Tecmo Super Bowl

I love the X-box Live Arcade Games and am one of those gamers who have probably spent the majority of their time on the 360 in the Arcade.  I was reviewing an article posted by our 360 expert TANK in our forums where IGN created a list of Most Wanted XBLA titles.  (see http://www.2old2play.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=9653) and noticed that they had one glaring omission.

Tecmo Super Bowl !!!



This golden oldie from the NES would be a huge success on the Arcade.  The game play from this title stands the test of time and is still a lot of fun to play today.  It took the basic football mechanics and boiled them down to the essentials so that the game could fit on the NES carts.  The controls were basic and intuitive.  A to hike, B to select receiver, A to pass.  You only had 8 plays that could be called and if the defensive guessed correctly, they would storm the line for a big loss.  Play calling became like a chess match.  "He probably expects a sweep left so I will pass out of the same formation to throw him off." 

Probably the most memorable aspect of the game were the "Super Players."  Tecmo didn't have the vast resources to do in-depth scouting of each NFL player like EA does now.  Most players were either bad, average, good, or fucking super.  The best guys in the league were significantly better than the rest of the guys.  Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Bo Jackson, Warren Moon, Lawrence Taylor, Howie Long, Barry Sanders.  It was quite common for these guys to do things that are impossible to do in a real game.  Running 80 yards for a touchdown 5 times in a single game.  800 yards passing.  8 sacks.  Bo Jackson is regarded as the best video game football player ever based on his performance in this game.

Fast forward 15 years and think about what could be done with this game on Live Arcade. 
-Live leaderboards where you could compare most rushing yards in a game with the world or just your friends
-Ranked VS games using the true-skill matchmaking system
-Setting up a online league with a bunch of your buddies
-Achievement points for such things as winning the season, rushing Bo for 400 yards in a game, holding Jerry Rice to 40 yards
-Downloadable roster updates (think of how fast Vick would be)

Of course, EA's lockdown of the NFL and NFLPA license could be a roadblock to this getting published.  But, some kind of a deal could be worked out.  I think an acceptable agreement would be for them to get half of the roster update cash.  So, for instance, the original game could be offered for 800 points ($10) and the 2006 roster update could be offered for 400 points with 200 of that going to EA.  I think that would be an acceptable offer on both parts and it would definitely be something that I would pay for.  Plus, Tecmo could use EA's databanks to program out their player rankings, as long as they remember to spike up the rankings on the superstars.  I look forward to seeing Cadillac Williams take over Bo Jackson's title of Best Video Game Football Player EVER.