Tecmo Bowl: Kickoff
Score: 70% ESRB: Everyone Publisher: Tecmo Developer: Polygon Magic Media: Cartridge/1 Players: 1 - 2 Genre: Sports (Football)/ Classic/Retro/ Arcade
Graphics & Sound: It has been over 15 years since the last Tecmo Bowl came out, and it has been nearly that long since I have played one. I will freely admit that I am not someone that plays sports game avidly. I do, however, love arcade sports games such as Mutant League Football, NBA Jam, and the first title in the Blitz series. Tecmo Bowl: Kickoff is trying to court me and make me relive the glory days of sports games when I actually felt like playing the game instead of going outside and playing sports. Tecmo Bowl: Kickoff knows that its roots are on the Nintendo products and it makes sense to have it on the DS. It doesn't make sense to use the equivalent 8-bit sprites for Kickoff. They have a style they want to stick to and I can appreciate that, but it doesn't have to be at the expense of me being able to tell which team I am playing because everything is so freaking small and blurry. The only parts of the game that look like they have an upgrade in the last 10 years are the short videos that play when you pull off a special play like an interception or a touchdown. I know that the developers want to reward the player with cool scenes, but when I have no idea what just transpired, (much less what team I am playing,) the effect is wasted. The sound design is in dire need of an update as well. Many of the voiceovers and songs that play throughout the game sound like they are being forced through a MIDI sequencer against their will. It is all 8-bit throwback. On the bright side, the music compositions all have just the right amount of early '90s cheesiness and it works to flood the player with nostalgia.
Gameplay: It is hard for me to be so critical of Tecmo Bowl: Kickoff because the easy excuse that anyone can give for it is just to simply say, "Well, its Tecmo Bowl." That says a lot about the brand and license behind the game. The developers could have gone in numerous other directions, but they chose to keep it retro. I feel that it could have been better if they updated everything and just kept the core gameplay the same. Anyways, Tecmo Bowl: Kickoff does offer a good time provided you acclimate yourself to the controls and setup right away. Since they don't have the NFL license, all of the teams are made up or references to real life teams. One of my personal favorites is the New Orleans Zombies (YAY!). It does offer a custom team feature though, so if you wanted, you could have the names, numbers, and playbook of some of the old teams from Tecmo Super Bow. The only complaint is that the customization option is a little lacking. You can only change the colors, emblems and uniforms from preset options. It would have been really nice to use the touch screen to draw symbols of outfits for the teams like you could in Mario Kart. So while you can't truly have New England Patriots, you can have the closest approximation. If you aren't messing with the playbooks or uniforms, you can play in Quick Matches, Seasons, or an All Star Mode. Honestly though, for the most enjoyment, go with the All Star Mode since most of the players' stats are even so you can actually play a game instead of cursing at the game because that was the 4th turnover in 45 seconds. They added a new super move system into Tecmo Bowl: Kickoff as well, but you wouldn't know it at all because the opponents only use the super moves when they have a significant lead. To be quite honest, I never used a super move in any of my games that I played. The system isn't explained at all nor does it let you know which player has the special abilities ready. That brings me to another thing, I would put it in difficulty but it is part of the main game, so here it goes. Tecmo Bowl: Kickoff does not teach you how to do ANYTHING. It is completely trial by fire. There are no on-screen prompts or training modes anywhere throughout the game. The only way to find out how to pull off a super move is to consult the manual. Come on guys, I need a little briefing on the game, it has been 10 years since I played the last one. Lastly, you can take any of the teams or custom teams online with you if you want to have a quick grudge match against one of your friends. You can also trade teams with your friends if they made a version of the Jets that you want on your game. The downside to trading is that you have to delete one team to finalize the trade with your friend. So, don't get too attached to any of the existing teams because you have to get rid of them sooner or later.
Difficulty: Tecmo Bowl: Kickoff isn't designed to be a realistic football game at all. It is supposed to be a little unbelievable so that the action and pacing keep going. But it becomes a little hard to continue when the last three times you attempted a running play resulted in a fumble. (Don't they have glue they can use?) Matters aren't helped much when the opponent A.I. likes to blitz as often as possible and cost you ten more yards. Probably the most frustrating of all is that you have to sit through an entire seasons worth of games if you choose Season Mode. I just wanted to take a single team to the play-offs and see how I could do. But since I only picked one team to play as, I had to sit through every other team's matches and results before I could play my next game. If they decide to fix that, the easiest thing to do is to have the players' games back to back and before each one starts, offer the results of the other teams to keep the player up to date.
Game Mechanics: Here is the one huge quirk I have with Tecmo Bowl: Kickoff : it only uses two buttons. I know, I know, they were trying to keep it retro with an NES controller, but if you have more buttons to use and more abilities to utilize, then use those unused buttons. (A) and (B) are the only two buttons you will use besides the D-pad. During the playbook section, you can call different plays by holding a direction on the D-pad and either (A) or (B) depending on if you want a run or pass play. There is no indication on-screen which play you picked, so if you accidentally pressed a button out of impatience, then you are screwed out of knowing what play you just called. That system was designed so that if two people were playing, the other person couldn't screen cheat and know what play you chose. In this day and age, when does more than one person play on the same DS? Even a little red box that marked which play you chose would have been accepted. At the end of the day, the only thing to say is "Well, its Tecmo Bowl," and while it doesn't do much else than relive the past, it does have the simple, fun gameplay of its predecessors. After all, the only thing that any good football game should have is fun and quick gameplay and Tecmo Bowl: Kickoff will keep you entertained for a while.
-HanChi, GameVortex Communications AKA Matt Hanchey
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