Sports gamers weened on the 90 yard bombs, bonecrushing hits, and pick-up-and-play controls that were the cornerstones of the 8-bit and 16-bit Tecmo Super Bowl entries had to wait a long time–a really long time–for a proper follow up to those classic titles. Tecmo attempted to revive the franchise with 2008′s Tecmo Bowl: Kickoff (which feature a rather cool ability-building system), but the Nintendo DS exclsuive fell a bit short of the lofty standards set by the earlier games. Two years later, Tecmo has returned to the franchise with Tecmo Bowl Throwback, a game that should find a place in the hearts of gamers that grew up on the older Tecmo Super Bowl games as it is a Tecmo Super Bowl game.

Tecmo Bowl Throwback, for all intents and purposes, is a ROM hack of the SNES verison of Tecmo Super Bowl that strips out the NFL license (thanks, EA!) and adds fantasy players and a glossy polygonal paint job. This isn’t a slight on the game by any means–in fact, i think it was quite the smart move. Tecmo has given its fans exactly what they want–an old school arcade football game that plays exactly how they remember. The legendary teams and players from the SNES Tecmo Super Bowl are present, but given secret identities and new uniform colors so not to encroach on the EA NFL exclusivity deal (once again, thanks, EA). Forunately, you can edit player and team names, but uniform colors are locked.

I’m not going to delve into Tecmo Bowl Throwback‘s gameplay mechanic; it’s the same brilliant formula that made the old school Tecmo games so fun. You hike the ball and either hand it off to a back, or cycle through receivers for a toss. The infamous Tecmo blitz that occurs when the defensive player selects that same formation as the offesnive player is here as well. If you love Tecmo Bowl, you’ll love Tecmo Bowl Throwback as it features the same gameplay–you can even zigzag for extra yardage. The music is even the same, although it appears to be slightly remixed.

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The new element here is the ability to switch between the shiney hi-resolution polygonal visuals and the old school 2D Tecmo Super Bowl visuals (a letter boxed, low-res field) by tapping RB button. You can do it at virtually anytime during gameplay, and the transition is surprisingly non-jarring. Tecmo included the 2D game mode to appease old school fans, but swtiching between it and the polygonal graphics, at least for me, does more than change the visuals; it can assist in playing the game.

For example, when I’m running pass plays, I like to use the the hi-res mode as there’s more field to survey. When pushing the ground game, I like the old school mode, as the camera appears to be a bit moe zoomed in, which matched with the fat sprites, makes finding and zipping through holes a bit easier. You can’t switch views in online matches, which I suspect may be tied into lag issues.

Weather effects include clear, rain, and snow, but there isn’t an option to randomly shuffle between the conditions. The effects could’ve been rendered better; the rain effect, for example, is so subtle that you may not realize that it’s there.

The new polygonal cutscenes are particularly slick; when you sack a QB, intercept a pass, or are involved in other dramatic scenes, Tecmo Bowl Throwback (like the original) you get an up close and personal look at the action.  Here you get to see the new character models which adopt a cartoony style, top-heavy, bodybuilder-like frame. When playing in the 16-bit mode, it’s the standard 2D Tecmo Super Bowl cutscenes. These are well done, but I don’t like the team selection menu; it lacks the NFL divisions, so you may feel a little lost as your cycle through squads.

It’s the multiplayer/online components that causes Tecmo Bowl Throwback to drop the ball. There’s no season mode, customizable playbooks, or tournament brackets; you’re limited to a series of one-on-one exhibition matches. It’s a damned shame really considering that Tecmo diehards have done just that in ROM leagues. Worse, there’s no penalty in place for rage quitters, but Tecmo claims that this is in the works.

Tecmo Bowl Throwback is a game made explicitly for folks like me who grew up playing the Tecmo Super Bowl and its sequels. Although it doesn’t have the hall of fame players (at least by name) the classic, simplistic gameplay packs enough lighthearted punch that will keep fans playing for hours on end. Grab a beer, grab some buds, and have a blast.

[2D-X would like to thank Samsung for providing the Samsung SC-HMX20C that we uses to shoot video 2D-X TV. Thanks, Samsung!]