Tecmo Bowl: Kickoff

 DS
  • Publisher: Tecmo
  • Release Date: Nov 18, 2008
User Score
7.3

Mixed or average reviews- based on 8 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 8
  3. Negative: 2 out of 8
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  1. PaulC
    Nov 20, 2008
    10
    Don't listen to reviewers. This is a GREAT football game and a history lesson to all youngsters that Tecmo Bowl was the building foundation for all of video game football today. Tecmo Bowl Kickoff does not mess with the old formula. It plays exactly like it did 17 years ago with some new improvements. HUT, HUT, HUT this game is FUN, FUN, FUN. See you online!!!
  2. DJT
    Nov 20, 2008
    9
    Tecmo is back! It's good to see this game on nintendo DS. This game isn't for everyone - the critics have been a little overly harsh on it. It's not madden and it's not the 8-bit game either. You do, however, have beefed up graphics, a good bit of plays to swap out, customization of your players, and just overall easy pick up and play mechanics that is what the DS is Tecmo is back! It's good to see this game on nintendo DS. This game isn't for everyone - the critics have been a little overly harsh on it. It's not madden and it's not the 8-bit game either. You do, however, have beefed up graphics, a good bit of plays to swap out, customization of your players, and just overall easy pick up and play mechanics that is what the DS is all about. If you want something a little more in depth, go play madden like the rest of the football nerds out there. You want old school, fast paced, simple football? Pickup tecmo, your 8-bit childhood deserves it.… Expand
  3. JustinD.
    Jun 12, 2009
    7
    An old classic brought back to life, the Tecmo Bowl series was insanely popular, back when there was no Madden or 2K Sports to rule the market. And what you got in those Tecmo Bowl games back then, are a spitting image of what you get here, for better or worse. A graphic and engine style that could run on an NES, it's simple gameplay is easy to pick up, but difficult to master. Or, An old classic brought back to life, the Tecmo Bowl series was insanely popular, back when there was no Madden or 2K Sports to rule the market. And what you got in those Tecmo Bowl games back then, are a spitting image of what you get here, for better or worse. A graphic and engine style that could run on an NES, it's simple gameplay is easy to pick up, but difficult to master. Or, in other words, for a Madden generation, confusing to master. Passing can be done in two ways. First with buttons, where tapping a button will go through your recievers until you land upon one which you want to throw to, and then you'd press the button to throw, which is quite different than having a reciever assigned to a button you could simply press, but for retro sake, the old style remains. Secondly, and slightly easier is to use the DS touch screen. With the touch screen, you can tap your reciever twice to select and throw the ball. This seems like the better of the two, but the touch pad can have some sensitivty and placement issues, many times which resorts in the user tapping directly on the reciever, but it never registering, which leads to a nice sack in your confusion. The running game is simple enough, pick the play and move with the D-Pad. Another option is leading your back by dragging the stylus over the touch pad, but here, D-Pad is easier. One of the huge draws about this game is it's INCREDIBLY in-depth game editor. Obviously this game has no NFL license, and it's players are randomly generated names and teams which on start-up have vague associations with pro teams. But with the editor, you can change absolutely everything about a team, from name, city, colors, uniforms, logo, and playbook. Which goes without saying, players are fully editable as well, along with stats, and with a bit of effort, you can have a replica of the NFL in no time. The replayability comes with the addition of a Season mode, where you simply pick a team and play out a season. It has a simplistic trading mode between teams that can keep things interesting, but for game mode depth, that's the only option. Overall, the game is very easy to find yourself picking up and playing many times throughout a day, and being hard to put down.… Expand
  4. wowboywowboy
    Dec 5, 2008
    10
    Finally! I've been waiting and I'm glued like I was back in the day. The stylus control is sweet and the gameplay is the way I remember it. Worth the cost of my DS!

Awards & Rankings

79
#79 Best DS Game of 2008
52
#52 Most Discussed DS Game of 2008
67
#67 Most Shared DS Game of 2008

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
66

Mixed or average reviews - based on 21 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 21
  2. Mixed: 15 out of 21
  3. Negative: 0 out of 21
  1. Nintendo Power
    60
    Althought the concept held up through Tecmo Super Bowl on the Super NES in 1993, 15 years later it just feels archaic. [Dec 2008, p.96]
  2. GamePro
    70
    If nostalgia is your game, the original Tecmo Bowl on Virtual Console still remains unbeaten after all these years.
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  3. IGN
    77
    One solid, well-designed retro football experience. It's a great "remember when" piece; the football experience definitely has a hard time holding up to today’s sports experiences, but Tecmo does everything it can to make sure Tecmo Bowl fans have something to cherish in a current generation product on the Nintendo DS.
    Read full review
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