Tecmo Super Bowl 2014

September 28th, 2013 Scott Swingle

After reviewing Madden 25 and NCAA Football 14, I found myself wanting a change of pace. I wanted to play a football game that was more arcade like. Something that was simple. Something old school. So I hopped in my DeLorean, gunned it to 88mph and went back into sports video game history.

The simplest and most addictively fun football video game that I remember playing as a kid was Tecmo Super Bowl for the NES and later the upgraded version on the Super Nintendo. The original Tecmo Bowl for the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) was just as fun but only carried 12 teams and none of the players names were 100 percent accurate since Tecmo did not have the player licensing rights from the NFLPA.

The NFL did back Tecmo Bowl but only the names of the cities and team nicknames were shown. So what makes Tecmo Super Bowl so special?

Tecmo Super Bowl was the very first football game to have actual NFLPA player licensing and NFL team licensing at the same time. Because of the success of Tecmo Bowl, the NFL and NFLPA agreed to sign on with Tecmo for a sequel. Thank you Tecmo, I bow down before thee. Many hours were lost in my childhood playing friends and family members in Tecmo Super Bowl.

It was so simple it was a thing of beauty. The original had four plays but the Tecmo Super Bowl had eight, making it more of a chess match than loading up on the same play over and over again. The player ratings and stat tracking were amazing and new to sports gaming that it made this the deepest and most detailed football game during it’s time. Oh yeah and it only had a D-Pad and two buttons. TWO BUTTONS!!! The game had no penalties, which we all liked. No slowing this fun train down. A simple side-scrolling football game that had the movement and action of an arcade game, captured sports fans hearts for generations to come. Which is a prime example for the argument, quality over quantity…EA…(wagging the finger with a look of disapproval).

We had one rule in my house we all agreed upon. NO BO JACKSON!!! The man was almost God like in the game. Anything goes except Bo. Lawrence Taylor was another player who chaffed my buns. LT couldn’t be blocked if someone controlled him. My favorite thing to do in Tecmo Super Bowl however is possibly the greatest feat in all of sports video game history. Most of you know what I’m talking about. The 100 yard pass. Yes folks, a 100 yard pass is achievable in Tecmo Super Bowl. My QB of choice was always Dan Marino. Laces out Dan!

image courtesy of tecmobowl.org

Why do I bring all of this up? Well if you haven’t guessed it by now with the photo of J.J. Watt screaming in your face, there’s a new Tecmo Super Bowl. That’s right Tecmo Super Bowl 2014 is out on tecmobowl.org. It is an updated version with current teams, logos, and rosters.

You can play Tecmo Super Bowl 2014 in one of two ways. 1.) You can download the ROM and NES Emulator. Think of a ROM as a digital copy of the game. You must download an NES emulator (which is a digital version of a gaming console) in order to play. 2.) Or you can play Tecmo Super Bowl 2014 off their website. It’s a small screen and is more of a flash game which will take up some computer resources. Not enough to slow your computer down since it’s only 8-bit after all but I would highly recommend downloading the ROM and Emulator. Much better to play with a controller than a keyboard in my opinion.

Not much experience with ROMs and Emulators? No need to fear, tecmobowl.org has a list of safe emulators to download and instructions on how to install them and the ROM of Tecmo Super Bowl 2014. It’s pretty easy. Even I figured it out and I’m not the most computer savvy guy. All I know is the computer let’s me write my articles, send emails, and watch por…cupines. Yup watch videos of porcupines on YouTube. Back to what I was saying.

Imagine playing as an 8-bit J.J. Watt, Adrian Peterson, or Aaron Rodgers. Playing this modern day throwback (oxymoron, look it up) brings tears of joy to a gamer’s eyes. Such a nice change of pace compared to always being force fed the same stuff from EA Sports every year. To be able to bridge a generation gap through the power of video games is incredible. Do you know many dads can now play video games with his sons or daughters and also feel like a kid as well? All of them!

So head on over to tecmobowl.org to download Tecmo Super Bowl 2014 and get back to the basics in this updated masterpiece. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it. Well in this case just give it this years rosters.

What are some of your favorite memories of playing Tecmo Super Bowl?