Publisher: Tecmo
Developer: Tecmo
Consoles: Nintendo Entertainment System, Arcade
Football's back in season, which means every frat boy in the nation is, when not playing Halo: Reach, hooked on Madden again. Just like every other year. However, before there was an annual franchise release, before EA Sports owned the rights to the NFL and the NFL Player's League, before created players and realistic stadiums and replay footage and other forms of realism were presented for us to feast on... There was Tecmo Bowl.
Tecmo Bowl, obviously by Tecmo, was originally an arcade title, which did pretty good, but the game was really spotlighted and became popular on the NES. While not the first football video game, it's considered to be the best early football game released. Even without the use of real NFL team names (opting, instead, for the Indianapolis Swordfish, the Cleveland Dinosaurs, the Seattle Knights, the Chicago Penguins, and so on), the teams' rosters at that time were still accurate, and even had stats.
For instance, Denver's John Elway, Miami's Dan Marino, and San Francisco's Joe Montana will deliver better passing games for more yardage. Likewise, teams with a better defense will be able to stop runners a lot quicker than others. Speaking of runners, each team has its own set of pass and run plays, as well. It's pretty interesting to see what made certain teams work, both in terms of players and the plays on the field.
There were a few things that were different in the game than in actual football, however. The clock always stops after each play. No need to go out of bounds or throw an incomplete. Also, there's NO fumbles. This means run plays are ALWAYS safer than passing plays. There's also no substitutions, no injuries, no touchbacks, and no onside kicks. Hey, give them a break, it was the mid-to-late-80's and they still made a fantastic football game for its time.
SO fantastic, in fact, that it warranted ports to the NES, Famicom, Game Boy, mobile phones, two different versions on the Virtual Console, and had two remakes: one on the DS, and one on the 360 and PS3. It was quite the success, and is still considered one of the best football games ever, warranting several sequels on several consoles, as well. I personally think it's a lot better than the "change one little thing and update stats and it's a brand new game" formula of Madden each year.
I also have to note the music of Tecmo Bowl. This motherfucker is catchy as hell. I find myself singing along on offense, raping asses with Washington, running the ball down the field. There's a different song depending on player one being on offense or defense, as well as jingles for the title screen, getting a first down, and getting a touchdown. It's simple, but I find it to be enjoyable.
There's not many people that haven't played this title, but even if you don't like football, I suggest giving it a shot. Sure, it's dated now, but it's still entertaining. Just try to avoid passing too much - you don't want to be on the wrong end of an interception.
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