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History of Madden Football
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John Madden Football 98
Date: 1997
System: PlayStation, N64, Saturn, Genesis, SNES.

The Basics
After more than meeting the challenge posed by Sega Sports and at least equaling the challenge set by 989 Studios, EA faced another challenge when Acclaim rather craftily received the exclusive NFL license on the N64 for one year. While someone was asleep at the wheel at the NFL, this was a great move for Acclaim. EA was reduced to releasing a game without NFL sanction, although the Players Association made up for some of the issues.

 
The PlayStation version
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The Details
If there were any issues with Madden 97 on the PlayStation, it had to do with the opponent AI. Madden 98 addressed this and then some with very competitive defenses. The awesome presentation style continued with nice refinements.

The bad news of course for Madden 64 was the lack of an NFL license, but for Nintendo fans, that really didn't matter. All the lessons of SNES development had been learned, and Madden 64 came firing out of the gate on all cylinders. In a twist on the set-and-formation display of previous versions, you chose the pro formation, shotgun, and other formations after you chose the number of wide receivers, backs and tight ends. Gameplay was enjoyable and also smart enough to turn into another play when, for example, you were presented with a punt-blocking scheme on first down. Small chrome touches were everywhere - from players running out of the way when the chain gang came in to measure for a first down, to instant replays after each great play. Zone blitzes also showed up, and an easy-to-use fantasy-draft package completed a great first entry into the N64 market.

 
The Genesis version
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Ironically, Madden 98 on the Saturn was the game that could have helped make the system if it had been released two years earlier. Very good AI, excellent play control, and a superb multiplayer mode were everything the football game player was looking for.

At this point, THQ had taken over the releasing of the Genesis and SNES versions and the presentation style, at least for the menus etc mimicked the PlayStation version. Traditionally, the passing game was the way to success in the Madden series, but the 98 versions featured good running plays and smart defenses that would stop the offense if it was constantly running a favorite play. Here, at last, the SNES finally caught up to the Genesis in terms of gameplay.

The Verdict
 
The SNES version
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Resisting the tradition of taking two steps forward and one step back, the PlayStation version of Madden 98 was top-drawer all the way. Madden 64 was a very nice first step for the N64, and it showed that this time the Nintendo platform was not going to be left behind. For some reason, Madden 64 was not particularly a critical success, mainly due to the lack of the NFL license. However, beyond that issue, it was a fine debut on a new system. The venerable Genesis and SNES versions retired probably a year or two after they should have, but then all-time greats get to hang on longer than they should. And the Saturn faded into the sun.



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