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Tecmo Bowl world cup (24 team competition)


Tecmo-Mad-Brad

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A fellow Tecmo player and I are planning this Tecmo event in the next month, and we will chronicle the games here.  


 


We play a ROM which is composed of the USA version of Tecmo Bowl released in 1989, and the 1990 version which came out exclusively in Japan.


Many people are unaware of the existence of the 1990 Japan only release.  A few faulty playbooks were given a make-over.  Washington and Minnesota no longer have the terrible WR run plays, as they were given 2 regular run plays.


 


 We use a GameCube to play the rom, with adapters for the original NES controllers.  


--See images below for box artwork, and a screen capture of the two different versions of Tecmo Bowl.


    


 


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The 1990 Japan version of Tecmo Bowl featured updated rosters, which actually made some teams better or worse, depending on the ratings given to the players.  All the playbooks, the game-play features, etc, etc were exactly identical in both versions as you can see in the photo below.  However take note that Jim McMahon is the 1989 Bears QB, and Mike Tomczak is on the 1990 version.


USAJapanrosters_zps299d0f3b.png


 


 


To begin the competition, we ranked the teams by tiers to create a base for how we would pair them together.  In no particular order below are the tier breakdowns....


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Typo above-USA Dolphins are in tier 3.


 


The Format:  A World Cup style of Pool play was devised.  6 pools, with each consisting of 4 teams.


Every pool was randomly given a team from each of the 3 tiers.  A 4th team was randomly chosen to round out each pool.


Each pool features 2 USA version teams and 2 Japan teams.  Round robin play will commence in each pool. 


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The schedule:


Below breaks down the 3 week schedule for each pool.  The letter (U) or (J) by the team name distinguishes whether the team is USA or Japan version.  


The 3 game schedule dictates that half of each pool has 2 home games (Player 1), and the other half has 2 road games.  Each tier was randomly  represented with 3 teams having a predominant home schedule, and the other 3 with a predominant road schedule.  Each week also featured 2 marquee games in order to spread out the big match-ups. 


 


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The Tournament:


The team records after 3 games will determine the seeding in the tournament.


To determine seeding between teams with the same records a distinct metric was created.  Each team was given a schedule ranking based on the competition inside their Pool.  That ranking, then will be coupled with a rating for their wins to come up with a final tiebreaking number.  


 


It took into account the tier of opponents they faced, and also where the game was played.  Home(Player 1) and Road(Player 2).  With nearly 2,000 games worth of data, its clear that player 1 (home) has a distinct advantage and wins roughly 60-65% of the time.   


 


The top 8 teams in Pool play will be awarded 1st round byes in the tournament.  The other 16, will play at the home of the higher seed in the 1st round.


 


Pool Analysis:


See my posts further down as I break down each Pool in great detail. 


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PoolA_zps18293041.png


Projected pool winner:  Giants


Favorable schedule:  Broncos


Unfavorable schedule: Raiders    


Marquee game:  Giants @ Raiders


All hell breaks loose:  Seahawks defeat Giants


Dark horse for a 1st round bye: Seahawks


3 way tie at 2-1:  Not likely at all 


Highest schedule ratings:  Seahawks 8.66  Raiders 7.83  


Lowest schedule ratings:  Giants 6.56  Broncos 7.61


 


This is the weaker Giants version defensively, and Zeke Mowatt is no Mark Bavaro.  Lawrence Taylor is perfect for the schemes to stop these 3 teams, so the Giants will continue to be the Giants.  Despite the 2 road games the Giants should go 3-0.  Seahawks and Broncos have weak punters and lose a good estimated 12-15 yards on every punt exchange with the Giants.  As usual that's a lot to overcome in a game.   


 


The schedule does not favor the Raiders with games @Seattle & @ Denver.  If those games are @ L.A. I would predict a high probability of winning both.   


 


This Seahawks team has Rufus Porter who is capable of blocking field goal attempts from 30 + yards out.  That definitely helps their overall field position issues.  Seattle’s schedule presents opportunities to get a signature win with home games against the Giants & Raiders.  The bad news is that the most winnable game is Denver, played on the road.  Seattle comes in as the lone tier 3 squad in the pool, so their schedule rank is very high.  This gives them a solid tiebreaker rating should they go 2-1 and at least gets them in the conversation for a 1st round bye.


 


I like the Broncos schedule here getting LA & Seattle at home.  Probably not going to beat the Giants at home, so its best to burn a road game with them and try to make good on the powerful home field advantage.  


 


 


PoolB_zps486e40bc.png


Projected pool winner:  Bears


Favorable schedule:  Browns


Unfavorable schedule:  Dolphins


Marquee game:  Bears @ Browns


All hell breaks loose:  Dolphins defeat Bears 


Dark horse for a 1st round bye:  Browns


3 way tie at 2-1:  Very slim chance


Highest schedule ratings:  Dolphins 7.61  Colts 7.50  


Lowest schedule ratings:  Bears 5.36  Browns 6.30


 


This features the best version of the Bears with Gentry returning kicks.  Scary for the rest of the pool.  


The Bears have the goods to typically just "out-ugly" the Browns, even if its on the road.  Marino struggles on the road, and Mike Singletary is the perfect defender to use against Miami.  Shula needs to call a whale of a game, or Marino is going to have to thread a lot of needles.  Chicago's schedule is about as good as it gets if they have to split the home & road there.  


 


The Browns certainly have the best schedule here with the lone game on the road @ Indy.  This Colts team doesn't have Dickerson, and the offense struggles as a result.  


 


Miami gets both the Bears & Browns on the road, and a pretty assured victory @ Indy.  Miami can certainly pull off an upset to go 2-1 but its probably going to have to be against Cleveland.  Miami has a mediocre schedule rank, which I feel won't help them much in a bid for a 1st round bye. 


 


Overall this pool is weak.  Chicago has the benefit of facing a couple tier 3 squads and "gimme" games.  Cleveland likely needs to go 3-0 to get a 1st round bye as they are hurt by a terribly low schedule rank.  With that said, if the Browns can take care of business heading into the game with Chicago, their chances will be pretty decent to make a surprise 3-0 run.


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PoolC_zpsfee583ca.png


Projected pool winner:  Vikings


Favorable schedule:  Vikings


Unfavorable schedule: Seahawks


Marquee game:  49ers @ Vikings


All hell breaks loose:  Seahawks defeat 49ers


Dark horse for a 1st round bye:  Seahawks


3 way tie at 2-1:  Slim chance


Highest schedule ratings:  Dallas 9.75  Seattle 8.85


Lowest schedule ratings:  Vikings 7.61  49ers 7.65


 


The Japan Vikings have the big game with San Fran @ home, which makes them the pool favorite.  The Vikings can combat the 49ers offense with Doleman most all game who is really a game changer.  They can also go to Millard when San Fran is in shotgun, so they can give multiple looks on defense.  With a lot of the Vikings passes going to the bottom WR & TE, Ronnie Lott will be a non-factor quite a bit this game.  Herschel Walker is fast enough to evade Michael Carter on most of the diving tackle attempts.  I really feel the 49ers defense here is in some trouble here.   


 


Minnesota has some similarities to the USA Seahawks here with what they can do defensively and how teams try to stop their offense.  The difference is the Vikings have much more firepower on defense, and a far better set of skill guys on offense than the Seahawks.  


 


The USA 49ers will have some minor struggles with Seattle as Lott is often called upon to stop Largent, again neutralizing Ronnie somewhat.  I see the 49ers beating Seattle, but not Minnesota.  Dallas should be a lock win for the top 3 in this pool, unless the 2 games of home cooking wills the Cowboys to a win somewhere.      


 


Seattle has a tricky schedule splitting the Vikings/49ers home & road, but they have a high schedule rating as they face a couple tier 1 squads.  That puts them in the forefront for a surprise bye should they go 2-1.  The opportunity is there.


 


PoolD_zpsf93a22ef.png


 


Projected pool winner:  Colts


Favorable schedule:  Colts


Unfavorable schedule:  Redskins


Marquee game:  Browns @ Colts


All hell breaks loose:  Broncos defeat Colts


Dark horse for a 1st round bye:  Browns  


3 way tie at 2-1:  Decent to good chance


Highest schedule ratings:  Redskins 8.81  Browns 7.65


Lowest schedule ratings:  Colts 6.25  Broncos 7.46


 


This is the most intriguing pool as Indy, Cleveland, and even Denver could win this.  Not feasible to peg 3 possible winner in any other pool.  The 3 way dance between the Colts, Browns, & Broncos has them all split a home and road game.  Indy however gets the biggest game of all, at home against Cleveland.  The Browns have a playbook that Indy has some legit struggles defending.  The D-backs of Cleveland typically do as good a job as anyone slowing down the Colts offense.  Indy will need all the help they can get in that game.  Indy should have the goods at home to wear out the weaker version of Washington, and scrape by @ Denver.  Duane Bickett is the perfect defender to run a solid scheme against the Broncos offense, so I see some advantages in both games for the Colts.  


 


The Browns schedule with 2 road games and their overall ability, or lack there of to put teams away makes them a bit of a dicey pick to go 3-0.  That's considering they have 3 very winnable games here.  Kick returner Gerald McNeil is bound to be a difference maker somewhere in here, so 3-0 wouldn't surprise me at all.  To get that bye, they will likely need to go 3-0 with mediocre schedule rating. 


 


This is the Broncos best version, as they have a supreme kick return weapon with Ken Bell.  Facing elite kick returners is going to be scary for the Colts.  In this pool, the Broncos best asset will be Karl Mecklenberg, and how he can be schemed to stop the RB's Dickerson, Kevin Mack, and Riggs.  Teams will have to beat Denver through the air.  Denver is the type of team that can get really hot on offense running or passing.  That versatility makes them dangerous...at times.  With 2 home games they can be a force here, and possibly gut one out @ Cleveland.  


 


Washington has schedule strength on their side, but this version is pretty weak on defense, and doesn't possess much of an offensive attack.  I'd like to say they could do some damage, but I just don't see it especially with 2 road games.  This is a crap shoot Pool all the way around.  The pool winner here needs to go 3-0 as this pool overall has a surprisingly low schedule rating despite it having a couple tier 2 teams.  


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PoolE_zpsa475126d.png


Projected pool winner:  Bears


Favorable schedule:  Bears


Unfavorable schedule:  Cowboys


Marquee game:  Dolphins @ Bears


All hell breaks loose:  Vikings defeat Bears


Dark horse for a 1st round bye:  Dolphins  


3 way tie at 2-1:  Not likely


Highest schedule ratings:  Vikings 7.72  Cowboys 7.61


Lowest schedule ratings:  Bears 5.10  Dolphins 6.15


 


Slightly weaker version of the Bears mainly because they don't have Gentry returning kicks.  The Bears take on the best Dolphins and Cowboys versions.  With home games against those 2, Chicago should be poised for a 3-0 run.  The multiple looks the Bears can use in these match-ups will be big.  Singletary is a force against Marino, and McMichael will be used to shut down Walker. 


 


I like how Miami's schedule lines up with home contests against the defenseless Cowboys, and the Vikings.  Take the winnable games at home and hope for 2-1 at the worst.  This version has John Offerdahl as the top middle LB, further improving their chances against the Vikings. This Miami team has some quicks at WR and TE, so they are better equipped to tangle with the Bears, and possibly get the upset win.  Miami's TE is kind of a beast. 


 


Minnesota and Dallas each have 2 road games, and Dallas is home against Minnesota.  Hard to see either one make a serious run here, as both play @ Miam and they split the home/away with Chicago.  Viking are home against the Bears, but Chicago should win that game.  


 


PoolF_zps704ff8e3.png


Projected pool winner:  Giants


Favorable schedule:  Giants


Unfavorable schedule:  Redskins


Marquee game:  49ers @ Giants


All hell breaks loose:  Redskins defeat Giants


Dark horse for a 1st round bye:  Redskins  


3 way tie at 2-1:  Very unlikely


Highest schedule ratings:  Raiders 9.97  Redskins 8.70


Lowest schedule ratings:  49ers 7.35  Giants 7.50


 


The best 2 teams in all of Tecmo Bowl square off here with USA Giants & Japan 49ers.  I don't believe we've played this match-up before.  Giants at home here gives them a very slight edge in this game.  The 49ers should be more than equipped to get by offensively challenged teams like the Redskins and Raiders, setting up a big undefeated game with New York.


The Giants will have an advantage in the field position game, but San Fran can typically rattle off a 1st down or 2 before LT makes them punt.  On Offense Simms will need to be good, as the Japan 49ers have a ton of great defenders.  Simms needs to not lose this game on an INT.  


 


Washington would normally be the wild card for me, but the fact that they drew both the Giants & 49ers on the road really diminishes the chances they'll get an upset.  They can pack a defense on the road about as well as anyone, so they have a shot.  They will be favored against LA, meaning they are an upset away from playing for a lot in the finale with the Raiders.  The Redskins schedule rating is pretty stout meaning 2-1 gives them a legit run at a bye.  I feel they have a much better shot than LA to fill that dark horse role.


 


The Raiders Japan offense is pretty diminutive compared to their USA version, so they'll have to call some great games offensively to get Bo Jackson out and doing some damage.  The biggest hurdle for LA is the fact that every team they face has a fast bottom side defender that can neutralize Bo Jackson.  Steve Smith is a poor replacement for Marcus Allen, and the bottom side defender has far less to worry about with Smith in the game.  The Raiders will have to convert a lot of 3rd downs if they plan on winning a couple games here.  Based on schemes used to slow down San Fran & Washington, Howie long won't be much of a factor either further adding to their struggles.


 


I'll be very intrigued to see where the loser of New York and San Fran ends up.  With both having 2 home games they lose some schedule ranking power, which suggest the loser is playing at home in the 1st round.  This pool will be a brutal defensive battle with the Giants, 49ers, and Redskins.  We may have some games where it comes down to which defense can force a critical mistake to set up a game clinching score.   


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this is between you and another dude?

intense

will read

 

Yes, It's a guy that I typically play about 100 games a year against.  The plan is to go to his place on a Friday night and not leave until Sunday morning.  His wife and kids can play butler for us, with food and drinks during the marathon.

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Yes, It's a guy that I typically play about 100 games a year against.  The plan is to go to his place on a Friday night and not leave until Sunday morning.  His wife and kids can play butler for us, with food and drinks during the marathon.

i want pics of this event.twitter updates??You are going to record and youtube some of the games??

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I would like to put some stuff onto DVD like the differences in the carts/boxes(as illustrated above) along with the pool images.  Then Nate and I could present it like a broadcast, and I could jump through the chapters from one pool to the next as we break it all down with a TV in between us....like a preview show.  But that seems like a lot of time consuming stuff getting it all set up, so it probably won't happen.  


 


I recently bought a Sony handycam, and I need to give it a try out, so there will be some sort of game recaps on video, along with some analysis by us.


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Bracket for the tournament is all put together.  23 total games in all.   


If we were to lace em up and play the tournament right now based off a rough ranking of 1-24, it would look like this....


 


worldtecmoclassicbracket_zps23abc8f9.png


 


Seeds 9-16 would be home team in round 1.


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Team Control:  Nate and I will have 100% control of a few select teams throughout the competition.  He's better with the USA 49ers, and I am better with the USA Colts for instance.  That should help those top tier teams play at their absolute best.  There might also be some 2nd tier/3rd tier teams this will apply to as well.  


 


For general team selection between the 2 of us, the winner of the previous game will be awarded his choice of team in the next game....provided the next game doesn't have a team we already control.  That's added incentive to win your game, and get best possible option in the next game.  That should help the winner try to set the next match-up so it plays to his strengths therefore making the games even more competitive.      


 


Tiebreaker process:  I'm still working on the final tiebreaker procedure, but the theory is finally in place.  It will be a 2 part formula starting with the schedule rating which factors in which tier you play and where (Home or road).  That will be coupled with a secondary formula that factors in who you beat, and where.  It will make those upsets of tier 1 teams very valuable.  Those are the kind of losses for tier 1 teams that will really shake up the bracket.    


 


Story-lines:  Very curious to see which team(s) from Tier 2 can get that 1st round bye.  It obviously sets up a winnable game in the 2nd round against what should be a Tier 2 or even possibly Tier 3 opponent.  That 2nd round game leads into the Elite 8, and the beginnings of a Cinderella run.  It's feasible that a couple Tier 2's could reach the round of 8.  


 


I have a hard time seeing a team from Tier 1 losing 2 games, but the opportunity is certainly there in the 2 pools that feature a couple elite team.  That's why we play the games.  This short 3 game stretch doesn't allow much room for error, and that's probably the best part of it.


 


It seems easy to peg the Japan 49ers, and USA Giants as easy favorites to make a deep run, but that's not entirely a sure thing.  With them facing off in pool play, one of them will liely be on the road in the 3rd round, and funky things happen on the road.  With one losing in pool play, it also sets up a greater chance they would face off in the round of 8 or 4 instead of the championship game.  Might have 1 Goliath taken out a little earlier than expected, paving the way for a less than likely champion.


 


Also having USA NY and Japan San Fran sharing 1 side of the bracket, really makes the other side a lot more interesting.  90% of our Tecmo games are hard fought battles, often won by 4 points or less.  We recently had Japan San Fran sneak by the lowliest of lows, winning against Japan Dallas a few weeks back with a field goal at the gun.  While there are some decidedly schematic advantages in certain match-ups and superior player personnel, anything can happen in a 1 game setting when the games are often won by a field goal. 


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Killer preview. Hard to call the USA bears a dark horse pick but I like their chances with that draw.

If that was the actual bracket they were in, they would be the home team throughout and I think barring a stupidly good game called by the Giants, they would win that region.

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Guess i need to fill out a bracket.

 

The rankings of 1-24 in that bracket in the 1st round are pretty chalky looking to me.  To me, I see 5 slam dunk games for the home team.  The Seattle(17) @ Miami(16) game would be a battle.  As would Minnesota @ Seattle...and Miami @ Denver would be tough but clear edge to Denver.  Outside of those 3, the rest should be total control type games for the home team.  

 

Even if its only a 3-4 point win, those games should be in the bag.  I would predict only 1 lower seed wins those games.

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Brad you know I got love for you, but the Vikings favoured in their pool over the Niners? Are you on crack? 

 

Fixed playbook for the Vikings?  Check

Steve Jordan in Japan Tecmo is one of the most dangerous weapons in the game?  Check.

Herschel Walker running the ball for the Vikings instead of slow ass Darin Nelson?  Check.

Japan version Vikings have one of the better defenses in Tecmo with 3 absolutely elite guys?  Check.

Vikings are player 1?  Check.

 

Yeah, I'll pick Minnesota over the 49ers.  While I think overall San Fran is a top 3 team in both version combined, I feel the Japan Vikings are really a crazy tough match-up for them.

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Fixed playbook for the Vikings?  Check

Steve Jordan in Japan Tecmo is one of the most dangerous weapons in the game?  Check.

Herschel Walker running the ball for the Vikings instead of slow ass Darin Nelson?  Check.

Japan version Vikings have one of the better defenses in Tecmo with 3 absolutely elite guys?  Check.

Vikings are player 1?  Check.

 

Yeah, I'll pick Minnesota over the 49ers.  While I think overall San Fran is a top 3 team in both version combined, I feel the Japan Vikings are really a crazy tough match-up for them.

Brad,

 

The only thing that is not "checked" is that if you look at the Vikings (Both Japan and USA) positions on the game they are listed position wise as a 4-3  but when they actually line up they are a 3-4. Keith Millard should be a Top defensive tackle but in the game he lines up as the top Inside Linebacker. Henry Thomas is also a defensive tackle but he lines up at Bottom inside linebacker because of the positions snafu.  If you go to www.pro-footballreference.com the teams Minnesota are based on were 4-3 teams.  Especially the 1990 Japan version which is based on the 1989 season.  In that season Millard won Defensive Player of the Year at Defensive Tackle.  Not a big deal but just a bit of information that has bugged me since I owned the original Tecmo Bowl cartridge for the NES.

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Yeah, I remember now that you switched the defensive formation around for the Vikings in one of your roms.  I do recall that Scott Studwell was actually a LB but played as a DT for MIN on Tecmo.  


I fully support that idea, and will look into that change for the rom.  Good work!  


 


Do you know if there are any other teams that are considerably misrepresented on Tecmo???  Just going off memory, I can't think of any but there is bound to be at least 1 guy out of position.


 


Moving Millard to a top DT instead of a top inside LB wouldn't change anything in terms of how you can use Millard.  Based on the defensive player "run protect" schemes and what calls work, coupled with which player you can use.   Millard would be basically just as useful at the DT position, as he could go unblocked often against the run.  He'll still be a force against the shotgun for sure from the DT position. 


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