Madden NFL Series

John Madden Football 93

Excerpt from Genesis Game Guide by The Scribe

NAME:             Madden NFL series (9 titles)
AUTHOR/VENDOR:    High Score Productions/TH*Q/Electronic Arts
RELEASED:         various
TYPE:             Sports (football)
LANGUAGE:         English

PREMISE:          The best-selling computer football game of all time is
                  now available for the Sega Genesis.  All the features
                  that made Madden the Omni magazine "Best Computer Sports
                  Game of the Year" (1991) are here - player ratings,
                  matchups, field conditions, injuries, penalties, and
                  more.  Also includes play-by-play analysis, user-
                  friendly menus, 3D perspective gameplay, instant replay,
                  and even advice from Madden himself! (culled from various
                  Electronic Arts press releases)

IMPRESSIONS:      Excellent YACEG endorsed by one of the true legends of
                  the sport.  For those of you unfamiliar with American
                  pro football, John Madden started out as a player, then
                  moved on to become a coach, then after retiring became
                  one of the game's most popular television sportscasters.
                  The basic game engine and outstanding gameplay remained
                  the same throughout, with all the usual tweaking and
                  fiddling with the graphics, sound, and user options.  It
                  really doesn't matter which one in the series you get -
                  they're all worth the trouble.  The series spawned many
                  imitators over the years, but few came close to matching
                  this football gaming classic.

VARIATIONS:       John Madden Football (released 1991, copyright 1990 -
                    features over 100 of Coach Madden's own plays and team
                    stats out the wazoo - impressive in itself had not
                    superior sequels followed)
                  John Madden Football 92 (the most notable feature of the
                    sequel is the crude attempt at digital animation
                    during Coach Madden's lectures)
                  John Madden Football 93 (the graphics as a whole have
                    improved considerably, along with the digital
                    animation - now Coach Madden looks like he's dancing
                    the rhumba, but at least he's recognizable - also adds
                    split-screen play calling, quarterback "stop clock"
                    gameplay, and no-huddle offenses)
                  John Madden Football 93 - Championship Edition
                    (identical to its precursor in almost every feature
                    save one - it also includes the eight greatest NFL
                    teams up to that time, so now you can relive classic
                    matchups or try out your favorite what-if scenarios -
                    this was a Blockbuster videogame rental exclusive)
                  Madden NFL 94 (first game under the Madden NFL title and
                    the first featuring the High Score Productions intro
                    banner, it now includes lots of digitized graphics and
                    soundbites - miles ahead of its precursors in almost
                    every respect, the game engine itself would undergo
                    very few changes from this point forward)
                  Madden NFL 95 (apparently the choice was made to ditch
                    all the fancy digital stuff in favor of gameplay, and
                    it shows - this probably has the best gameplay and
                    in-game graphics of the entire series)
                  Madden NFL 96 (somebody must have complained about the
                    previous game, because this installment includes way
                    too many digitized graphics and sound for its own
                    good - the only notable improvement is that this was
                    the first game in the series to allow four-player
                    simultaneous play)
                  Madden NFL 97 (the most balanced game of the series in
                    terms of flash vs. substance and my personal favorite)
                  Madden NFL 98 (way too flashy for its own good, it
                    features a slick but confusing side-slide menu system)

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