Tecmo Bowl Throwback (XBLA/PSN) Review

Though it provides little more than a shiny new coat of paint, Tecmo Bowl Throwback is a still fun, arcade-style Football game that lives up the the original.

With modern sports titles being focused on realism, the arcade-styled action of yore has been pushed to the side, fortunately arcade sports has been making a comeback on various consoles, Tecmo Bowl Throwback is one of those games.

TOUCHDOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWN!

Let's talk about the gameplay first. It's first and foremost an arcade title, so when compared to something like Madden NFL 2010, which is focused on presenting American Football as realistically as possible. Tecmo Bowl in comparison is fast, frantic and simple. Not that it's a bad thing. Throwback borrows it's formations and playbooks from the 1993 Super Nintendo port of the original Tecmo Bowl and much like the real game, choosing the right play for the right time is vital in gaining yards and scoring touchdowns. Apart from streamlined menus, there is little to differentiate Throwback from any of the previous games in terms of core gameplay, but some new features like the ability to take a team through 3 seasons are nice additions,

Due to EA Games' exclusive licensing of both the NFL and the NFLPA, you won't be seeing any real-life players or teams in this game. Instead you get to take play as one of 96 fictional teams like the Portland Prisoners, the Tennessee Oil Slicks and the Toronto Ducks, each with their own unique roster of players. If you're feeling up to it, the game also features a team editing mode, so you can design your own unique team or create a Tecmo Bowl version of your favorite XFL team.

Coggins? That's a silly name!

The graphics are the cool point in the game. Similar to R-Type Dimensions (Another downloadable title by developer Southend.) you can switch between the pretty HD graphics and the classic 16-bit arcade ones on the fly. The graphical transition is smooth and has no effect on the actual gameplay, so it's a neat feature and gives players a choice of how they want to visualize the game.

as previously mentioned the game has a fairly long single mode (3 Seasons) but the real fun lies in the games multiplayer. You can play a local season play game with up to 6 players and of course there is online versus play complete with leaderboards.

Overall, Tecmo Bowl Throwback is a fun game, it's got enough depth that the avid Football fan would find something to enjoy, but it's also got the arcade quality that makes it fun and easy to play for someone who isn't fond of or familiar with American Foootball. The game is available on the Playstation Network and Xbox Live Arcade for $10 or 800 MS Points and it's worth checking out.

- Kyle K.