Post by wafflerevolution on Sept 8, 2013 19:40:08 GMT
by gakon5
Tecmo Bowl is the first - well, not quite - in a classic series of football games. In a genre that was still picking up steam, Tecmo helped usher in a "new era" of sorts for football. The Tecmo Bowl games emphasized fast-paced, pick-up-and-play, arcade style action over realism. Although really, what football games had been realistic before then? Super Football for the 2600?
Tecmo Bowl
Developer: Tecmo
Publisher: Tecmo
Platform: NES
Release: 1990
Backstory
The Tecmo Bowl series started out in arcade form - the interesting bit being the cabinet design. Tecmo Bowl machines used two monitors - count them - lined up side by side. This allowed more field to be shown during gameplay; keep in mind they're not using the 'down the field' view we know from Madden, but the 'side' view that was a bit more common back then.
Tecmo Bowl machines were four-players, allowing for two people on each side going head to head. The game was very simple; there was no playcalling, although you had the opportunity to pick your receiver before the ball was snapped. Interceptions were also very easy to get, since the defender really just had to be standing in front of the intended receiver.
After it's success in arcades, the game was later ported to the NES. And the Gameboy. And the SNES, Genesis, Playstation...
Tecmo Bowl hits the NES
The NES port of Tecmo Bowl was much different from its arcade counterpart, although this is for the better. TB on the NES actually had real teams and player names from the NFL. There are twelve teams to pick from in the game, which include the Miami Dolphins, the Cleveland Browns, Indianapolis Colts the Denver Broncos, the Seattle Seahawks, the Los Angeles Raiders, the Washington Redskins, the San Francisco 49ers, the Dallas Cowboys, the New York Giants, the Chicago Bears, and the Minnesota Vikings.
The teams didn't actually have the real names, just the cities. Well, except for Minnesota. Last I checked that was a state.
Tecmo Bowl on the NES still had a heavy emphasis on arcade style action, rather than realism and depth. Each team only had four plays; often these were just Run 1, Run 2, Pass 1, and Pass 2, although some teams had three running plays or three passing plays.
The playcalling was designed to be a quick process and not involve much strategy - just pick a formation and go. This is even more evident in how the defense is setup. Basically, when you're on defense, you see the other guy's playbook, and you pick one of his plays; this sets up the defense to counter the offense - if you picked the right one. If you successfully guessed the offense's play, you smash right through the line, ending the play within seconds.
Like the arcade version, interceptions are easy to throw. Since there is no real "depth" to this game (well, there wasn't to any football game back then, was there?), interceptions were a process of collision detection - if the ball hit a guy it wasn't supposed to hit, 99% of the time its intercepted.
That's why I usually pass (Ha! Pass as in I don't do them..) on running plays, unless its third and long.
Still, despite the passing game, and the simplicity of the playcalling, the game is an absolute blast to play, especially with friends. This comes from a guy who doesn't like sports games a whole lot. Not into Madden; not very good at it at all.
The Future
The TB series spawned many sequels, the most notable being Tecmo Super Bowl. TSB was more of an extension to the first game. It pretty much had everything the first game didn't, though: full teams, updated rosters, fumbles, the Super Bowl, and some other stuff.
Tecmo Super Bowl came out on the NES, and eventually hit the Super NES, Genesis, and even Playstation, that version being that last of the TB games to come out. There was also a Game Boy port of Tecmo Bowl. Two sequels of TSB were also released, appropriately titled Tecmo Super Bowl II and Tecmo Super Bowl III. Those games came out on the SNES and Genesis.
Unfortunetly, there hasn't been a new Tecmo Bowl game for a long time - and probably never will be, considering EA has a hold on the NFL liscense. Even a port of an older game is unlikely. EA wouldn't have it!
