Retro Bowl

Retro Bowl is an old-school styled American football video game developed by New Star Games[1] for the iOS, Android, and Nintendo Switch operating systems. A browser version is also officially available on the websites Poki and Kongregate. The game was released in January 2019 and due to JefeZhai Hostile Beast and RetroSportRadio, it massively increased in popularity in late 2020. A version for the Nintendo Switch released on February 10, 2022.[2]

Retro Bowl
Play like it's the 1990's
Developer(s)New Star Games
Publisher(s)New Star Games
Platform(s)
Release
  • Android, iOS
  • January 2020
  • Switch
  • February 10, 2022
Genre(s)Sports
Mode(s)Single-player

Retro Bowl was heavily influenced by the Tecmo Bowl series. Retro Bowl was the number-one-downloaded-app on Apple's App Store in late 2021.[3] After the success of Retro Bowl, the developers released the association football game Retro Goal in June 2021.[4] Retro Bowl uses simple mechanics which have been praised by players and critics alike.[5]

Gameplay

Retro Bowl emulates the gameplay of American football and was heavily influenced by the Tecmo Bowl series. In Retro Bowl, the player controls the team's offense while also acting as the team's general manager. Even though the player can draft defensive players or get defensive players from free agency, the defense is not playable, and is simulated by the game. The goal of the game is for the player to manage their team to the Retro Bowl championship game. The game also includes aspects of managing an American football team such as trading and cutting players, signing free agents, maintaining morale, drafting players, and more. There is also, for $1 only, an "unlimited version" which gives access to editing any team's uniforms, logos, names and end zones, weather, and more. The player can also buy Retro Bowl's currency called coaching credits, which can also be earned by game play and decisions outside of the game. All teams are based on the NFL teams in real life, but since EA still has the exclusive NFL license to the actual teams and players, Retro Bowl makes a similar jersey to the team, and puts the city's name instead of the team's name to make up for the lack of NFL license.(For example, Philadelphia instead of the Philadelphia Eagles.)

In April 2022, an update was released that introduced being able to return kickoffs.

In October 2022, another update to the game was released where it was made possible to simulate games and be able to change avatars for players and staff with unlimited version for $1.

In February 2023, another update to the game was released where Retro Bowl added a new mode called "Exhibition Mode" to allow players to pick 2 of any of the 32 NFL teams and play a game whether against the CPU or with a friend.

Reception

Retro Bowl received "generally favorable" reviews according to review aggregator Metacritic.[6]

Nintendo Life gave the game 9/10, praising the simple mechanics and retro feel of the game but criticized the game's amount of turnovers.[9]

Open Critic puts Retro Bowl in the 95th percentile, complimenting the game's nostalgic feel and its simple interface.[10]

Retro Bowl has been at times the number one game on the Apple App Store, toting close to 1,000,000 reviews.[11]

References
  1. Orr, Aaron (October 29, 2021). "UK-based New Star Games takes US by storm with Retro Bowl". PocketGamer.biz. Steel Media Ltd. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  2. Whitehead, Thomas (October 27, 2021). "Exclusive: Mobile Smash Hit 'Retro Bowl' Will Bring American Football To Switch". Nintendo Life. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  3. "US-Apple-Apps-Top-10". WTOP News. October 26, 2021. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  4. Noah, Steve (2021-06-21). "Retro Goal Coming to iOS on June 24". Operation Sports. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
  5. Tyrer, Ben (June 12, 2020). "Retro Bowl's addictive simplicity makes it one of the best sports games in recent years". GamesRadar+. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  6. "Retro Bowl for Switch Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  7. Whitehead, Thomas (February 7, 2022). "Mini Review: Retro Bowl - An Addictive 8-Bit Throwback That's Appropriately Super". Nintendo Life. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  8. Mieczkowski, Colin (February 16, 2022). "Retro Bowl Switch review: A beautiful love letter to classical football games". Pocket Gamer. Steel Media Ltd. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  9. "Review: Retro Bowl - An Addictive 8-Bit Throwback That's Appropriately Super". Nintendo Life. 2022-02-07. Retrieved 2022-09-10.
  10. "Retro Bowl Critic Reviews". OpenCritic. Retrieved 2022-11-30.
  11. "Retro Bowl". App Store. Retrieved 2022-11-30.


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