Tecmo Bowl provided me ESPN-worthy gridiron insight.

A zig-zag running pattern, for example, is nearly unstoppable in the open field, a quality quarterback should throw at least 80 yards with pinpoint accuracy and a good playbook need only be eight plays thick.

Of course, omniscient football gurus like John Madden would scoff at these lessons, a difference in pigskin philosophy made clear in video games. Madden games strive for realism, but Tecmo’s antithetical series has always focused on a fast-paced, simplified version of the popular sport.

Through that old-school lens, Kickoff is uncannily similar to the legendary Tecmo Bowl games before it, and long-time fans of the series should immediately feel comfortable inside this very familiar huddle.

Tecmo Bowl: Kickoff faithfully follows the template set by the NES original Tecmo Bowl and the SNES follow-up Tecmo Super Bowl with little deviation. A few minor alterations have been made, but for the most part, Kickoff feels and looks virtually identical to its celebrated predecessors.

Eight-play playbook? Check. Dramatic two-frame cut scenes? Check. The same easy controls and gameplay? Check. Just about everything that made Tecmo Bowl a great series has been brought back for the revival.

Tecmo’s approach is simple and always has been. But the result is addictive and fun, and unlike exaggerated football series such as Blitz, Kickoff isn’t absurdly over-the-top. It fits comfortably between realism and fantasy, a refreshing change from today’s polarized football options. 

Tecmo made a few additions for the move to the Nintendo DS, including an entirely touch-based control scheme that eliminates the need to cycle through receivers with a touch-to-pass system. But aside from quickening the passing game, the new scheme is mostly cumbersome.

In another first the series, Kickoff implements a system of experience points earned in season play. These allow gamers to adjust teams’ and players’ abilities and even grant them special super abilities, such as giving a quarterback the ability to throw a rocket pass or juke around a sack. These moves happen automatically, often changing a game’s dynamic.

Perhaps the most significant change afforded Tecmo Bowl by modern platforms is online multiplayer, which is embraced in Kickoff by an impressive, relatively elaborate system of code-fueled friend matches and match-ups against strangers. You can even trade players online.

For me, Kickoff’s only major flaw is its lack of an NFL license, a commodity exclusively owned today by Electronic Arts. The game shipped instead with fictional, generically named teams and players. Tecmo worked around this potential problem, however, with an ingenious solution: Each of the game’s 32 teams is completely customizable. From uniform colors and designs to players’ names and abilities, every detail of Tecmo’s football league can be edited. This unmitigated adjustability allows you to create every NFL team with precision, sneaking around the lack of a license by allowing you to recreate the NFL if you wish.

Playing a full season with my hometown Pittsburgh Steelers and shutting down rivals like the Cleveland Browns before meeting the New York Giants in the Super Bowl, the game felt as though it were created with an NFL license thanks to the extent to which you can edit the league.

The only problem with this work-around is the time it requires. It took a week of dedicated, monotonous editing to create a perfect NFL match with every uniform adjusted, name corrected and roster fleshed out. It requires a gargantuan effort, of course, and most players probably won’t bother. But for meticulous football fans who want to play with authentic NFL teams and players, it’s a simple matter of elbow grease and editing.

Even with a pseudo NFL and great gameplay, though, Kickoff still fumbles on occasion. The cutscenes often won’t recognize adjusted rosters; instead of crediting a touchdown to a created LaDainian Tomlinson, for example, the cut scene will still highlight a fictional back with a generic name. It doesn’t happen every time, but it does happen often.

More important than a cosmetic issue, however, are a few exceedingly rare gameplay glitches. Charging downfield on a lucky pass, my opponent attempted his special power to gain extra yards. This led to a strange glitch causing the next snap to be taken from inside my own endzone. An automatic touchdown. Bummer.

This glitch occurred only once during my ridiculously extended playtime with Kickoff, however, the only moment of which I could accurately label a “bummer.” Otherwise, the latest Tecmo Bowl delivered every yard of the enjoyable old-school gameplay I’d hoped for. It’s an absolute joy to play.

Your experience with Tecmo Bowl: Kickoff will inevitably be a direct product of your expectations. Make no mistake, this game is a nostalgic piece in the vein of Capcom’s Mega Man 9. Innovation wasn’t a priority, but Tecmo has successfully refreshed the series for a modern platform.

If you’re expecting a reality-faithful, Madden-approved game of pigskin, look elsewhere. For players seeking fun, simple and addictive football gameplay, though, Tecmo Bowl is still the game’s unrivaled MVP. Hut, hut, hut...buy it!

Gameplay: 8.0
Tecmo’s simple gameplay and easy controls have aged remarkably well, leaving the optional stylus controls cumbersome in comparison.

Graphics: 7.0
Tecmo Bowl was never a visual stunner. Neither is Kickoff, but the SNES-like sprites are colorful and fun, harkening to simpler years.

Sound: 5.5
The first Tecmo Bowl games had the same awful style of music, but at least the tunes were memorable. This time, they’re just annoying.

Difficulty: Easy
Consistently winning by 50-point margins gets old quickly. For a challenge, take Kickoff online for human opponents; you won’t get it from AI.

Concept: 7.5
Some argue Tecmo Bowl feels archaic in 2008, but the opposite is true. During an era in which sports games are either too realistic or too over-the-top, Tecmo Bowl thrives as vibrantly as ever in the middle.

Multiplayer: 8.5
I’ve literally spent cumulative days of my life playing Tecmo Bowl with friends. Now that its online, it should increase into cumulative months.

Overall: 8.0
Tecmo’s gridiron throwback is as addictive and fun as it was in 1989.