Tecmo Bowl Throwback News Post

Tecmo Bowl Throwback Review

12:51 AM - May 4, 2010 by RaychelSnr

Growing up in the late 80's/early 90's, one sports game reigned supreme when it came to neighborhood bragging rights -- Tecmo Bowl. Before the Madden franchise became the juggernaut it is today, Tecmo Bowl was the quintasential virtual football experience. Utilizing it's "chess" like playcalling mechanics, reliance on homemade gamepad moves, and NFL/NFLPA licenses, Tecmo Bowl came to define a generation.

Twenty years after the first games release -- and 18 after the release of the series' stellar sequel, Tecmo Super Bowl -- fans of the game are being treated to a completely new HD experience in Tecmo Bowl Throwback. For those of you unfamiliar with Throwback, Tecmo has taken the teams and rosters from 1993's Super Tecmo Bowl, added new HD graphics and presentation -- with an option to switch back to the old 8-bit graphics in HD on the fly -- and added online play for the first time in series history.

So is Tecmo Bowl Throwback an enjoyable trip down memory lane? Or should the series have been left to die in the 90's like Ryan Leaf's career? Read on to find out.

Read More - Tecmo Bowl Throwback Review

Game: Tecmo Bowl ThrowbackReader Score: 8.5/10 - Vote Now
Platform: iPhone / PS3 / Xbox 360Votes for game: 9 - View All

Member Comments

# 21 JkA3 @ 05/04/10 08:37 PM

pretty good review. I don't compare the review of 8.5 to Madden's in any way.

# 22 stlstudios189 @ 05/04/10 11:11 PM

$10 awesome.

# 23 Matt Young @ 05/08/10 11:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JkA3


	pretty good review. I don't compare the review of 8.5 to Madden's in any way.

Agreed. I feel that the standards are different for downloadable games as opposed to disc based releases. Even though I don't know what the scores were, I'd imagine it would be like comparing NHL 10 to 3 on 3 NHL Arcade, if they had similar scores.

I mean, sports games or not (even more so on the "not" side): Thee are many excellent games one can download for $10-20, but if those were sold for $60, people would **** all over that mess.

# 24 KBLover @ 05/11/10 12:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dbeth


	When did games lose the allowance to be fun without all the bells & whistles?

When they started being fun WITH all the bells and whistles, imo.

Not saying old games/remakes of old games should be thrown out, but they ARE competing with "modern" games, and I think it's fair to review them as such. I mean, there's a reason why when Square re-released the older FF games, they updated the graphics and what not. I think they knew that putting out an 8-bit game that's basically like playing the game on a rom wouldn't fly well.

To me, a truly great old/classic game can stand up and show well on those terms even allowing for the "leaving it old school" aspects like graphics or sound.

# 25 TecmoBowl @ 05/12/10 11:07 AM

Looks like I have a game to download!

Too bad it isn't fully customizable. I've had a blast playing ROMs of Tecmo on my PC with current NFL rosters and even college teams.

# 26 TheWatcher @ 05/12/10 02:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TecmoBowl


	Looks like I have a game to download! Too bad it isn't fully customizable. I've had a blast playing ROMs of Tecmo on my PC with current NFL rosters and even college teams.

Tecmo Rose Bowl was hot.

# 27 jsou4646 @ 05/13/10 01:46 AM

How is the lag when playing online.

# 28 Valdarez @ 05/13/10 03:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jsou4646


	How is the lag when playing online.

It's really bad, and a game breaker for online play. If you buy Tecmo, then you best be content with playing offline, because that's the only way it's going to be competitive.

# 29 Matt Young @ 05/21/10 05:13 PM

No, it does not. And as far as the lag goes, I have only experienced lag in 2 games out of dozens played.

# 30 CreatineKasey @ 05/22/10 03:37 PM

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/2...April_2010.php

Looks like this game sold pretty well. I'm hoping for a sequel!

# 31 canes2008 @ 06/02/10 05:56 PM

OK quick ? did they use the d-pad for movement of the players or is it strictly analog like every other game, I ask because I'm a disabled gamer with CP and can't use my left hand very well.

# 32 big_bair @ 06/02/10 06:31 PM

You can use either the D-pad or the analog stick I believe. I know you can use the D-pad because I found it easier to use when joining an online game.

# 33 canes2008 @ 06/02/10 07:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by big_bair


	You can use either the D-pad or the analog stick I believe. I know you can use the D-pad because I found it easier to use when joining an online game.

Thanks for the info

# 34 mustardnmayo @ 06/02/10 07:13 PM

Anyone with ps3 version notice if the same online issues exist? Im hesitant to get it...

# 35 ZoneKIller @ 06/03/10 03:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stux


	Does this game allow for multiple seasons with a draft, FA, etc.? From what I recall the last TSB on the SN did.

Id like to know more about this also.

# 36 bcruise @ 06/03/10 03:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stux


	Does this game allow for multiple seasons with a draft, FA, etc.? From what I recall the last TSB on the SN did.

No, it's just basically 3 standalone seasons (and that's in casual season, I haven't tried competitive). This game is based off of the first SNES Tecmo Super Bowl, which itself was almost identical feature-wise to the NES version.

BTW, "casual" season is a bit of a misnomer - it is the same type of season mode the old games have, where you can set MAN/COA/COM/SKP control for all teams at any point in the season. In competitive you can only control one, and that's because your progress is tracked and posted on a leaderboard.

I decided to get it for PS3, but I haven't played enough online games yet to really judge it. It didn't seem totally unplayable to me though - I could feel a slight lag as the non-host, but I was still able to control my players well enough.

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