-rate electronic football game. While this cartridge still can't compare with Mattel's NFL Football for the Intellivision, it sure fills a void for Atarians.”
“This M-Network title fills a yawning gap in the VCS line. Skip Atari's pigskin cartridge in favor of this one.”
“Real gridiron action abounds in Super Chal- lenge Football —you can run, pass, kick, block, and tackle, just like an actual football team”
Computer Entertainer rated graphics first and play action second, from four symbols (excellent) to one (poor) — stars in most years, diamonds in 1986–87 — comparing each game only with other games for the same system.
Cartridge & preservation record
Program size 4 KB, measured from the preserved dump.
Catalogue number as recorded for the physical release.
How the Atari 2600 version differs
Super Challenge Football is the 1982 2600 port of Mattel's 1980 Intellivision game NFL Football, released under the M Network brand without the NFL name.
Also on other platforms
Intellivision
| Atari 2600 | APh (designed by Ken Smith) |
| Intellivision | Mattel |
- Intellivision. The Intellivision original, NFL Football, has been cited as the first football video game with a playbook; plays were entered on the keypad from diagrams printed in the manual.
Worth knowing
- Launch defects, 1982. Arcade Express reported that the first M Network shipment had "a high number of defective cartridges": "the games couldn't be properly inserted into the VCS because of poor construction of the casing", and "a small portion of the initial ROMs were incompatible with older models of the Atari VCS." The problems were confined to the first four M Network games, including this one.
- 1983 Arkie Award. Electronic Games gave Super Challenge Football and Baseball a Certificate of Merit for Best Sports Videogame in its 1983 Arkie Awards.
Before you buy
Low risk, with no documented reproductions. Loose carts are inexpensive, and complete copies do not cost much more, so a boxed copy is an easy upgrade. It is listed under both M Network and Telegames, so check the label for the publisher name.
Watch on YouTube
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