Cons: Screen not large enough, Doesn't capture the same magic. Players seem sluggish.
The Bottom Line: Some people who have played the original Tecmo Bowl will be a little disappointed. However, this is still the best football game for the original gameboy.
kjell1979's Full Review: Tecmo Bowl for Game Boy Color
*Note* This review assumes a working knowledge of football. It is possible to play this game without a general knowledge of football, but it is much harder and for some people not as fun if you don't know what you're doing. However, I myself learned more from video game football than from real football.
Tecmo Knows Football
Tecmo Bowl and its sequel Tecmo Super Bowl are two football games that many guys in their early 20's can relate to. The words "Bo Jackson" can be used to forge a bond among these people, not because we all watched Bo Jackson suiting up on NBC every Sunday. Rather, it was because he was without a doubt the most respected video game sports athlete of all time. Nowhere has a player achieved so much respect and acclaim for a career that will not make the hall of fame. Needless to say, Tecmo had a good thing going when it released its two football games for the Nintendo.
What made these games so innovative about it was the fact that you had real NFL players with comparable abilities. That is, Jerry Rice could run like lightning and Ronnie Lott had a nose for the ball. What kept people interested was not the players, but rather the gameplay. Even though you could choose specific offensive plays, the action was more of an arcade like feel. The players moved with fluidity. It took quick reflexes to dodge diving tackles. It was also challenging to try and keep opposing backs from dodging your defender and taking the rock to the house.
Tecmo Bowl Comes To Gameboy
Due to the popularity of Tecmo Bowl by the early 90's, Tecmo was expanding its Tecmo series of games. New Tecmo Super Bowl versions started appearing on the SNES, Genesis, and even Playstation platforms. This time they had better graphics, sound, and innovative features. Not only that, but Tecmo began releasing other sports games for baseball, basketball, hockey and even soccer. However, the basketball game was the only one that really thrived. The original Tecmo Bowl was also remade for the Gameboy. This is the review of that game.
Knowing the limited capabilities of the Gameboy platform, it seemed quite a large task to be able to port Tecmo Bowl, however it was done really well considering this fact. All the teams, players and playbooks are all there. Player abilities and statistics displayed on the top bar are all there as well. The ways different teams interact and perform are also just the same as the Nintendo version. The sound is a little more primitive sounding, mostly because of the limitations of the Gameboy platform. The graphics are also the same way and also uses a grey scale pallet for the same reasons.
What Is Tecmo Bowl Like?
For those of you who are unfamiliar with Tecmo Bowl games, this section is for you. The common theme in Tecmo Bowl games revolves around its play calling as well as the on field action. In Tecmo Bowl games, you have a playbook that you can choose one of many plays. In the case of this game you have four plays to choose from which you cannot change. These plays correspond to a button and combined with a direction on the control pad. One example of this is up + "a". If you are on defense, you still are shown the offensive playbook screen as well. The reason is you are expected to pick one of the offense's plays. If you pick the same one that he does, then your defensive players will recieve a speed and power boost on the field which frequently results in a loss of yards or at best a no gain for the offense. If it is not the same play, the defense reacts in a generic fashion.
The on field action is a little different than most football games. The view of the field is a top down view. The area of the field in view for Tecmo Bowl games covers between 10-30 yards. In the case of this game, it's roughly 10-15 yards. When players of opposing sides engage each other, they appear to start wrestling. This is what I, and most people in the Tecmo Bowl community call "grappling". This is used by the game to represent blocking or tackling. If the player you're controlling starts to grapple, you must press the "a" button rapidly to break the tackle. Defensively players can also slide to tackle you as well. If caught by a slide, you're automatically tackled and there's no grappling. However, if the defender misses, he'll be down for a couple seconds. Generally, on defense, you'll want to grapple because a second defender can come in and slide tackle the back while you're grappling. Conversely, if you have the ball you want to try and force the defender to slide because if you start to grapple it leaves time for the rest of the defense to catch up. You can induce sliding tackles by weaving your ball carrier in a zig zag motion.
When on offense, you'll first appear at the line of scrimmage. The quarterback will begin to say hut hut hut ... over and over until you press the button to hike the ball. If it's a running play, the quarterback will automatically give him the ball. All you need to do is move the ball carrier using the directional pad and press the "a" button rapidly if you start to grapple. If it's a passing play, a cursor appears over a receiver. By pressing the "b" button you can throw the ball to the receiver with the cursor. You can change the cursor by pressing the "a" button.
When starting on defense, there is something you must do before the quarterback hikes the ball. You must choose your defender by pressing the "a" button to cycle through your players. As soon as you found a player and stop hitting the "a" button, the quarterback will hike the ball automatically after a second or two. You move your defender using the directional pad. If you wish to dive, press the "b" button while near the ball carrier. If you start to grapple, press the "a" button rapidly.
There are a few specific details that pertain only to the original Tecmo Bowl. First there are only 7-8 players per side. This is mainly done for performance issues as well as screen limitations. Tecmo Bowl games in general do not have any penalties either. In the original Tecmo Bowl, you must cover the receiver whose being thrown the ball tightly on defense and you'll automatically be granted an interception. In other games, you can double or even triple cover the receiver and you might not get an interception. The best players might even catch the ball in those situations.
Analysis
Looking at the game compared to other Tecmo Bowl games, it seems to me that it didn't quite capture the same magic. First of all the game seems dated. Tecmo Bowl was a great innovative game, but its sequel Tecmo Super Bowl was that much better. Tecmo Super Bowl had real NFL teams in addition to the real players. It also had comprehensive stats, a real NFL schedule complete with playoffs and a Super Bowl. After playing Tecmo Super Bowl, this game doesn't offer as much.
In addition to it's dated features, the gameplay isn't as good as it could be. The controls are really sluggish. Tecmo did a good job of creating games with precise responsive controls. However, in this game, the controls really react slower. The players also are a little sluggish as well. One of the reasons the Tecmo Bowl series thrived in its time was because the gameplay on the field moved quickly and the controls were precise. Here it is not the case.
However, looking at this in perspective, it is still Tecmo Bowl. One factor that has to be weighed in is the fact that it's the only Tecmo Bowl game that's on a portable platform. This makes the game much more valuable. If there was a portable Tecmo Bowl that incorporated all the the newer aspects like real teams, statistics, a real NFL style schedule and playoff system, then I would have no reason to pay money for this game. Since this is not the case, this game is one of the most played games in my Gameboy library. It's this fact alone that I recommend it for anyone who can't get enough Tecmo Bowl.
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