Tecmo Bowl

Nintendo console exclusive

A side-scrolling, four-player American football game that can be played as two-on-two, one-on-two, etc. The game is somewhat primitive in that there is no play pattern selection; only the receiver can be selected before play begins. One player controls the QB, the other plays the wide receiver/running back.

Released: 1 December 1987
Platforms: Arcade Game Boy NES Nintendo Switch Wii
Genres: American football Sports
Developers: Tecmo
Publishers: Tecmo
Modes: Multiplayer Single-player
Perspective: Bird view / Isometric
Themes: Action Non-fiction
Country: Japan
Languages: English
Copies sold: 1.5 million
Composers: Keiji Yamagishi

About

Tecmo Bowl is a 1987 American football video game developed and published by Tecmo for arcades. The game features a large dual screen cabinet with up to four players between two fictitious teams. A port for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) was released in 1989 and was the first console game to include real National Football League players, via a license from the NFL Players Association. A Game Boy version developed by Sculptured Software followed in 1991.

The NES version was extremely popular, spawning various sequels, starting with 1991's Tecmo Super Bowl. The NES original has been cited as one of the best sports video games ever made. The NES and arcade versions have been re-released (without the NFLPA license) for various platforms.

Keywords

soccer
football
american football
artificial intelligence
8-bit
split-screen multiplayer
box art - real photos
sprinting mechanics
downloadable content
stat tracking
speech synthesis
touchdown

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

The original arcade version is distinguished by a large two-monitor cabinet, support for up to four players, and the ability to break tackles. Only two fictional teams can be chosen: the Wildcats and the Bulldogs. Its 2D graphics are more advanced than the NES version, with a larger color palette and more detailed sprites.

The NES version allows two players to play rather than the arcade's four players. The player can choose between three modes: one-player, two-player, and coach. In one-player mode, the player picks a football team and plays against the computer. After every game that the player wins, it is given a password to continue their quest for the championship and the computer picks another team to play as, and the player stays with the original choice. In the two-player and coach modes, the player and another human will play one game but the players only choose the plays in the coach mode (which cannot be done in the arcade version).

Reception

According to Tecmo USA's Dimitri Criona, the game was a smash hit in American arcades and an even bigger hit for the Nintendo Entertainment System, becoming a cultural phenomenon in the United States. As of June 2007, the Tecmo Bowl series had sold 5 million units worldwide.

Sinclair User reviewed the arcade game in 1988, scoring it 8 out of 10. They called it a "superb" game that significantly improved on earlier American football games such as 10-Yard Fight (1983). Computer Entertainer reviewed the NES version in 1989, scoring it 7 out of 8 stars.