Tecmo Bowl 2008

[Big Fo]

It's not a bad game but some things about this version piss me off:

- You can edit any player, even after season mode has started, but even before the season you are limited in the number of points to distribute which prevents me from recreating NFL rosters.

- QBs do not lead receivers on their throws, ever. Once you hit B the ball goes to where the receiver is and the receiver stands still. It makes those famous 80 yard throws hard to pull off unless you scramble like crazy in the backfield.

- You only see your players stats if they are in the top 25 in the league in a certain category, no checking every player's individual stats.

- There are no new plays, the playbooks are the same as they were on NES Tecmo Super Bowl.

- The AI is bad and doesn't offer much challenge at all to anyone who is a veteran of the series. Perhaps the difficulty ramps up significantly late in the year/in the playoffs like in NES TSB/the first SNES version.

Not to be all negative, here's the good:

- As said, there's a lot of customization possible even with the points limit and you can do so even once a season has begun.

- You can play five seasons in a "career" so the points you get after a year or two might be enough to recreate NFL rosters more realistically with the players being fast/strong/skilled enough.

- The nose tackle dive exploit has been removed.

- Low quality 2D celebrations and field goal close ups still retain a certain charm.

- Aside from the lack of lead passes the actual gameplay is still Tecmo football and if you liked it before you'll still find it fun today.

It's definitely worth $10 especially considering that sports games are the one hole in the Nintendo DS's otherwise excellent library. If anyone else on here gets the game let's play online sometime...