Tecmo Bringing Tecmo Bowl: Kickoff To DS

Developer and publisher Tecmo has announced its plans to bring Tecmo Bowl: Kickoff, an arcade-style American football game based on the original Tecmo Super Bowl for NES, with touchscreen controls and online support exclusively to the Nintendo DS. This marks the series’ first new entry since 1991. While Tecmo Bowl: Kickoff will feature 32 teams with customizable colors, names, cities, and abilities, the game will not include NFL teams or players as with the NES original, due to the NFL’s exclusivity deal with Electronic Arts, according to a report from consumer weblog MTV Multiplayer. Tecmo Bowl: Kickoff’s features and additions include new special abilities, stylus controls, customizable playbooks, new cut-scenes, and a soundtrack boasting rock and roll remixes of memorable songs from football gaming history. The game will also support local and online games for an unspecified amount of players. Said Tecmo executive producer Ryan Gilbo, “We are extremely excited to bring back everyone’s favorite football game to the Nintendo DS. Kickoff is packed with everything that fans wanted to see in this revival. No other football game will ever compare to Tecmo Bowl as this is the game that started it all.”