More Tecmo Bowl impressions - DJ's Blog

DJ's Blog

More Tecmo Bowl impressions

Posted on November 20, 2008 at 06:59 PM.

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I've been able to spend a little more time with Tecmo Bowl: Kickoff for the Nintendo DS and here are some additional thoughts:

-The roster editor is tedious, but a lot of fun at the same time. I went through and re-named all the players on my Giants team. I went with an all-time great team, and here's what I came up with:

QB: Eli Manning, Phil Simms, Y.A. Tittle
RB: Dave Meggett (for returns), Brandon Jacobs, Tiki Barber, Maurice Carthon
WR: Plaxico Burress, Amani Toomer, Stephen Baker (one of my favorites growing up), Mark Ingram
TE: Mark Bavaro, Jeremy Shockey
C: Bart Oates, Shaun O'Hara
G: Chris Snee, Gary Riesenburg
T: Jumbo Elliot, Roosevelt Brown
DT: Sam Huff (couldn't remember if he played tackle or end, so I stuck him here), Keith Hamilton
DE: Michael Strahan, Osi Umeniyora
LB: Lawrence Taylor, Carl Banks, Pepper Johnson, Harry Carson (Antonio Pierce and Gary Reasons are backups)
CB: Mark Collins, Phillippi Sparks
S: Kenny Phillips (love this guy even if he's a rookie), Myron Guyton
K: Matt Bahr
P: Sean Landeta

In terms of on-the-field, this game is so much fun. I've hit some big plays, including a nice in-stride bomb to Toomer. Unlike the NES games, you can't drop back to your end zone and chuck it 100 yards downfield and be right on the money. Not that that's a bad thing, but it was fun, wasn't it?

Running game is good. You have to fight for yards, but you can hit some big-hitters as well.

The nose tackle dive is still in the game, so unless you want to rack up 40-plus sacks, I'd probably avoid controlling him in a game. I bet we'll be seeing a lot of this online.

The AI actually puts up a good fight. I've won most of my games big, but did play a couple of close ones today, including a 3-point win over Houston. Some of the players are clearly modeled after guys from the old days, as the QB on Denver plays just like Elway and can run really fast.

I had 4 fumbles in one game against the CPU. It's weird, some games you'll see 3-5 fumbles and then zero the next. Interceptions are around 1-3 a game between the two teams.

Cut-scenes are cool. You'll see them on certain pass plays when the defensive player makes a play on the ball and the receiver either catches the ball or drops it. You'll also see a cut-scene when a player performs a super ability. And, of course, after every touchdown, field goal, PAT and punt you'll see something. The halftime show is pretty funny, especially the 80's-inspired rock band.

The field looks cool during games where there's rain or snow. Chain gang is in the game and there's a cut-scene for them to come out and measure for a 1st down. Funny how this game can have that but Madden 09 doesn't. Well, that's really sad but an entirely different point.

Music can get annoying after a while, but it's not like you're forced to listen to it.

You can trade players from one team to another and change your depth charts rather easily. This can all be done with the stylus, too.

You won't be able to get exact matches on uniform colors if you're looking to change the teams resemble the NFL ones, but you can get pretty close on most. The logo choices are disappointing, though.

All the action happens on the bottom screen and the scoreboard is on the top screen. The top screen will tell you down-distance and how many yards your player gained on the previous play. I could see a few people not liking having the action on the bottom screen if their screen is scratched up, but mine's in good shape so no worries there.

A few times my WR has been mis-identified as a defensive player in a cut-scene. The correct player does get credit for the yardage, though.

I think I'm going to take some time and put some more names in this game and then hop into season mode.