Interview: Mike Fahrny, producer, Tecmo Bowl Throwback

Interviews, Sports — By Jeffrey L. Wilson on March 10, 2010 at 10:02 pm

If you follow my game-related ramblings on Twitter, you know that I recently spotted a Tecmo Bowl Throwback plug on one of ESPN‘s late afternoon/early evening sports programs. As a long time fan of the franchise, I was admittedly geeked; not just for the exposure that the legendary series has garnered, but also for the fact that I had a Q + A session cooking up in 2D-X‘ cauldron of awesome. A Q+A that you can check out right now.

Certainly, building a football game within the era of EA’s Madden exclusivity is an uphill battle . How do you hope craft a compelling pigskin experience?

To put it simply – by staying true to the original that everyone loved so much. We’re not trying to give people the next gen sim experience that Madden is – we just want people to have a good time with some nostalgia form their childhood.

Tecmo Bowl Throwback is the first new Tecmo football game since Tecmo Bowl Kickoff. Will the new game contain elements of the old such as the Super Abilities?

No, this version is much more true to the SNES version of Tecmo Bowl. We found that a lot of people didn’t like the some of those elements from Kickoff.

In terms of customization, will gamers be able to tweak teams as they see fit, or will they have to have to earn points over the course of a season to apply to abilities?

All abilities in Throwback are true to the SNES version and players will not be able to edit them nor will they increase/decrease over a season. Earning points over a season is a good idea though – perhaps the next time around.

Will Tecmo Bowl Throwback have any secret characters or teams?

Well, I’ll tell you this – all the SNES stats are in the game so you really just need to know where to look to find what you’re looking for.

Tecmo Bowl Throwback features both retro, 2D graphics, and a polygonal, modern look. What was the emphasis for this move?

While we wanted to give people the original experience that they all love, we also wanted a chance to update the visuals of the game while still keeping it arcade.

When playing in the polygonal mode, can you rotate the field or is the view locked in the horizontal view?

The camera is locked to the horizontal view in Throwback. We played a lot with the camera this time around and found the one you’ll see in the finished product to be best for this type of arcade football. There is a zoom option that will let you get a closer look than the default camera though, should you want one.

Will the stat tracking be improved over the rather confusing implementation seen in Tecmo Bowl Kickoff?

The stats have been modified to be a little more user friendly now. I think people will enjoy the new look and be able to interpret the info a little easier than before.

An official release date hasn’t been announced, but which quarter can we expect to see the game released?

Very, very soon…

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More 2D-X News, Features, and Reviews:

Tecmo Bowl Throwback: Rumored Tecmo Super Bowl HD remake coming to PSN and XBLA

Tecmo Bowl Throwback gets drafted; blends old school and new school graphics

Tecmo Bowl Throwback gets dated, videoed

Tecmo Bowl Throwback gets a spankin’ new gameplay trailer

Review: Tecmo Bowl Kickoff (DS)