Gameplay
Due to the limitations of the console, ARL presents a simplified version of the game, yet allowing a wide variety of moves. Running is done with the C button, and while holding allows a player to accelerate, while it is being mashed, it allows to break a tackle. Passing is done by pressing the B button with a direction; if no direction is entered, the player fakes a pass. the A button, if pressed inside the try area (or in jump distance), grounds the ball, if far and pressed in combination of the direction of the attack attempts a drop goal or kicks for touch, if pressed in combination with a direction against the attack, performs a grubber kick. The A and B buttons pressed at the same time perform a bomb kick (referred as "Up and Under" in the manual), and a A plus C combination is mostly a defensive kick, which clears the ball as far away as possible into touch. Without the ball, controls are simpler: the A button tackles, the B changes player and C increases player speed.
The game has a few criticisms; it is very undisciplined as far as tactics go, it is very hard to pull good kicks during play (which forces players to, and the lack of a difficulty level slider makes the game too easy for expert players. There are also some bugs regarding ball possession (occasionally, the ball can change from one team to another in the middle of a play for no reason at all) and the engine often flickers players when there are too many of them in an area. The lack of physical difference between forwards and backs is also often mentioned.
ARL allows several options to be tweaked, such as half length (from two minutes to 40), temperature (hot temperatures wear out the players quicker, while colder affects ball handling) and pitch condition (a dry pitch hurts tackled players more and bounces the ball more, while drenched affects running).
Read more about this topic: Australian Rugby League (video Game)