Tecmo Super Bowl

Infobox VG
title = Tecmo Super Bowl


developer = Tecmo
publisher = Tecmo
designer =
engine =
released = 1991
genre = Sports, American football
modes = Single player, multiplayer
ratings =
platforms = NES, SNES, Sega Genesis
media =
requirements =
input =

"Tecmo Super Bowl", or TSB, is an American football video game for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) that was first released in 1991. Developed by Japanese video game company Tecmo, it was one of the first sports video games that used the names and attributes of real National Football League teams and players (with the player rosters and attributes based on those of the 1990 NFL season).Fact|date=June 2007 Although the game is in some ways considered outdated, it was very successful in the final years of the NES [http://top100.ign.com/2005/021-030.html IGN's top 100 Games] (ranked 24) retrieved 2006-10-31] and enjoys an extensive cult following.

History

After the initial success of "Tecmo Bowl", Tecmo followed up with the release of "Tecmo Super Bowl" in 1991. The company was able to obtain a license from the National Football League Players Association, making it the first game to feature both actual NFL teams and players of the time. Previously, in 1989, "NFL Football" for NES managed to obtain only a team license.Fact|date=June 2007

In 1997, both Electronic Gaming Monthly and IGN, video game publications, named TSB one of the top 100 video games of all time. [http://top100.ign.com/2005/021-030.html IGN's top 100 Games] (ranked 24) retrieved 2006-10-31]

Gameplay and features

"Tecmo Super Bowl" expanded on the features used first in Tecmo Bowl. To do this, TSB replicated certain aspects of the National Football League's version of American football.

Every team in TSB was modeled after a real life NFL franchise. The teams used the same logos and the same city affiliations used by the NFL. As in real life, each team had its own offensive and defensive playbook.

In the original NES Tecmo Bowl, each team had 20 players on its roster, with nine players for offense, nine players for defense, a kicker, and a punter. In "Tecmo Super Bowl," each roster had roughly 30 different players. Each team had eleven defensive players, which could not be substituted, nor injured. Each team had seventeen offensive players, which included eleven starters and six substitutes. At any given time, eleven players were on the field for each team, consistent with NFL rules. A kicker and a punter were also on the roster. [In the first game, each team had eight players on the field.] [Jim Kelly, Randall Cunningham, and Bernie Kosar were represented by generic names: QB Bills, QB Eagles, and QB Browns, respectively. This was due to the fact that the players were not members of the National Football League Players Association's marketing agreement. This prevented the NFLPA from licensing the players' likenesses.]

In addition to using real teams and players, TSB incorporated the full-length 1991 NFL regular season schedule for the game. The playoff format, including the Super Bowl and the post-season Pro Bowl games, was also used.

"Tecmo Super Bowl" retained the arcade-style football gameplay of the original which included the ability to break tackles (many players had "94" hitting power ratings, giving them the ability break any non-sliding tackles; Christian Okoye was perhaps the strongest). However, the game added new features, such as statistics tracking that included All-Time NFL season records, expanded and editable playbooks ["Tecmo Bowl" had four plays in the play book while "Tecmo Super Bowl" had eight] , the ability to substitute players, varying conditions of players, fumbles, and player injuries. As it had previously, the game used cutscenes for important events like touchdowns and halftime shows. "Tecmo Super Bowl" also added cutscenes when injuries or big plays occurred.

John Carney, Junior Seau, Jeff Feagles, and Morten Andersen are the only players in the NFL featured in "Tecmo Super Bowl" who are still playing as of the end of the 2007-08 season; Vinny Testaverde appeared in 5 games for the Carolina Panthers and at the end of the 2007-08 season retired. TSB was well represented in Super Bowl XLII with both Feagles and Seau in the game

equels

A Super Nintendo version of Tecmo Super Bowl was released, which fixed many bugs and added some new features. Real logos were added, especially adding team logos to the endzones in place of the Tecmo logo. Touchbacks were made possible. Fifteen minute quarters were made possible for preseason and Pro Bowl modes. Quarterback calls were also added.

The last Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis game in the series was subtitled "Final Edition," but in 1997 it was revived on the PlayStation, to fairly minimal press, and the series faded away.fact|date=August 2007

There are numerous sites and message boards dedicated not only to the original TSB but also Roms [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ROM_image] which contain current day rosters while maintaining the original gameplay. Also there is a mod that has NCAA Football rosters from 1990.

"Tecmo Bowl: Kickoff" is the Nintendo DS adaptation of the original video game developed and published by Tecmo, due for release in the Fall of 2008.cite web|url=http://ds.ign.com/articles/870/870922p1.html|title=Tecmo Bowl Returns|last=Harris|first=Craig|work=IGN|date=2008-05-01]

ee also

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Footnotes