ESPN

In this final installment in our look at Tecmo Bowl Kickoff, the resurrection of the beloved sports game franchise, we're taking it back to 1993 by way of ... ESPN.

We've assembled a handy guide to creating the All-ESPN Super Tecmo Bowl Team so that you can experience your favorite ESPN personalities as video game characters all while avoiding the wrath of the NFL and NFL Player's Association. Many of the analysts and contributors featured on shows like NFL Live and Monday Night Countdown were active players in the league when Super Tecmo Bowl was out in 1993.

We wanted to go back to a time when Ross Perot was nearly king, Jurassic Park rocked the world and gas was damn near free at only $1.16 per gallon and bring video games back to the future&..or forward from the past ... or something.

Tecmo Bowl Kickoff is a nearly perfect re-production of Super Tecmo Bowl but for the DS and without the NFL and NFLPA license. But with the team and player editors in TBK you can customize the in-game teams and players to look like your old high school league or even various eras of professional football if you want. If you can remember the teams and players from the XFL or USFL, go for it and have fun in your time machine because we're going to have fun in ours.

So as to not waste your time, after you're done gawking at your Mark Schlereth replica in Tecmo Bowl Kickoff, we've given you a suggestion on how to evolve your ESPN personality into a current NFL player. Changing every player and team in the game take dedication and strong thumbs so we're here to help.

The point is guys like Trent Dilfer and Shaun King can point to the Madden series as their video game counterparts while some of the "veteran" analysts at ESPN can refer to Tecmo Bowl as the source of their gaming identities. We've assembled some of them here for your perusal. You've never seen so many Hall of Famers look so blocky.

The year Super Tecmo Bowl was dominating home consoles, Robert Smith was a green rookie joining a crowded corps of running backs for the Minnesota Vikings. Led by Scottie Graham's 487 rushing yards, the '93 Vikings also ran with Roger Craig (yes, that Roger Craig) and Barry Word, who'd last been seen in a Tecmo Bowl game as the "2" in Kansas City's powerful 1-2 punch of a ground game with Christian Okoye. With all of that talent, it's no wonder carries were hard to find. Smith gained 399 yards on 82 carries for an impressive 4.9 yards per carry. He was good but not as good as he'd be at the time of his retirement in 2000 when the led the NFC with 1521 rushing yards. Plenty of speed and elusive moves are the key to creating Smith.

Running Speed	Rush Power	Max Speed	Hit Power	Ball Control	Receptions
80	50	90	50	80	50
Super Moves: Lightning Dodge, Super Juke or Double Cutback. Pick one though because only Barry Sanders deserves more than one.
Evolve Into: Adrian Peterson -- Change his jersey number from 26 to 28, change skin color and lower Ball Control to 75.

After doing absolutely nothing except catch touchdowns during his first three NFL seasons in Philadelphia, Carter gave a hint at what was to come when he posted monster numbers for Minnesota in 1993. He caught 86 passes for 1071 yards, both career highs from him at that point. More importantly, from this point forward in his career, Carter would average 94 catches and 10 touchdowns per season until his brief flirtation with Miami Dolphins in 2002. Catching passes from various quarterbacks like Sean Salisbury, Jim McMahon, Randall Cunningham and Daunte Culpepper, Cris Carter was rock solid dependable. His speed was still a weapon back in '93 and his hands were just becoming a QBs best friend on all those "stem" routes.

A committee of running backs seemed to be the trend early in the 1990s as Hoge rounded out the deep Pittsburgh running attack that included Barry Foster and LeRoy Thompson. The 1993 season was his last in Black and Gold after averaging 571 yards per season in his previous five. Hoge was a traditional fullback and never carried the ball more than 203 times in any season. He was tough to tackle in any football video game so Rush Power and dragging defenders with a Super Move are in order.

Running Speed	Rush Power	Max Speed	Hit Power	Ball Control	Receptions
60	85	60	90	80	70
Super Moves: Power Run
Evolve Into: Lendale White by switching him to your Tennessee team, jersey number to #25, knocking receptions down -40 and adding belly +80.

More than 4000 yards passing, 29 TD passes and 407 yards made Steve Young one of the most dangerous weapons in the NFL in 1993. The scrambling lefty wouldn't fully emerge from the shadow of Joe Montana until next season's Super Bowl victory, so this was a time when he was just fun to watch&.unless you were a fan of the other team. In fact, the 49ers from this era were so loaded with talent that they, along with Buffalo, Dallas and the New York Giants (because of Lawrence Taylor), were almost unfun when it came to video games. Steve Young didn't have any weaknesses as a quarterback unless you count excessive aggression as foolhardiness. You'd be justified in maxing out all of Young's ratings and giving him all of the Super Moves but really there's no fun in that.

Running Speed	Rush Power	Max Speed	Hit Power	Passing Control	Passing Accuracy	Passing Speed	Avoid Rush
75	40	75	40	90	90	85	90
Super Moves: Sack Evasion because that was usually the first act in an amazing play.
Evolve Into: Shaun Hill by cutting -35 from his speed ratings and his passing ratings across the board. Also, he gets no Super Moves and he just might have to earn a jersey number if you ask me.

It's hard to evaluate offensive linemen in video games especially when it comes to game like Tecmo Bowl where they're all created equal more or less. A great defensive player with excessive speed is going to shred any individual O-lineman you put in front of him. Arcade football is just like that; no appreciation for solid line play. Schlereth played guard for the Washington Redskins in '93 protecting Mark Rypien, Cary Conklin and Rich Gannon from harm. You'll just have to be satisfied getting his skin color and jersey number right.

Running Speed	Rush Power	Max Speed	Hit Power
30	40	30	70
Super Moves: None because there aren't any available for offensive lineman.
Evolve Into: Chris Samuels by changing the jersey to #60 and changing skin color.

The Dallas Cowboys were the team to beat in the Tecmo Super Bowl era as they racked up Super Bowl wins against the Bills twice and added another versus Pittsburgh in '95. They were so good, there were sportswriters that became famous for covering them. In the middle of it all, was Emmitt Smith, the all-time rushing leader. His ability to accelerate through massive opening created by his offensive line meant Smith was always working untouched against the second layer of a defense. His pass-catching was also underrated, so be sure to boost his receptions and give him the proper evasive maneuver.

Running Speed	Rush Power	Max Speed	Hit Power	Ball Control	Receptions
90	55	90	55	90	80
Super Moves: Double Cutback, Defensive Back Deception because he was so dangerous in the open field.
Evolve Into: Marion Barber by changing to #24, adding +20 to his running power ratings, lowering his speed by -25 and giving him the Power Run Super Move.

Tecmo Bowl: Kickoff is currently available for the Nintendo DS with plans for a Nintendo Wii version in the future. For a chance to win a Tecmo Bowl prize pack be sure to tune into the latest episode of Game Up at espngame.com.