Rookie season: Tecmo Baseball & Tecmo Bowl | NES Works 107

Tecmo made a strong debut on NES in 1987 with several of the console's more memorable early exploratory titles... and then, inexplicably, they sat out all of 1988. Maybe the company decided to regroup and rethink its North American strategy, because they return to the scene here at the start of ’89 with a pair of games crafted specifically for the U.S.: Tecmo Baseball, which (despite the Famicom audience's seemingly insatiable appetite for all things pro yakyuu) never even shipped in Japan, and Tecmo Bowl, by far the best console adaptation of the American gridiron to that point in history. It would eventually be eclipsed by the game's own superior sequel, but here at the beginning of a new year, Tecmo has arrived in force. And this isn't even the high point of their early ’89s titles! Production notes: Video Works is funded via Patreon (http://www.patreon.com/gamespite) — support the show and get access to every episode up to two weeks in advance of its YouTube debut! Plus, exclusive podcasts, eBooks, and more! Why watch when you can read? Check out the massive hardcover print editions of NES Works, Super NES Works, and Virtual Boy works, available now at Limited Run Games (https://limitedrungames.com/collections/books)! Look forward to SG-1000 Works: Segaiden Vol. I in August and Metroidvania: The First Decade in 2024. NES footage captured from Analogue Nt Mini. Video upscaled to 720 with xRGB Mini Framemeister.