Tecmo Super Bowl - Gameplay and Features

Gameplay and Features

The main menu of Tecmo Super Bowl provided the player with options for NFL Preseason, Season Game (Regular Season) and Pro Bowl play. Team data could also be accessed from the main menu.

In the original NES Tecmo Bowl, each team had 20 players on its roster, with nine players for offense, nine players for defense, a kicker, and a punter. In Tecmo Super Bowl, each roster had 30 different players. Each team had eleven defensive players, which could not be substituted, nor injured. Each team had seventeen offensive players, which included eleven starters and six substitutes. At any given time, eleven players were on the field for each team, consistent with NFL rules. A kicker and a punter were also on the roster.

In addition to using real teams and players, TSB incorporated the full-length 1991 NFL regular season schedule for the game. The playoff format, including the Super Bowl and the post-season Pro Bowl game, was also used.

Tecmo Super Bowl retained the arcade-style football gameplay of the original which included no penalties and the ability to break tackles. However, the game added new features, such as statistics tracking, expanded and editable playbooks, the ability to substitute players, varying conditions of players, fumbles, and player injuries. As it had previously, the game used cut scenes for important events like touchdowns and halftime shows. Tecmo Super Bowl also added cutscenes when injuries or big plays occurred.

As part of the gameplay, players can adjust offensive plays and substitute players for each NFL team and for the two Pro Bowl teams. The Pro Bowl team's roster can be edited as well. Offensive, Defensive and Special Teams players could be viewed as an individual "player card" with their statistics and attributes and their status, which can improve or decrease, making the player better or worse.