Name:	Madden NFL series (9 titles) John Madden Football John Madden Football 92 John Madden Football 93 John Madden Football 93 - Championship Edition Madden NFL 94 Madden NFL 95 Madden NFL 96 Madden NFL 97 Madden NFL 98
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) 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)
Recommended Emu:	Genecyst X