Wayback Wednesday: Tecmo Super NBA Basketball

This is Wayback Wednesday, your midweek blast from the past! From retrospectives of basketball games and their interesting features, to republished articles and looking at NBA history through the lens of the virtual hardwood, Wednesdays at the NLSC are for going back in time. This week, I’m taking a look back at Tecmo Super NBA Basketball, primarily focusing on the Super Nintendo version.

Despite being old enough to have played it when it was new – or at the very least, recent – Tecmo Super NBA Basketball is another classic hoops title that I didn’t play until years later. As you may know from our podcast and my previous articles, I didn’t become a hardcore basketball fan and gamer until the mid 90s. This means that my introduction to the virtual hardwood was through games such as NBA Live 95, NBA Live 96, and NBA Jam Tournament Edition, rather than the likes of Double Dribble, Lakers vs. Celtics, Bulls vs. Blazers, and of course, Tecmo Super NBA Basketball.

I’ll admit that this made it difficult to truly appreciate those games the first time I played them. After all, they felt like inferior versions of games that I was actually nostalgic for! I respected their place in the history of the genre, but it was tough to get into them. They were intriguing though, and over the years, I’ve given those classics another chance. This has led to some fun retro gaming sessions where I’ve come to see why they’re so beloved, and discover aspects that were ahead of their time. That includes Tecmo Super NBA Basketball, so let’s take a look back…way back…

Although NBA Live came to be the premiere brand in sim basketball games by the mid 90s thanks to some landmark releases, it didn’t originate everything in the genre. For that matter, neither did its forerunner from EA, the NBA Playoffs series! From Lakers vs. Celtics through to Bulls vs. Blazers, the NBA Playoffs games – true to their name – only included teams from the most recent postseason. This meant that several notable players would be absent year-to-year, though the inclusion of the East and West All-Stars did manage to sneak in a few extra stars. Furthermore, the Playoff tournament was the only mode of play apart from the standalone exhibition games.

To that point, EA’s basketball titles weren’t the first games to include the entire NBA and a full regular season mode. That distinction belongs to a pair of games developed by Sculptured Software and published by Tecmo: Tecmo NBA Basketball for the Nintendo Entertainment System, and its 16-bit equivalent on Super Nintendo, Tecmo Super NBA Basketball. While NBA Basketball for the Intellivision was the first game to be NBA licensed and the NBA Playoffs series was also endorsed by the league, Tecmo’s games were the first to be officially licensed by both the NBA and NBPA, allowing for the inclusion of all 27 teams featuring 12-man 1992 season rosters.

Tecmo was no stranger to landmark sports games, having developed and released Tecmo Super Bowl in 1991. By partnering with Sculptured Software – who had previously made NCAA Basketball (aka World League Basketball, aka Super Dunk Shot) for the SNES – Tecmo were undoubtedly looking to repeat the success their iconic NFL football game had achieved. However, neither Tecmo NBA Basketball nor Tecmo Super NBA Basketball would be received as warmly, from reviewers in 1992 or in retrospectives in the years since. As I’ll get into, it’s far from a bad game, but if nothing else it didn’t inspire the same cult following as Tecmo Super Bowl.

That’s not to say that it’s hated, but there does seem to be mixed feelings about it. Both versions have ratings of “Good” in polls over on GameFAQs, and Nintendo Power scored Tecmo Super NBA Basketball 3.625 out of 5; hardly terrible. You will find positive and nostalgic comments about Tecmo Super NBA Basketball in particular in various places online. At the same time, there are criticisms that date back to when the game was new. Our friends Josh and Dave of Namo Gamo – creators of the excellent Basketball Classics – are on record as finding the gameplay frustrating, particularly the fouls and lack of strategy; criticisms that tend to be echoed by other hoops gamers.

Mind you, this is my retrospective of Tecmo Super NBA Basketball! To that end, what do I think of it, in particular the SNES version as it’s the one that I own and could’ve played back in the day? Well, I will say right out of the gate that like the games in the NBA Playoffs series, it doesn’t quite measure up to NBA Live 95. The addition of a turbo control was such a huge development in the genre that any game without one feels primitive in comparison. Even putting aside nostalgia, I do believe the titles that served as my introduction to the virtual hardwood hold up better these days. As for its contemporaries, there are some things that EA’s games did better.

I’d also have to agree that many of the common criticisms of Tecmo Super NBA Basketball are fair and on point, so I certainly have some mixed feelings about it as well. With that being said, it’s been fun to spend time with, even without the benefit of nostalgia to gloss over some of the issues. Some of the strong points that jumped out to me immediately were the pace and the size of the court and players. Compared to the NBA Playoffs games, it feels less sluggish, and there’s more room to work with.  It’s also a bit easier to avoid incidental contact leading to cheap fouls. That does still happen, but you’re less likely to have your starting five in foul trouble by the half.

Three-pointers are tough – though easier from the corners – but jumpers inside the arc are reliable, so you won’t be unable to score if you can’t get to the rim. There are four release zones for timing shots, ranging from too early or late (worst) to the top of your jump (best). Hook shots can be performed in the post, though with the right angle on the perimeter you can put up one from downtown (and make it!). Holding shoot for too long will result in a travel, even on dunk and layup attempts. There are only a handful of dunk and layup animations, but that’s to be expected for a 1992 title. The jams and slams we have at our disposal are nevertheless satisfying to throw down.

Unlike the NBA Playoffs games that introduced the T-Meter, there’s no dedicated free throw mechanic in Tecmo Super NBA Basketball. Free throws are also animated as regular jumpshots rather than the usual set shots. Mechanically speaking this isn’t a huge issue as it means that free throws are attempted using a familiar timing method, but it is visually inauthentic. Timing is also important when jumping for the opening tip, which is done using the shoot button. The heights of the players are also a factor, so in theory you’ll have an easier time if you have a taller man in the middle. There’s a learning curve as far as mastering timing and strategy, but it’s very pick up and play.

Pass and shoot are A and B, which is the reverse of the more familiar layout in later basketball games, though there wasn’t really an established genre-wide standard at that point. Occasionally I’ll mix them up out of habit, but it’s not a major issue. Both A and X are used to switch on defense, with the former switching to a teammate in conjunction with the D-Pad, and the latter switching directly to the best choice (usually the man closest to the ball). Start is used simultaneously with the D-Pad to call plays, while Select brings up the pause screen where you can view statistics and the status of your lineup, make substitutions, and change some gameplay options.

Pressing and holding the pass button picks up your dribble and allows you to delay the pass as you select a recipient with the D-Pad, which can be an effective method of slowing down the play and avoiding an interception. Indicators above the players’ heads and their names and jersey numbers at the bottom of the screen identify who you’re currently controlling, or looking to pass or switch to. This is necessary, as outside of their skin colour, the players are all identical! Whereas games like Bulls vs. Blazers have a decent assortment of heads to make players distinguishable at a glance, everyone in Tecmo Super NBA Basketball has the same head with a mop of hair.

The lack of a sprint/turbo control absolutely makes Tecmo Super NBA Basketball feel dated, but in that respect, it’s in the same boat as the NBA Playoffs games. I will say that working the angles in a game like Bulls vs. Blazers works slightly better as far as getting a small speed boost on drives. It does work in Tecmo Super NBA Basketball as well, but CPU defenders have a tendency to match your diagonal movement and keep pace with you. Interestingly, L and R are used as intentional foul controls, when they could’ve easily been sprint/turbo buttons. Once again though, that didn’t become a common mechanic in sim basketball video games until around the mid to late 90s.

Players have ratings for running speed, jumping, stealing, blocking, shooting range, and stamina. These attributes are internally rated out of 100, but are represented by power bars in the game. There’s a decent amount of accuracy in the ratings – enough for players to generally mimic their real life counterparts – though there are notable errors such as Gary Payton not being good enough at steals, and Jeff Ruland being a bit too quick. Despite a few undercooked or overdone ratings and an overall small array of attributes, they do have a noticeable impact on the gameplay. Star players with strong ratings definitely stand out in their effectiveness at both ends of the floor.

Like many classic games though, there are some role players and benchwarmers that can be surprisingly dominant in ways you wouldn’t expect given their ratings! Greg Dreiling’s uncanny (and unrealistic) three-point shooting is an example that I’ve seen a few people mention. He twice went 1-for-1 from downtown and indeed did so in the 1992 season, though for some reason the game lists this as 99.6%. In testing out this oddity, I wasn’t as successful as others have been, but I was able to make five threes with Dreiling despite his low shooting range rating, including a hook shot from the corner. I also swished a trey with Sam Bowie on a completely accidental attempt.

Shot distribution isn’t always accurate, and you can end up getting torched by a role player if you play matador defense. The CPU usually does look to get the ball to the best scorers on the team, though. I’m always impressed when older games do a decent job of having the right players take the most shots and score the most points, as that could still be an issue in games released in the early 2000s. Each team has a playbook that can be customised, though they’re all identical by default. As mentioned above, plays can be called on the court; another advantage Tecmo Super NBA Basketball has over the NBA Playoffs games, as EA didn’t debut this mechanic until NBA Live 95.

Most of the basic NBA rules are accounted for. Players who bowl over defenders will be hit with a charging call, and there are non-shooting defensive fouls. The correct number of free throws will be awarded when a shooter is fouled. Shot clock, five-second inbounds, ten-in-the-half, out of bounds, and over-and-back violations will all be whistled. Goaltending is called, but unsurprisingly, illegal defense is not. There are even seven full timeouts and two 20-second timeouts per team, per game. The clock does stop after all made baskets though, thus allowing subs to be made without calling timeout, but it’s the only notably inaccurate rule in an otherwise authentic approach.

While the action is mostly comprised of on-court animations, there are also some brief cutscenes that are intended to inject more excitement (and detail) into big plays. These include scenes for dunks, blocks, three-pointers, and long passes to a teammate on the break. I’ve seen some retrospectives criticise them for unnecessarily interrupting the flow of the game and looking a bit cartoonish, and that is a fair assessment. I do kind of enjoy them, though. They’re not too frequent, and they don’t slow down the game anywhere near as much as the post-basket cutscenes in Arch Rivals! Although they aren’t absolutely necessary, I think they give the game a distinct identity and charm.

Overall, the gameplay is commendably solid and capable of being fun. Nevertheless, as I said, I do share the complaints that others have made about Tecmo Super NBA Basketball. Although we can call plays, they’re not as useful as one would hope. They certainly can get players moving in the halfcourt, but since calling for screens doesn’t really impede the defense and interceptions are common, pick and roll plays aren’t all that effective. The AI does move the ball around looking for a good shot and you can do the same, though it’s a primitive approximation of realistic basketball strategy. The aforementioned abundance of interceptions also tends to hamper good ball movement.

As I mentioned before, compared to Bulls vs. Blazers and NBA Showdown, it’s easier to avoid collisions and cheap fouls, but they are still a problem. There’s slightly more fairness to them as they’re usually the result of continuously running haphazardly into the defender, but it’s still a bit too easy to be whistled for the charge while trying to work the angles and drive to hoop. It’s possible to weave in and out of defenders and beat them with crafty moves and passing, but successful drives do often feel more like the result of weak defense than great offense. Similarly, on defense, it doesn’t feel like you’ve been beaten by a great move, but that you’re unable to lock down opponents.

That’s not to say that defense is impossible. You’ll see an ample amount of blocks and rebounds for both teams, and getting in a shooter’s face can force a miss. Without a sprint control though, there’s little a defender can do once they’ve been beaten, even if they’re only a couple of steps behind the ball handler. AI teammates aren’t exactly helpful with their defensive rotations and frequently do a poor job of filling the lane, leading to several uncontested dunks and layups. Even if you meet a player at the rim, I’ve yet to see a blocked dunk or layup; only jumpers seem to get sent back. They will miss occasionally, but securing the ensuing rebounds is often easier said than done.

Like so many vintage basketball games, Tecmo Super NBA Basketball sees a lot of flat-footed rebounds. Good positioning and timing on your jump can snare misses coming off the rim, but many of them tend to bounce off in the opposite direction. Thankfully, while CPU teammates aren’t always helpful enough in packing the paint, this does often put them in a position to swoop in and help clean up on the boards. It’s worth making an effort to defend and rebound, as it is possible to impede opponents and get stops that lead to fast break buckets. However, the small margin for error with defensive lapses and lack of help D means that the best defense is a powerful offense.

There aren’t too many options to customise the gameplay. Quarter lengths can be set to two, three, four, eight, or 12 minutes. Oddly, there aren’t any difficulty levels, but there are three gameplay speed settings: fast, normal, and slow. Of course, whichever speed setting you choose, the clock runs faster than real time. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing – indeed, it can stop the scores from getting too ridiculous on the longer quarter settings – but the shot clock is also accelerated, which doesn’t help when it comes to setting up in the halfcourt and moving the ball around. Personally, I prefer the normal speed. The fast setting feels pretty much the same, while slow is too slow!

Rules also can’t be changed and there’s no arcade setting, but considering the game is aiming to be sim, it’s an understandable choice. With that being said, it’s unfortunate that fatigue and injuries don’t seem to be a factor in preseason games. I understand the logic in foregoing those mechanics in once-off exhibition games that are intended as a warm-up for season play, but it does eliminate some of the strategy. I still make subs out of habit and to be fair there are bench players that I want to play with, but unless you get into foul trouble, it’s quite feasible to play your starters the entire game. I’ve noticed that the CPU rarely (if ever) makes a lot of substitutions in preseason play.

Speaking of annoying design choices, there’s no way to quit a game in progress; you just have to completely reset the console. Granted, it’s not as though cartridge-based systems have lengthy loading times, and if you’re playing on an emulator today, you can just crank up the speed to quickly get back to the main menu after resetting. It’s still an unnecessary hassle in too many old games, though. I’m always in two minds about pointing out nitpicks like this, because you obviously do have to expect some limitations in these early basketball titles. On the other hand, it was clearly possible to implement certain features with the technology of the time, so it’s still worth noting.

Tecmo Super NBA Basketball provided some innovative ways to play, or indeed, be a spectator. In addition to the usual User vs. CPU and User vs. User gameplay, there’s also a Coaching mode where gamers can call plays and timeouts and sub players, but the action is completely controlled by the AI. To that point, you can choose to be the coach against the CPU, play against a human opponent who’s just coaching the other team, or go head-to-head with both users in the coaching role. CPU vs. CPU play is also available if you’d prefer to watch the game play itself; a common feature in later games, but rare back then. No doubt it gave some gamers a taste for that experience!

Of course, the biggest innovation in Tecmo Super NBA Basketball was the inclusion of the entire NBA and a full season mode followed by the Playoffs. Season play is implemented rather differently to the modes in old school NBA Live games, however. Instead of being a separate mode that creates individual save files with unique data, there’s one ongoing season that’s integrated with preseason play. In other words, the whole game is basically a 1992 season mode that also allows you to play once-off exhibitions for practice. To that end, any injuries that are sustained during season games will also impact preseason games, with those hurt players being unavailable.

Obviously this approach didn’t become the standard for season modes. I’d suggest this was for the best, but it’s certainly novel! It’s also not the only time that this idea has been used in basketball gaming. Season play in Kobe Bryant in NBA Courtside takes a similar approach, featuring only one save file and reflecting any customisation that’s made to the default rosters. Indeed, it’s possible that Left Field Productions took some inspiration from Tecmo Super NBA Basketball here, especially as they were similarly working with a limited storage capacity on the Nintendo 64. It was undoubtedly an outmoded approach by that point though, whereas it was innovative back in 1992.

Considering that it was uncharted territory, it’s unsurprisingly somewhat awkwardly designed. By default, jumping into season play begins a regular length campaign of 82 games and the old 5-7-7-7 format for the Playoffs. If you want to choose the short schedule (26 games and 1-1-1-3 Playoffs), reduced schedule (41 games and 3-3-3-5 Playoffs), or a “programmed” season, you need to go to the schedule screen and use the Reset option, even if you haven’t played a single game yet. If you’re accustomed to newer games where you select these options when beginning a new season file, it may be confusing to basically have to wipe clean a blank slate just to change the settings.

Still, it shouldn’t be understated how solid of a first attempt it was at an NBA season mode. In addition to selecting a shorter schedule, gamers can choose to control as many NBA teams as they would like. Furthermore, the level of control can also be selected for each team: manually playing that team’s games, coaching mode, CPU vs. CPU, or just skipping them (i.e. simulating them without showing any action). This approach is ahead of its time, and emphasises that the entire game is based around playing through the 1992 NBA campaign, rather than season play being an isolated mode. I ultimately prefer the approach NBA Live introduced, but it’s a cool concept.

The “programmed” season option is also a rare and interesting idea in which you can set the win-loss records for as many teams as you’d like, thus beginning the season with pre-simulated results and fewer games to play. Programmed wins and losses don’t produce any player stats including games played, so it’s not ideal if you’re after accuracy and immersion. It’s an impressively advanced feature though, and has one very important use. While there’s no standalone Playoffs mode in Tecmo Super NBA Basketball, you can jump straight to the postseason by programming in complete 82-game win-loss records for every team. It’s a slower process, but a viable solution.

As you’d expect, there are some other imperfections with season play. Simulated results are realistic, but stats are limited – assists for one aren’t tracked – and there are some weird errors. An example that’s often been brought up in retro reviews is Scott Hastings ranking among the league leaders in points, despite being a career bench player who averaged only 1.5 ppg that year. Strange and unexpected results can be entertaining though – not to mention realistic in spirit if not specifics – so oddities like this can be part of our nostalgia for certain basketball video games. However, it was definitely for the best that NBA Live and other future titles had better sim engines!

Injuries that kept players out of action for a number of games were a great authentic touch that EA didn’t include in their titles until several years later. However, it wasn’t the best idea to integrate those injuries into preseason games, especially since the only way to clear them is to completely reset season progress. It’s telling that the All-Star Game mode ignores them! On that note, the All-Star Game functions the same as a preseason game, just with the East and West All-Stars. As an aside, you can’t choose new players, and the event isn’t included on the season calendar. There’s also no roster customisation for any of the NBA teams outside of changing their starting lineups.

That’s not to downplay the innovative and authentic aspects of Tecmo Super NBA Basketball. The game was striving for more depth than other 16-bit titles, essentially doing for the NBA and basketball what Tecmo Super Bowl had done for the NFL and football. It may have fallen short there, but it definitely has the right vibe, from the exciting intro and the TV-style presentation using the fictional Tecmo Sports Network branding, to the catchy music in both the menus and gameplay. You can also turn off the in-game music if you’d prefer to have less of a “video game” atmosphere. It’s a game for people who love basketball, though it’s accessible to more casual fans, too.

Basketball video games are interactive almanacs, so let’s talk roster trivia! Tecmo Super NBA Basketball was released as the 1993 season was getting underway, but features final 1992 season rosters and is set in that year. Michael Jordan can be found in the original release, but he was removed in an updated version when Tecmo lost the rights to use his likeness. As documented over on The Cutting Room Floor, both the first version with the serial code XM and the updated version with the serial code NA were released in North America. Europe apparently only received the XM version that included MJ, while Australia only received the NA version featuring a Roster Player.

Michael Jordan was likewise removed from the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive version, which was released a year later with updated 1993 rosters, though it was set in the 1994 season. Reggie Lewis, who passed away before the Sega version was released in December 1993, was also replaced by a Roster Player. Charles Barkley is playable in all versions of the game, appearing on the Philadelphia 76ers in both of the Nintendo releases, and on the Phoenix Suns in the Sega version. Despite retiring prior to the 1992 season, Magic Johnson is also on the Los Angeles Lakers in the NES and SNES releases – albeit erroneously starting at shooting guard – as well as the West All-Stars.

Although this retrospective is focused on the SNES release, I’ll also touch on some roster trivia for Tecmo NBA Basketball for the NES here. The initial version had a number of errors with player heights, weights, and jersey numbers. Once again, The Cutting Room Floor has documented the changes between the initial release and the revised version. Isiah Thomas, Shawn Kemp, Kenny Anderson, and Tom Chambers are just a few of the noteworthy players with mistakes that had to be fixed. A further revision removed Michael Jordan and replaced him with Roster Guard #99 when he was no longer licensed to appear, similar to the NA release for the Super Nintendo.

Incidentally, the rosters are discussed under the Team Introductions section at the back of Tecmo Super NBA Basketball’s manual. As I’ve previously recalled, manuals are an incredibly nostalgic aspect of old school games, basketball or otherwise. It’s basically a brief supplementary almanac – albeit less interactive – that’s perfect for introducing newer basketball fans to the league as it was in 1992. Even for those who already knew their stuff, it was fun to read before diving into the game; most likely on the car ride home! Indeed, it was this very section that inspired me to put more detail into the readme file of my 2005 season roster for the Xbox 360 version of NBA 2K6.

So, what to make of Tecmo Super NBA Basketball? It’s definitely a pioneering title, though in that respect, it does have some of the common drawbacks seen in other games of a similar vintage. It’s virtually impossible to make explosive moves without a turbo/sprint control, and some of the features and authenticity of later games aren’t there yet. To its credit though, it plays at a good pace and has respectable depth to its gameplay and season mode. Some good on-court animations are supplemented by cutscenes that may not to be to everyone’s taste, but do add some character. It has its issues, but it is fun and holds up as well as the NBA Playoffs games, if not better.

Apart from some of the primitive mechanics that don’t work quite as well as hoped – such as playcalling – the biggest knock on the game is its graphics, specifically the players. Not having at least a few different heads so that players can resemble their real life counterparts – as much as 16-bit sprites will allow, anyway – is a letdown. The NBA Playoffs games are far superior in that regard, with a decent array of hair styles and colours, beards, and even features such as goggles. It’s a surprising lack of detail, especially given that the players’ portraits in the frontend are actually decent. It hardly renders the game unenjoyable, but player likenesses are one of its biggest weaknesses.

However, while it is fair to criticise the generic players and shortcomings with the gameplay that are even more glaring given some of the advances that were made in not too distant future, Tecmo Super NBA Basketball is a milestone release. Sure, the integration of season and exhibition play is a questionable design choice, but it also allowed gamers to play through an entire NBA campaign on the virtual hardwood for the first time. Different season lengths, multi-team control, injuries sidelining players for multiple games, and league customisation are all well-established staple features now, but they were innovative then, and thus important to the evolution of the genre.

Admittedly, I appreciate Tecmo Super NBA Basketball more for its place in hoops gaming history than as a retro title that I’ll regularly play. As with the NBA Playoffs games though, I had fun finally giving it a proper look, and I’m sure I’ll dust it off again from time to time. It’s somewhat divisive, and to that end, I must agree with the praise and the criticism alike. If nothing else, it certainly didn’t become an iconic cult classic that’s enthusiastically played and modded decades later, as Tecmo Super Bowl did! Nevertheless, Tecmo Super NBA Basketball was undeniably influential, and understandably delighted many gamers who now consider it a nostalgic favourite.