Tecmo Super Bowl

The Good
- Simple controls.
- All 28 NFL teams, complete with full rosters, official team colors, and logos.
- Real NFL schedule.
- Pro Bowl mode and the ability to create your own Pro Bowl teams.
- Playbook editor.
- Very good soundtrack.
- Simple, but effective weather simulator.
- Improvements over the NES title include user-control touchbacks and kick blocking.


The Bad
There are minor roster issues with missing players, possibly from them not being part of the NFLPA's marketing agreement at the time. Since there's nothing the developers could do, I don't hold this against them.

The Bottom Line
To someone who knows the now legendary NES title well enough, I'd describe TSB for the SNES as a version updated in every way. Updated graphics, logos, music and gameplay features not present in the NES version. The mechanics are largely the same and anyone who played the NES version will have no problem picking this game up and playing right away.

To a new player, I'd describe the game as simple, but fun. Easy to play, understand and control. "A" plays are run. "B" plays are pass. Kickoffs and punts are controlled by a simple power bar. Field goals and extra points are controlled by an accuracy arrow and the kicker's personal kicking power.

A note: this game was released in 1993. The National Football League did not adopt 2-point conversions until the next season in 1994, so, if you're a new player and you're wondering why the screen automatically transitions to an extra point attempt instead of the playbook, that is why.

There is no penalty system in this game, but the game doesn't really allow you to foul. You can't move your defenders before the snap, so you can't go offsides. Offensive players don't false start. You can (and will routinely see) players continuing to tackle after the play, but unnecessary roughness is not called. In regular season mode injuries do occur, but post-play tackling does not injure players.

There are 3 weather settings in the game: clear, rain and snow. Clear games are pretty much "neutral" mode. Rain and snow games cause players to fumble more frequently and QB's sometimes slip when dropping back to pass. The effects are minor compared to modern games, but the visuals are nice to change up the gameplay.

Much of the music is updated renditions of the same songs heard in the NES game. Each mode has different songs and there are different songs used for player 1 and player 2 just like the NES version. They're all good, energetic tracks fitting for a football game.

The main goal of the game is obviously to win the Super Bowl, but in this game you truly beat the game in 3-year Mode where you take control of one team and win the Super Bowl 3 years in a row, becoming the first franchise to do so. To this day (in 2020), no NFL franchise has won three straight Super Bowls.

In season mode, you can control as many teams as you want, but the goal is to win the Super Bowl 3 straight years with one team. During the regular season, the game gets progressively more difficult as the game goes on, with the playoffs being especially difficult.

The game keeps track of all player and team statistics. If you are a numbers nerd for sports, you'll have fun trying to lead the league in various statistical categories.

Another trademark of TSB is the cutscenes. If you played the NES game, you are aware of this trademark feature. All the players basically look as jacked as Hulk Hogan, but these cut scenes are a fun part of the TSB experience.

Tecmo wasn't going for the most realistic football experience here and considering the time, that was for the better. All the other games of the time that tried to be realistic failed with overly complex controls, design and features that handicap the player and make for a boring experience. TSB gives us video game football in a fantasy video game land and in my opinion it was the best football game of the time.

Today, a game like this would never be a hit, so I'm not sure how much fun the casual, younger gamer would have playing this compared to modern-day Madden titles. TSB is a total product if its time, but an important product of its time and a title that has retained a strong cult following over the years. For a younger player, I suggest you give it a playthrough. The learning curve is very short, so there's no intimidation factor in having to sit down and learn a new style of gameplay and controls completely foreign to you. Just hit start, select your team and play.