Tecmo Super Bowl

"Pretty much the same as for NES, except saved-games don't erase"

About 10 years ago (dang I am getting old it seems), I walked into our local Toy Works store. For those of you that don't know, Toy Works is an affiliate of KayBee Toys (or either owned by... not sure if any other Toy Works stores exist). I remember my mother plunking down $65 for the newest game that I just HAD to have... Tecmo Super Bowl. Mind you, it was the NES version she bought me, but both the SNES and NES games are similar.

Well, a couple of years later, I received what was typically the same game for the Super Nintendo. It even had the same name. Except now, the players didn't blink on the screen as much and games were lower-scoring, etc. I'll compare them directly in a little bit (if you're lucky). In a slightly related matter, Tecmo also released *Tecmo Super NBA* for both the SNES and NES. Must all be about the dollars.

Hmmm... I guess I'll begin like I usually do. *Tecmo Super Bowl* was released in the latter part of 1993. Rosters are current as of August 1993, so some of the rookies hadn't signed with their teams yet. If only they had waited a month or less (ARGGGH!!) then I could play as Drew Bledsoe or Marshall Faulk. Jerome Bettis was one of the few 1993 draft picks who was a NFLPA member in time for the cut-off. Dangit... Scott Zolak is a scrub; Bledsoe ain't.

As you may have already guessed (because you're smart), *Tecmo Super Bowl* is an officially licensed pigskin title. In the original *Tecmo Bowl* for the NES (1987), only 12 teams were available for selection. Since this was the greatest sports game of its time, it didn't matter. Anyway, Tecmo had the NFLPA license, but no official NFL license. In 1991, Tecmo released *Tecmo Super Bowl* with both licenses, all 28 teams, and full stat-tracking, which consequently required a back-up battery. Both *Tecmo Super Bowl* games have the same options, but the fact that SNES games erase the back-up memory less often than NES games do is a definite plus. Also added to the NES and SNES versions of *Tecmo Super Bowl* were Pro Bowl and season-play options. Good stuff for all who like proverbial icing on their proverbial cake slices.

I'm going to hit you with the categories now and then get into the finer points, such as which teams are the best, direct comparison to the NES version, and the like.


GAMEPLAY/MODES/CONTROL 9/10

Weaving in and out of tackles, busting through the offensive line, and avoiding sacks all require great control. *Tecmo Super Bowl* delivers. Without great control, shout-fests at the television will run rampant. Every once in a while, you will just SWEAR that you pressed the pass-button before being sacked, but hey, them's the breaks! It may just be me, but in the NES version it seemed a little easier to weave-through traffic. Games are still easy to win, though.

Speaking of easy to win, *Tecmo Super Bowl* is exactly that. Half the fun of playing, for me at least, is to break your own season records. Hard games would make those 5000-yard passing seasons too hard to pull off. I always say, for truly balanced AI, just find a friend to play. It's as simple as that. Or, to increase the difficulty, you can select the Indianapolis Colts and bring in the reserve players! Boy, did they use to be horrible... sheesh...

*Tecmo Super Bowl* is for 1-2 players. Players can duke it out (or coach it out) in Pro Bowl, Pre-Season, or Season match-ups. In season mode, 0-28 human-players can compete in a quest for the title of ''Super Bowl Champion.'' Good luck finding that many people. Eventually, the internet will support stuff like this... maybe not for THIS game, but still... ahem... Anyway, players can edit the Pro-Bowl teams to suit their liking. Want to have a team with nothing but [insert likely modifier here], then go ahead and do it. Have fun, fellas.

If you want to play the role of ''savior,'' then do the following: Auto-skip your season about 10 games through the season. Then select a team that has been struggling, but still has a shot at the playoffs. See if YOU can turn things around for 'em. Clever? Possibly. Indifferent? Yes. Just trying to add some more replayability (like it needs any more... pssh!). This also works pretty well for two players. One person just pick a team in the same league. Do whatever you want!


MUSIC/SOUND 9/10

Tecmo took a slight step backward as far as the music goes, but only because the tunes in the NES version were so grand. I guess it's simply a matter of preference. Updated tuned from the 8-bit version would have been just fine with me.

New from last game is the fact that music plays in the option menus. Heck, the tune is repeated every 8 seconds (just tried to do this in my head while looking at my second-hand), but it's not too annoying. Better than silence, I say.

Sounds are of better quality, because of the SNES's far-better sound chip/processor or whatever the heck it is. Can you tell I'm not a tech-head? Kicks and catches have an added *OOMPH* to them. Like the first games, speech is evident. Added from the NES version are the phrases ''Touchback!'' and ''Safety.'' A code to access a sound-screen is available on the main menu. A few more speech phrases, including ''Interception!'' and ''Fumble!'', are playable on the menu, but aren't used during games. They non-used ones sounded tacky, anways. There are a couple/few other phrases thrown in, but it'd be useless to list all of them. Waste of both of our lives, it'd be... I reckon.


GRAPHICS 10/10

Now, this is a definite improvement! Everything about the game graphics-wise is at least a step above its NES cousin. Being a 16-Bit machine really did make a difference. For those of you who have never played a Tecmo Bowl game, then shame on you! Actually, erase the shame part, and I'll tell you a little sumthin about it.

*Tecmo Super Bowl* is sort of a hybrid between arcade/simulation gameplay and it pulled the hybrid-part off quite nicely. Games take place from a side-field view. The camera is at a fixed point so that around 20-or-so yards can be seen at a time.

Players aren't overly large, but at the same time aren't overly small.
They can't be but so big if you want all 22 players to fit on the screen and have full animation. Players are either dark or light-shaded, depending on their nationality. If my memory serves me correctly, the original *Tecmo Bowl* had nothing but light-skinned players. I know the celebration screen had nothing but white-guys on it in that game... Just letting everyone know :)

New to the series with this game, is the advent of different weather conditions. In Pre-Season matches, the option for rain, snow, and regular weather conditions can be set. In season games, it's all up to the machine to decide. The rain effect looks pretty grand. You can see each individual rain drop makes it's way to the ground and splatter. In addition, the color of the grass is darkened to show the absorbtion of the water/overcast sky. Neato.

The snow effect is no slouch itself. The ground is automatically a grayish/white color and the snow comes slowly down. Just floats around and drops quite slowly. You don't see it hit the ground though. It's more of just a foreground thing. Just trying to give you all some visualization.

Remember playing the NES version, where the players would always blink? Well, the SNES doesn't have this problem, and in turn, this game doesn't either. Pretty amazing (or not). Seeing who's where is much much much easier. Blinking made the other game (NES version) look a little sloppy, but it couldn't really help it.

When the game cartridge is turned on, you're treated to seeing a bunny-rabbit (an unnamed Tecmo mascot?) leaning up against the TECMO logo. Suffice to say, the menus look a hundred times better in this Super Ninentendo Entertainment version of *Tecmo Super Bowl.* Instead of a junky looking bright-blue in the background (NES), Tecmo has a darker, cinder-block looking background with its logo all over it. Looks a bunch better, and seems in place along with the background music.

In the NES version of *Tecmo Super Bowl,* players had small, drawn pictures of themselves on their player attribute. The pictures are gone, and in place, a team helmet has been put. I never cared for those cartoonish-looking pictures anyways. The helmets look magnificent.

As you may remember from the NES version (DAMN, I am comparing these things a lot), after scoring a touchdown, a different end-zone celebration sequence would play. Depending on whether it was a running or passing touchdown, you'd get a different celebration. Well, the ones in the SNES version (AKA the game I'm reviewing), are pretty much the same, but the players look much better. I liked the music in the old ones more, though.


SUMMARY

On its own right, *Tecmo Super Bowl* is a great game. Just the fact that it is different from the NES version makes it seem a little different, and maybe a tad not as good. The music tunes aren't as happenin' in this one, but that doesn't really detract from the experience. A definite plus is the fact that SNES battery packs don't erase as often as NES game carts do. So, you won't be losing any seasons this time around.

*Tecmo Super Bowl (NES)* was just so groundbreaking when it came out. Nothing like it had released before. The SNES version offered little new, so people were less excited about it.

*Tecmo Super Bowl* is also available for Sega's 16-Bit Sega Genesis. It's about on the same level as this version, so what's my point? If you have the portable Sega Nomad, then I highly recommend buying the Sega version so you can take it around and play it. I prefer the SNES version (are there any synonyms for version? I've used that word about a hundred times it seems) over the Genesis one, but being able to play the game on the road AND at home is quite cool.


****MORE ABOUT THE GAME****

I figured I would get into the finer details of the review after I had already said everything I needed to say. Non-football fans don't really care about the rosters or which teams are the best (I think). So, I'll talk about all this right now!

If you're looking for the best all-around team, I would select the Buffalo Bills. On offense they have Jim Kelly at QB, Thurman Thomas carrying the ball, and receivers James Lofton, Andre Reed, and Don Beebe hauling in the grabs. No weaknesses on offense here. The Bills are a great team to try and break your own personal records with, since their offense and defense (Bruce Smith, Corenlius Bennett) are so great.

Looking for the best running backs? Try using Emmitt Smith and Barry Sanders. As far as the best QB-to-receiver combo, how can you go wrong throwing to Jerry Rice with a certain well-know future HOFer from the 49ers? You can't!

Returning from the NES version of the game are fumbles and injuries. Except this time, a ''Team Area'' is available, since some teams allow defensive players to return kicks (thus some players get injured while doing so). The 2 players in each team's ''team area'' can ONLY be used if one of a defensive player gets injured. None of the players are stars anyway, so you won't lose too much sleep over not being able to select them.

Hmm... What else have I failed to mention. When your team wins the division, a screen comes up where your team is celebrating. This is a neat feature. Especially when auto-skipping through a whole season. It adds to the tension of making it into the playoffs. QBs can throw the ball upwards of 120 yards... from one end-zone to the other! That's a nice toss.

Like I may have already mentioned... Tracking your stats and trying to break your own personal records is half the fun of this game. Try to break your passing (mainly TDs, yards, rating, + others), receiving (mainly TDs, Yards, + others), and rushing (mainly TDs and yards) records. Other stats tracked include, sacks, interceptions, field goals, most points scored (by a FG kicker, rusher, or receiver, etc). Heck, even team stats are tracked. Wanna know how many offensive or defensive yards you have allowed or gained? You can. On the standings screen, you can see how many points you have scored and given up (not to mention your record... duh).

For the most part, games seem to not take as long in the SNES version as they do on the NES cart. As a result, scores will be lower, which is sort of a shame. I liked shooting for 75 points back in the day with the NES cart, but getting 70 points on this one is almost impossible it seems. You'll have to rely on many interceptions and fumbles to reach the big 7-0 in points.


*WHAT I LIKE AND DON'T LIKE*

With two different versions of the same game, there has to be different things from each that I like and dislike. So I'll devote a couple of kilobytes worth of review to this section before I finish up.

I like passing much more in the NES version. Defenders are usually more wide open and receivers leap for catches much more often. Diving and jumping catches are usually the best parts of a game to watch and why they don't occur as often in the SNES version is beyond my reasoning.

I think I may have mentioned this twice before, but it's worth saying over and over. If you have the NES version, the battery erases often. Sometimes, just because you turn it on and the blinking screen comes up. So, you'll need to keep the cart in the machine for the entire season if you want to assure 100% that your game won't erase. Luckily, the SNES improved this situation. I couldn't erase the memory if I tried, I don't think.

Running is also more fun on the NES version. The coders at Tecmo made it harder to weave in and out of the traffic, so longer runs aren't as likely now. This is a good thing, depending on your view. Just the fact that it's different bugs me. Since the game has the same title as the NES game, and because I loved the NES version, I want it to play exactly the same, with improvements and enhanced graphics. It seems enhanced graphics and slightly reduced gameplay is what I got. Still a great experience though.

AND WHY ISN'T (future or current?) Hall-of-Famer Art Monk not on the game? He WAS with the Redskins on the roster cut-off date. I don't want TERRY ORR on the Skins instead of Monk!


Even More Stuff...

It's pretty hard to touch on everything while writing a review and some of it comes back to you after you've already written a bunch. That being said...

Players select plays from a screen of 8 different plays. Before and during games, you can change which plays are selectable, but still... A larger amount of plays to choose from would be nice. *Tecmo Super Bowl 3* gives you two playbooks (16 plays total) to choose from. As in the past Tecmo Bowl games, if your opponent calls the same play as you (only reason for them calling plays is to call yours... they set up the same every time), then his defenders will become super-fast and be able to knock all your linemen down, making it real hard for you to gain yards. If you keep calling the same play over and over, you're opponent will pick up on it. So vary your play calls.

Actually, a ninth play is avaiable. To call a play where you dive over the huddle, press the ''X'' button. When you hike the ball a cinema-style screen will show whether you make it over the line or not. This is ideal for short-yardage plays (duh!).


BEST FEATURE- It's a Tecmo Bowl game! And the gameplay is much like the NES version!

WORST FEATURE- No improvement over the NES cart... beside the obvious graphical enhancements.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 05/07/00, Updated 05/07/00