Retro Bowl
Retro Bowl remains a highly addictive and fun football game with deep management elements, but recent updates have introduced significant performance issues, particularly slow-motion gameplay and frequent interceptions, which detract from the overall experience.
Retro Bowl is a popular mobile football game praised for its engaging arcade-style gameplay, customization options, and deep dynasty mode. However, recent reviews highlight significant issues including pervasive lag and slow-motion gameplay, an excessive number of interceptions, and frequent player injuries.
What users like
- Highly fun, addictive, and engaging gameplay experience.R7R8R12R15
- Offers good customization options for teams and players, especially with the unlimited version.R2R17R29R30
- The unlimited version is considered cheap and worth the price.R2R17R31R34
- Features a deep dynasty mode with realistic elements like injuries, trades, and drafts.R3R27R140
- Generally free of ads, enhancing the user experience.R10
What users complain about
- The game frequently experiences lag and slow-motion gameplay, making it unplayable for many users.R14R22R96R215
- There are too many interceptions, often feeling rigged or unrealistic, even with good throws.R24R35R36R70
- Players frequently get injured, often feeling excessive and disruptive to team building.R48R158R186R557
- Some users report issues with in-app purchases not being received or previous purchases/saves being lost.R4R41R83R84
- The difficulty balance is perceived as uneven, with 'Hard' being too easy and 'Extreme' feeling unfair or rigged.R33R77R92R215
- Lack of significant updates and new features, leading to repetitive gameplay and a desire for more depth.R76R130R205R25
- Some gameplay mechanics are criticized, such as unrealistic fumbles, player behavior, and limited play calling options.R13R16R35R64
- Issues with game crashing or not loading on certain devices, particularly older iOS versions.R40R46R118
Latest update · v1.6.45
What the developer says changed (the verdict above weighs this against what reviewers report):
• Winners list updated. (Fix for issues preventing this happening in last update.) • Fix for Kick Returner selections being lost if players were on the list of expired contracts.
Recurring themes
Who it's for
Retro Bowl is for football fans who enjoy arcade-style gameplay with deep team management and customization, and are looking for an addictive mobile game R7R12R29. It is particularly appealing to those who appreciate a retro aesthetic and are willing to overlook recent performance and gameplay balance issues R29. Skip if you are easily frustrated by frequent lag, excessive interceptions, or unrealistic player injuries R14R24R158.
Evidence note: The recent reviews skew significantly more negative than the lifetime rating, with a strong consensus on performance issues (lag/slow-mo) and excessive interceptions. While positive reviews still praise the core gameplay, the volume and consistency of negative feedback on these specific issues suggest a recent decline in user experience. The developer's notes for the latest update do not address these major issues, which are still widely reported.
Frequently asked
Is Retro Bowl free to play?
Does Retro Bowl have a lot of ads?
Are there issues with lag or slow motion in Retro Bowl?
What reviewers actually said
Built only from these 120 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.
- [R7] Addicted: This game is soooooo fun and addictive I could play this game for hours
- [R8] Amazing game!: So fun!!
- [R12] This is the best football game.: This game is so fun and I can’t stop playing it also let’s go ravens
- [R15] Great game: I love this game. One of my all time favorites. Lots of fun with premium too. Overall a fun game!
- [R2] Amazing game buying the unlimited version is so worth it and cheap: Customizing is very fun and lots of options
- [R17] Loyalty mechanic for players: Me and my brother have loved this game for so long, just the fact you can customize players names and stuff is amazing, even the premium is so cheap even a 8 year old could buy it easily with change he found on the floor, but one thing that would make me and a lot over players stay with this game forever is if you a loyalty system where players or coaches if they like
- [R29] Near Perfect: Fast playing, retro-inspired arcade action. The level of customization is just icing on the pixelated cake.
- [R30] GGs. Update some things.: This is a great game. I love football so I downloaded it. Just one thing: make sure to update Tennessee’s unis to their new ones. Their alternate ones are their home ones now so just letting you know. Have an amazing day. Peace ✌🏾!!
- [R31] Really good game: The game meets my expectations for a good game . I love how if you buy the unlimited version you get 100 coaching credits and get to name players, do kickoff returns and so on and so forth. Overall, fantastic game.
- [R34] Retro Bowl: This is by far my favorite mobile game. This game is perfect for all ages to play and make/build the rosters. Although many people may not like the unlimited version because you have to pay $0.99 cents for it (I didn’t originally), I would now say that paying the 99 cents for unlimited version was definitely worth it. Would recommend for anyone.
- [R3] Fun: The game is fun i like how you can build a legacy 67
- [R27] Great overall game: I love this game it is really great and easy to play without being bored after 10 minutes it shows how hard it is to lead a team to a retro bowl and do it many times and it does real things like player injuries, player incidents, trades, retirement, draft, and switching teams and even though that is all great if I might had to change something it would definitely be to allow th
- [R140] Alright, But Plz Add…: Decent Game Solid Gameplay, Deep Dynasty Mode & Controller Support on My Game-Sir X-5 Light. I wish there was Heights & Weights it breaks immersion to not have it in a Football Game. I would like 6ft 1in 201 pound or more skill position players & 6ft 1in or more 299 pound Line-Men.(I hate overweight Linemen) Some 300 pound plus Line-Men would be nice for me to not recruit
- [R10] Great: I love the game very fun and on some games challenging, no ads which is obviously great, but there is one thing I would like them to add, a way for people to play against other people or friends.
- [R14] PLEASE FIX ON MAC: This game is so much fun but recently has completely bugged out on Mac and is officially unplayable. The games glitches out and freezes, you cant look through the menus or even click anything. Please fix.
- [R22] Bad game: Game kept lagging and everytime I scored a touchdown and a 2pt the other team would score the exact same amount
- [R96] Trash slow speed why does it randomly go slow for like half the game then fast 🤦🏽: It sucks this game use to be fun but now it just makes me mad why does it do that fix ur game been doing it for almost 5 months now yes I updated it so ur rash excuses does nothing fix it
- [R215] Too many bugs: Gets laggy after 2 seconds, shouldn’t matter the os version. Also acts like every team has 5 star defense even when not on extreme
- [R24] GARBAGE: Lopsided and lamest football game ever! Interceptions are out of control, extremely uneven play. The token/salary cap system sucks hard, trades are weak af much like this game. Don’t waste the download.
- [R35] Bullshiddo: Play choices a bad in critical situations. Need to be able to pick plays, not the game. I guess after you win it all, your star QB becomes the king of interceptions by defenders no where near the ball.
- [R36] Interception: It has zero accountability and I throw dimes and it keeps saying interception
- [R70] MEH..: Game is okay Don’t get 5 star QB Get boring Recommend for bored people Is realistic and relaxing Lots of interceptions
- [R48] Annoying: Yes the game is fun in general but the sim bot ruins the whole game and gives the other teams free touchdowns. I think the bot should atleast be more realistic. The second thing is why do my good players always have to get injured for no reason? Like right as I have a good team yall injure my best player.
- [R158] I hate this game: Why do my players get injured every game!
- [R186] Kinda meh: I like retro bowl college better my players get injured every game and no it’s not the trash players it’s the 5 star players of course I’m the goat at this game otherwise make Baltimore better bc Lamar is the goat and make Kansas City worse Kermit is trash otherwise it’s decent game I mean you can improve
- [R557] Way too many injuries: Why are my players injured every other game, they don’t even get injured this often in real life
- [R4] Review: It will not let me buy the unlimited version
- [R41] Credit Card info needed for Update?: Purchased RB years ago, i see theres an update available, but instead of the update, apple wants a credit card. Why? If i want to purchase something, i’ll use a c.c. but for an update?
- [R83] Never buy anything from this game it just scammed me: This game sucks
- [R84] Please fix this: It would be a five star but every time I purchase coins it doesn’t give me the coins and I bought 250 coins twice and I didn’t receive them. So please fix this.
- [R33] It’s Sick: I like the managing of your players. However, the stats are a little unrealistic on defense. Like, how does my 5 star D-lineman gets 4-5 sacks a season 😭? The difficulty settings is a little bad too because Hard mode is too easy but Extreme mode is SO much harder then Hard mode but it’s still easy for me cause I’m the goat 🐐. Overall- fun game!!!
- [R77] Fun until you get good: Great concept and very fun for a while. But if you play enough you’ll get to the point where you can win the championship every season - even with opposing defenses set to “hard.” So to make things competitive you have to set the defenses to “extreme.” Then the game becomes stupid. Even with an expanded payroll and a great team, you’ll be lucky to win a handful of games in
- [R92] Get Better….👎: How do you expect me to win a game if the other team has all 5 or 6 defense, and offense and i have like 4 or 5 offense but no defense at least one star of defense how do you expect someone to beat that team? this game needs to get better. How do you an expect a good team to go against another team if the other team has way more stars than your team. And also when i throw the footba
- [R76] Repetitive play Without Crucial Updates: The game is an excellent style of football, it’s unique and without a doubt is one of the top games to download. HOWEVER, updates are needed for people to consistently play and take it to the next level! ADD MORE DIFFERENT ROUTES, ADD MORE DIALOGUE, ADD THE ABILITY TO RETURN PUNTS AND ONSIDE KICKS, MAKE THE ROSTER BIGGER, DEVELOPER LISTEN TO THE FANS PLEEEE
- [R130] Update the game: There hasn’t been a update in 3 months and I can’t get the retro bowl 26 because I don’t got money like that.
- [R205] Delayed updates: Can they update the recent Super Bowl champions already? We are nearly a month removed from the Super Bowl. I wanna do a realistic rebuild but it doesn’t make sense when I have to generate a season that already happened
- [R25] More can be added: The game is amazing and very fun. But there can be more added. One thing that can be added is more room on the roster. Instead of 10 or 12 man rosters make a 25 or 30 man roster for more good back up players. Also make more draft-able players. For example have players have different positions like safety, corner, middle line backer and so on for defense.
- [R13] Errors (I guess): I didn’t know that the 1st downs were 10 1/2 yards instead of 10. When did that change since I’ve played high school 2 months ago? I’m not sure how many people have noticed this error but like please fix it.
- [R16] Ok game: Overall, a pretty OK game but there’s just too much interceptions and every time somebody drops the ball it’s called a fumble but other than that it’s a really good game
- [R64] Retro bowl we need to talk: My game play overall is good but my team mates is running away from the ball when I throw the ball
- [R40] Won’t load: I click the game and it opens them immediately crashes what do I do? I can only run on iOS 12
- [R46] I need help: It will not let me in the game. I use an IPod touch and I only wanted this and the retro hoops game. But it will not let me in either. Please help Ratings will go up if I get help
- [R118] I hate that it says it supports iOS 12 but it crashes: It’s annoying pls at least change the iOS update for it I fell for it as I got nothing but the app there on my screen pls change that
- [R26] A few changes: Best mobile football game I’ve ever played, I just wish you could punt around the opponent’s 50-40 yard line because sometimes I have to go for it on 4th and 10 instead of kick a field goal because of weather or a bad kicker. Also online mode would be revolutionary for this game.
- [R39] Good but I wish there was more!: Ok,so the game is awesome but if you want to be number one then yall need to add a playable defense a new player career mode and finally a REF it would make the game so much more climactic and suspenseful *PLEASE READ THIS:)*
- [R21] PEAK: This is the best mobile game ever it’s so addicting you can choose your favorite team s to play on to this game Is free which is even better
Synthesized from 120 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store