Games for Lunch: Tecmo Bowl: Kickoff
In a nutshell: It's easy and fun to beat those Supercocks!
12/11/2008 8:21 PM | 0 Comments | Page 1 of 3
Developer: Polygon Magic
Publisher: Tecmo (duh!)
Release Date: Nov. 17, 2008
System: Nintendo DS
ESRB Rating: E
Official Web site
0:00 I never played the original
Tecmo Bowl, but I know it has a borderline obsessive fan base. I generally like old-school sports games more than modern, hyper-real simulations, so this one should be right in my wheelhouse.
0:01 The title screen logo appears with what sounds more like fighting game music than football game music. It's all very tinny and old-school. "
Tecmo Bowl: Kickoff," says an even tinnier announcer when I press A. Also, why's the game called
Kickoff? The series kicked off decades ago. I don't think that word means what they think it means...
0:02 I get to choose from a bunch of fake teams, including the Carolina Carnage, the Chicago Chinooks and ... the Los Angeles Supercocks? Really? Supercocks? I go with the Houston Heatwaves, because they're the only team that has a halfway decent name.
0:04 In the team editor I can edit my team's name and colors. So I can rename them to the Houston Texans, but they can't just call them the Texans out of the box? Thanks a lot, EA.
0:08 So apparently I can edit stats like max speed, hit power, pass accuracy, rush avoidance ability, etc. for all my players. That's not that surprising. What is surprising is, they all start off intentionally gimped, with plenty of stat points to distribute as I see fit. Good thing I looked at this player editor screen, or all my players would be underpowered scrubs!
0:09 OK, I could spend the next hour tweaking points for all bajillion players by hand, but instead I'm just gonna head into a quick game against the Kansas City Clashers.
0:11 The coin gets tossed up from the bottom screen to the top. I elect to return and "O. Azana" takes the kick. Man ... he runs pretty slowly. I get tackled by what looks like my own teammate after a slow nine-yard return.
0:13 I can choose from four running plays and four passing plays. That's it? "Red 32. Red 32. Hut hut hut hut hut hut hut." Oh, am I supposed to do something? I hit A and the QB pitches it to my runner, who also seems quite slow. The opposing team's uniforms are practically the exact same color as ours. That's going to be problematic...
0:14 I get some excellent blocking on a 13-yard run up the middle for a first down. "First Down!" says the tinny voice in the speakers.
0:15 My first pass play is to a guy wide open, just standing there waiting for the ball. I don't really understand the pass controls yet ... I got lucky passing to the one wide-open guy, it seems.
0:16 The first quarter's over already after a couple more first downs. I'm working it down the field pretty easily here. I still don't understand the pass controls, but I think I figured out that mashing the A button helps break tackles.
0:18 A close third and short play brings out the chains for a measurement. Nice, full-screen animation here. It's fourth-and-inches. I used the handy "dive" option on the play screen to get an automatic first down, complete with more full-screen animation.
