OT: What was it about Tecmo Bowl?

[Dawgfan1980]

Originally Posted by larrymcg421

For me it was Omni-Play Basketball on the C-64. One of the earliest dynasty mode games (although I think the same company had Soccer and Hockey games before it). I played it countless hours and still play it every now and then.

I played that game so much, and the soccer game from them (I think it was Sporttime) that my C64 went up in a poof of smoke one day. My favorite aspect of Omni-Play, besides getting the Forward named Day who had a 9 for outside, and Samuel, who had a 9 for Control, was the pregame talk between the announcers. You don't get stuff like that anymore. Also, the original Madden, where you could make your own plays for the C64. I think me and my buddy made somewhere near 15 playbooks over the course of one lonely week in the summer. {Sigh} Not much to do up here in Washington when you are 10.

[Maple Leafs]

I think people have hit on the basic reason why Tecmo was such a winner:
- It was fun
- It was easy to play
- It was just realistic enough, but didn't try so hard to be a true simulation that it drove you crazy

You could be sitting around with your buddies playing Tecmo and someone who had never seen the game could walk in the room and ask to play. You'd spend 30 seconds explaining it to them and then off they went. You could learn 95% of the game in the first quarter you played (of course, the other 5% took a lifetime to really master...)

Compare that to Madden, with its three pages of button combinations. Every year it's the same thing -- Brand New feature! Just hit R3 while holding X and L2 and your player will... I've been playing Madden for a decade and I still have to do the "pause and grab the manual" dance for every new version. God help you if you're new to the game and trying to play.

I think it's similar to the way many of us hockey types still prefer the old NHL games (circa 93-95) to the modern ones. Part of it is nostalgia, sure, but I don't think that's all of it. Those games were simple, fun and still yielded relatively realistic results if that's what you were looking for. Today's games feel like the designers spend more time getting the sun's rays to reflect properly off the helmets than on fundamental game play.

Or maybe I'm just a crusty old man.

[MJ4H]

Baseball Simulator 1000 would be the best baseball game ever if it didn't take 5 minutes to sim one CPU vs CPU game

So, it's Baseball Stars

[stevew]

Baseball stars was awesome, but Baseball Stars 2 kind of sucked. I desperately wanted Baseball Stars for the Neo Geo, but that jank was like 300 bucks for the system.

[stevew]

Originally Posted by Hurst2112

I should explain where I got my information:

I purchased Tecmo Super Bowl 3 Final Edition for the SNES when it came out (sometime in 96...had the jags and panthers).

I can attest to every detail in the SNES version of the game because I played it constantly for about 8 months.

About 2 years ago, I purchased a used genesis and a new version of TSB3 final edition for it. I wanted to be able to have it, just in case I felt the need to have fun again. I started playing it, and quit after about 2 seasons of play (got a PS2 and put the Genesis in the closet).

Because you asked, and were suprised, I will make it a point to play more than 3 seasons on the Genesis version. I would assume that the features would be the same as the SNES version. I will be more than happy to report my findings.

I'll let you know

EDIT:

Just to fill you in, after the 3rd year (I think you had to win 3 Super Bowls or something. I could be wrong), a bunch of players were available in the FA period. They would be named after the team and position they played for. For instance, Lambert would be named LB STEELERS 58 or something. Singletary would be named LB BEARS 50. You get the idea. You would get a bunch of players from older teams after the 3rd year. You would have to figure out how to make room (have enough points available for signing) on your roster. Just because you put a bid in on a player, it didn't mean that you got him. He could sign with another team if he chose, which made it really fun.

Wow. I definately need to check this out when I go back home where the genesis is.

[DanGarion]

I loved NHL 94 for Sega, it was nearly perfect. Although they didn't include the records that they had on the SNES version (can't remember what year). But if you brought up a player it would show the record # of goals the player had scored in a game. I liked that feature. Honestly any feature that saves "records" was always cool.

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by Maple Leafs

Yep. The one that showed people would buy a game even if it didn't have super-keen graphics, as long as it got the realism-level right. Arguably the first real big-time sports sim.

Bah, give me MicroLeague Baseball (and the little pink and white smurfs) on the C64 any day!

That and I'll take Sporttime's Superstar Ice Hockey (covered here before), and Baseball Simulator 2000. Oh, and Super Techmo Bowl of course.

[wishbone]

The thing about Tecmo bowl for me is that I never went undefeated against the CPU. I would get 1-3 games per season where I got no breaks and would lose 34-14 or worse. Even with sliders, house rules and play-calling limitations, I can not get the same experience in any version of Madden.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by wishbone

The thing about Tecmo bowl for me is that I never went undefeated against the CPU. I would get 1-3 games per season where I got no breaks and would lose 34-14 or worse. Even with sliders, house rules and play-calling limitations, I can not get the same experience in any version of Madden.

I went undefeated once with the Cheifs. 16-0. There was a point in the season where the computer (er, Nintendo) would get harder and harder until it picked your plays, your guys got hurt, and nothing would work. I found a trick, however, in which you could gain yards even if the computer picked your play. I think it was the "motion" play. It was a pass play to the RB, but you could also scramble pretty easily. DeBerg eecked out enough 4 yard 'scrambles' that I was able to control the game and win. Ahhh...

That ranks up there with the time my Erik Wilhelm led Bengals went 15-1 and won the Superbowl!

[MikeVic]

Damn you guys. Despite having a couple of newer games, and a few older games I still wanna play.... I'm playing Tecmo NBA Basketball now. My goal is to make Pervis Ellison the leading block man, Michael Adams the leading steals man, and A.J. English the leading scorer on the Bullets.... If only I didn't read this thread...

[Philliesfan980]

Originally Posted by MikeVic

Damn you guys. Despite having a couple of newer games, and a few older games I still wanna play.... I'm playing Tecmo NBA Basketball now. My goal is to make Pervis Ellison the leading block man, Michael Adams the leading steals man, and A.J. English the leading scorer on the Bullets.... If only I didn't read this thread...

I hear ya. A head to head Tecmo league would be great at FOFC. Even if it was just a simple tourney.

[haji1]

Baseball Stars was awesome. I played that game too may times until the wee hours of the morning in college. Your team always sucked to begin with and you had to slowly build them up over time made it challenging. I always did my own paper stats for that game and kept them nice and neat in a folder. Then I would go and spend hours pouring over the stats. God I was pathetic. I still have it and the old Tecmo games for my sons 5 and 8 to play. They love them. Easy to understand, easy to get into and a hell of a lot of fun.

[Maple Leafs]

Originally Posted by MikeVic

Damn you guys. Despite having a couple of newer games, and a few older games I still wanna play.... I'm playing Tecmo NBA Basketball now. My goal is to make Pervis Ellison the leading block man, Michael Adams the leading steals man, and A.J. English the leading scorer on the Bullets.... If only I didn't read this thread...

Ah, the oft-forgotten Tecmo Basketball.

Now does anyone remember Tecmo Hockey?

[RawIsDan]

Originally Posted by TroyF

Biggest dissapointment of all time, tied with the last version of FBPro

The biggest dissapointment was not the last version but that Sierra bailed out on it. Asswipes !

[DanGarion]

Yeah. I remember them all. Tecmo Baseball for the Sega wasn't too bad either.

[stevew]

Originally Posted by dangarion

Yeah. I remember them all. Tecmo Baseball for the Sega wasn't too bad either.

There was some bug in tecmo baseball tho, where a LH hitter couldnt successfully pull the ball. Only way to hit was opposite field.

[korme]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

That ranks up there with the time my Erik Wilhelm led Bengals went 15-1 and won the Superbowl!

Hell yeah dude! Wilhelm is probably my favorite player, who, um, never played. Every year I'd get excited when he returned to Cincy.