Original Release: TSS, 1989, Famicom
One of the very first rugby games ever released, Super Rugby is a mix of some impressive qualities with primitive clunky gameplay
Super Rugby (NES, TSS, 1989)
Where to Buy: eBay
How to Emulate: coming soon!
Review by: C. M0use
One of the first rugby games ever released and a product of the 8-bit era, Super Rugby is as simple as you’d expect. The two-button gameplay does make it technically welcoming enough for people not familiar with the sport, but you’ll probably be turned right around by the clunky gameplay.
The presentation is actually fairly good for the period, especially for a niche sport not big in its primary target markets and by a relatively unknown little company. You can name your own team and customize their stats, or select from some prefabs that I assume are fictional (this apparently isn’t associated with the actual real-life Super Rugby league). You’ve also got the option of playing out a “league” season in addition to casual matches. The game’s music and sound are decent enough, and it makes use of Tecmo Super Bowl-ish cinematics at key points in the action. It also switches to a behind-the-kicker view for tries through the uprights, a la Madden’s field goal mode.
The core gameplay is just rough, though. It’s an overhead view with choppy tile-based movement, at least you can move in eight directions but everything is so slow and choppy. Tackling seems to be randomly decided by your stats, allowing the CPU plenty of opportunity to run away with scoring plays. And though the whole team shares stats, somehow the computer always has some guy who turns into Speed Demon Sam and quickly chases you down from behind if you manage to get a player breaking away from the defense. So it’s both choppy and cheap.
Despite its simplicity and doing at least a few things right, this really isn’t the place to start if you’re new to exploring rugby. And veteran fans will definitely find it both too limited/primitive and too frustrating.
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