Football season is here. Whenever the weather gets a
bit crisp and sundays become holy for a different reason
altogether, I always get nostalgic and take my mind back
to one of the main reasons why I came to love football
so much. It was 1991, and I was in eighth grade at St.
Joachim and Anne in Queens Village. Everyone on my
block was a Nintendo head to the fullest. And there was
no game that inspired more arguments, diss sessions and
the occassional fight more than Tecmo Super Bowl at that
time. To me, it was possibly one of the best games ever
to come out on the NES and was Madden BEFORE Madden.
You have doubts? Let me proceed to break it down for you.
1)Top of the line graphics...for 8-bit.
No one expected the sprites to change from the first Tecmo
Bowl game, but the cutaway scenes were a definite upgrade
from those Etch-a-Sketch-on-LSD drawings we used to get.
(And what was with those high-fives?)I used to love getting
a sack on someone and seeing the defensive player hop up
and tremble with adrenaline in sync with their name popping
up. The quarterback-to-reciever plays had some flair as well,
with the QB throwing a nice looping right in joy as the wideout
ran with the ball hoisted aloft in triumph. And of course, we
all remember the display when someone got hurt. That used
to get me in hot water whenever I played a season and saw
that happen to a key player because the first words out of
my mouth were 'SON OF A -'...
Bo knows touchdowns.
2)You had all of the NFL teams PLUS the Pro Bowl lineup.
This made it more fun to have good matchups. No more of
those games where if you played against Chicago and that
insane 99 yard pass to Cap Bozo(on a side note, isn't that
the wildest name you've heard in football EVER outside of
He Hate Me?) you were guaranteed a loss. Outside of Tampa
Bay, Indianapolis, Green Bay and Arizona, every team gave
you a fighting chance. Add substitutions, health gauges,
injury reports, statistic sheets as well as a huge playbook
to select from and this game became the standard for
all other sports games to follow. Which brings me to my
next point:
3)The players made Tecmo Super Bowl great.
Lawrence Taylor was a BEAST in that game. I once played a
full season with him and by the time the playoffs came, I
had 47 sacks. That's right, 47. Derrick Thomas(RIP) of
Kansas City was the same way. Bo Jackson was hands down
the best running back - you let him break free, chalk up 7
points for the other side. Even Dan Marino, DAN MARINO
was the equal of Randall Cunningham(known as one of two
players who didn't give permission to have their name in
the game, therefore known as QB Eagles)in running and
passing which was NOT the case in real life. All of these
players made the NFL that much more vivid to me whenever
I watched the games, from Craig 'Ironhead' Heyward(RIP)
to Joe Montana to Barry Sanders. And they made for some
crazy gameplay. I remember being down a touchdown with
15 seconds to go in one game. I'm on my own 6 yard line
playing as Oakland. My nephew Stevie had Washington. I
called a run play for Bo Jackson and all of a sudden, I broke
free and ran rings around the entire defense for 90 plus
yards laughing the entire time, so much so I couldn't
even hold the controller. It was so bad I got challenged to
play three out of five right afterwards. Which brings me to:
Joe Montana back to throw...
4)Competition. And trash talk.
Every game I played against my boys, or cousins had that
extra spice served up by a bit of smack-talk. 'You aint
s**t without Kansas City. Play me using another team yo.'
'Yo if you use another QB run with Philly again on me, I'ma
jap you in your mouth.' I've seen lips split, instant rumbles
and even someone get a textbook bounced off the corner
of their eye. Tecmo Super Bowl bred a lot of intense
competition not unlike what you have in Madden sessions
today. And some real heavy trash talking which always
got someone a little sensitive. Thankfully after a few love
taps and close quarter wrestling, things boiled over and
we all remained cool.
5)Nostalgia.
If anything else, my love for this game is shared with a
great deal of other people. And now thanks to technology,
I can revive that joy on my computer thanks to roms and
emulators that run NES games. Some have even created
Tecmo Super Bowl roms that have today's players. Is that
a little bit TOO much? I don't know...I wouldn't mind a
matchup between today's New York Giants and the Giants
of 1991 Tecmo style.
Imagine?
Madden is the king of sports video games, and with good
reason. But for times when I want to recapture some
old memories, I'll pop on the emulator and soak up some
8 bit, synthesizer laden, sprite filled greatness that is
Tecmo Super Bowl. See you on Sunday.