Tecmo Bowl (NES)

Tecmo Bowl
Developer: Tecmo Publisher: Tecmo Platforms: NES, Arcade (PlayChoice-10) Released in JP: November 13, 1990 Released in US: February 1989 This game has debugging material. This game has regional differences. This game has revisional differences. This game has a prototype article

Oh hey, it's that one football game. No, not Soccer, the other one. Not Rugby either. The one the Yanks play.

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Prototype Info

Crash Handler

Unlike the vast majority of NES games, Tecmo Bowl has a BRK handler. You can see it in FCEUX by clicking "Step Into" in the debugger and entering $FFEF in the PC box (or any other address containing the value 00). The addresses displayed automatically increment by 0x40 every 23 seconds or so.

(Source: BMF54123)

Revision Differences

PRG0	PRG1

A couple player names were changed for Indianapolis. As running back, Eric Dickerson was changed to Albert Bentley; and as kick returner, Albert Bentley was changed to Clarence Verdin. This was due to a legal dispute with Dickerson, whose lawyers claimed he never gave the NFL Players Association (whom Tecmo licensed player names from) permission to use his name and likeness.

(Source: Nintendo Player, New York Times)

Regional Differences

To do: More detail on this.

The Japanese Famicom version was released over a year later and has roster differences.

Virtual Console and Nintendo Switch Online Differences

The Virtual Console and Nintendo Switch Online versions removed all player names, due to no NFL Players Association license. The title screen likewise remains static and doesn't transition into the intro sequence.

For some reason, the US Virtual Console and Nintendo Switch Online release is based upon the Japanese Famicom version and has its 1990 copyright date. It's likely due to the Japanese Famicom version having more updated stats compared to the earlier NES release in the US.