Madden '96

SEGA Genesis

Click HERE for screenshots.

“Madden 96 SACKS the competition” – Electronic Gaming Monthly

Madden ’96 is the Madden game that I have played the most in my life, hands down. For me, as a 13 year old, Madden ’96 was the culmination of all that was great about football on the SEGA Genesis. I played the shit out of it every day after school (seemingly) for years. This game came out in late 1995 – mere months before the release of the SONY Playstation (and a year before the N64). This would- sadly – be the last time a Madden game was given full attention by developers on the SEGA Genesis. Fortunately for Genesis owners, they went out with a bang.

To begin, this was the first year that lots of extra features started to creep in- a “general manager” option was offered allowing the player to trade and sign players while taking the salary cap into account. This system is pretty crude by today’s standards, but it is an interesting effort nonetheless. A “scouting combine” allows you to create your own players and run through drills to determine your player’s stats. While this most often is little more than button mashing, it is still a novelty to create yourself in a Madden game on the Genesis.

One of the features that I find oddly fascinating and really appreciate is that you can clearly read jersey numbers on players while in-game. The player models may be closer to the “cartoony” style of Madden ’94 and less like the “realistic” models of Madden ’95, but there is practical value in being able to see jersey numbers while in game. I think it is a huge improvement.

On powering up the SEGA, the opening screens grab you immediately. The opening stomps from Queen’s “We will ROCK YOU” start playing as photo-realistic images of star players flash across the screen. This bliss culminates in a still photo of Madden with the FOX Sports theme song triumphantly blasting.

After seeing all of this, I resolved to play through an entire season. Why not? The game is based on the 1995 schedule, which is the first year I watched every game in the Pats season (they went 6-10). It was also Curtis Martin’s rookie year!

I launched right into it, taking note of the excellent presentation of the menu screens as I went. Photo-realistic images featuring on-field action and famous players are sprinkled throughout. I also noticed that Pat Summerall is now in the game as a play-by-play commentator to complement John Madden’s “color” commentary.

Week 1 in the 1995 season was against the Bill Belichick coached Browns. The first chink in the armor in presentation of Madden '96 was on the coin-toss. In a bizarre twist, the animation and sequence is IDENTICAL to Madden '95 - the player models, fonts, color schemes, everything is identical to Madden ’95 and nothing else in the game looks anything like this screen. It is like they forgot to program a new coin-toss sequence (or ran out of time) so they just threw in the old one at the last minute.

This gripe was quickly forgotten as the game got underway. The aforementioned jersey numbers, the team logos featured in the end zones, even Mary Snow with an injury report from the sideline. All of this was nice, but the gameplay itself was the biggest improvement. Player speeds feel more balanced. The controls are responsive and accurate- I felt completely in control.

Feeling like I was in complete command of the game was a double edged sword. While it was fun at first, soon the score got out of hand. I won the game 31-0 and outgained the Browns 300 yards to 9. I found one defensive play that seemed to always work (3-4/LB Blitz) and I just ran it every time I was on defense. The thought of playing through 18 more blowout games like this one seemed ridiculous, so I decided to abandon the idea of playing a full season and skipped right to the playoffs.

Ironically, my wildcard matchup was once again against the Browns. Once again, I employed a dumbed-down strategy and annihilated the Browns- this time 49-7. The only thing I really “learned” from this rematch was that pressing the “start” button while mid-play would let me lateral the ball and that the grass textures in the game were well done.

For the Divisional Playoff, I headed to Pittsburgh to take on the Steelers and I fully anticipated yet another route. This time, the game played out differently. I couldn’t get anything going on offense and struggled to a 7-3 halftime lead. The slow and lumbering Drew Bledsoe had rushed for more yards than he had thrown for and was 1 for 10 through the air. In the third quarter, the Steelers managed another field goal, and I was barely clinging to a 7-6 lead into the 4^th. Pass after pass was either inaccurate or simply dropped by my wideouts. With less than 2 minutes to go, the Steelers managed to score a TD and take a 13-7 lead. I got the ball back and tried to get something going, but the outcome was the same as it had been all game. I simply could not move the ball and LOST the game 13-7.

I was stunned. I felt like I had been rejected by an old friend. It had been some time since I had last played Madden ’96 and even longer still since I had lost to the CPU playing the game. As was the case following my loss back in Madden ’93, I resolved to redouble my efforts and win the damn championship.

After being eliminated from the playoffs, I had to restart the season (there is no “start from the playoffs” option) and simulate the whole thing, crossing my fingers that New England would make it in.

As fate would have it, the Wild Card matchup was once again in Pittsburgh against the Steelers. This time the game was in the snow. A big play came early when I audibled to a deep pass on 3^rd and inches. The gamble worked and I scored a deep TD. Building on this momentum, I was able to put together two more scoring drives (I also remembered a bizarre quirk in Madden ’96 where players will actually run FASTER if they are on the sideline rather than in the middle of the field).

I was extremely aggressive in the first half and I was happy with my 21-0 lead going into the locker room. As I wrote in my notes: “In your FACE Pittsburgh!” My plan for the second half was to grind down the clock and come away with a win.

As the third quarter began, something changed. The Steelers had actually made halftime adjustments to counter my signature D (3-4/LB Blitz). I was stunned when Pittsburgh opted to go for it on 4^th down, deep in their own territory, early in the 3^rd quarter. The play worked and they ended up scoring on the same drive. The 4^th down call was surprising so early in the game, but what was even more surprising was when they went for the 2-pt conversion and got it, putting the score at 21-8 at the end of three quarters.

I got the ball back and relied heavily on the run- milking the clock with every play. When the drive finally stalled, I managed to shave nearly four minutes off the clock, but failed to score any points. The Steelers got the ball back with 1:17 to go and a few plays later, I was stunned to see them in the endzone once again, drawing closer with the score at 21-15.

What had happened? I was killing the Steelers and all of a sudden they were a TD away from winning? With less than 30 seconds left on the clock, they attempted the onside kick, and after a pileup, I ended up with it. I was fortunate to be able to run out the clock and come away with the 21-15 win. They dominated the second half, but fortunately came up a bit short.

The next game was at Oakland against the Raiders. Once again, I found myself in trouble against the CPU. The Raiders had a couple of quick scoring drives and raced to a 14-3 lead. When I got the ball back, I went with the no-huddle offense and was able to answer with a good drive, cutting the lead to 14-10. As the half expired, I managed to put through a 50 yard field goal with the wind at my back and narrowed the score to just 14-13.

The game felt even at the half, but the second half was a completely different story. I was able to put up another 22 points while blanking the Raiders to come away with what ended up being a dominant 35-14 win.

The AFC Championship game was at Cleveland, and once again (for the 3^rd frickin’ time) I found myself matched up against the Browns. There was snow on the ground and once again, I went to my 1 dimensional strategy on defense (3-4/LB Blitz). It was all I needed to destroy Cleveland for the third straight time. It was the worst blowout yet- not only did I get to a 38-3 lead by HALFTIME, I had also sacked Vinnie Testadverde so often (7X!) that he got injured. I tried to slow things down in the second half, but everything I did seemed to result in a touchdown. Everything worked and I came away with a 68-3 win, outgaining Cleveland 415 to 8 in total yards.

I thought it would be difficult to replicate my success against the Browns going into “Super Bowl XXX” against the 49ers. The 49ers of that era were an excellent team and had won Super Bowl XXIX (in reality). I was completely wrong.

The game proved to be a comedy of errors for the 49ers in every regard and my team was reminiscent of the basketball team in Pleasantville. No matter what I did, everything worked out beautifully. I seemed to be able to score on every play, offensively, defensively, special teams, whatever. I was up 35-0 at the half, but it was much worse than that. For this game, I shrank my offensive playbook down to 2 or 3 plays (and stuck with just 1 play on D) and it did not matter.

The one time I deviated from the strategy (and chose a defense that was not “3-4/LB Blitz), the 49ers scored a TD. This score, along with one in the closing seconds, meant nothing as I dominated with a stunning final score of 76-14. 49er QB Steve Young (a Hall of Famer in reality) was sacked 7x and David Meggett (an “above average” 3^rd down back) finished with 300 yards rushing. The game took forever to finish and was completely ridiculous and unrealistic in every regard. No matter, I got another trophy to put on the wall.

Madden '95

Madden '95

SEGA Genesis

Click HERE for screenshots.

"I see the rookie down the sideline. I make the read, fire a bullet and the kid actually hauls it in, straight arms the corner and high steps down the sideline for six. Sweet. I peel myself off the turf in time to catch him cabbage patching through the paint. "

-- Any Madden 95 QB

Alright, Madden ’95, here we go. Madden ’95 is the first Madden game I ever owned and is based on the 1994 NFL season. I was 12 years old in '94 and this year marked the first football game I had ever seen on TV. I watched the Patriots regular season opener against the Dolphins with my uncle Pete (a 39-35 loss for New England). I remember him talking about the Patriots lead running back, Marion Butts- “He’s got a girl’s first name and his last name is ‘Butts’, but he can RUN!” (The internet tells me that Butts ran for 25 yards that day on 15 carries for a 1.6 ypc average.)

While I didn’t watch another Patriots game for the rest of the 1994 season, an interest had been sparked in the sport and I started to learn about the team, the players, and the game itself. My primary method of learning about the game came from Madden ’95—incidentally the first Madden game to come with a full NFLPA license, meaning that it had the NAMES of every player on every team. So began the first chapter of my fandom- I started to rely on players like “V. Brisby” at receiver, as well as “C. Slade” at LB.

How does Madden ’95 hold up? Well, in my mind, the biggest advance in the game is the option to TURN OFF PASSING WINDOWS! FINALLY! As noted in my previous reviews, passing windows were a disaster- it was impossible to tell where you were throwing or if the intended receiver was covered. By turning them off, you can see the entire field and actually read defenses before throwing it up.

The box says that the player models are now “3d-rendered”, which is a rather strange claim for a Genesis game. The players DO look different- I will admit that. I suppose they do look more realistic and less cartoony than in previous years – this said, the models seem less well defined and less colorful. It is a different look, but I am still not certain that it is an improvement.

In starting up the game, the EA Sports logo pops up and the Genesis barks the tagline still used today- “E. A. Sports. It’s in the game!” Seconds later the music for FOX Football Sunday starts up and there is a STATIC image on John Madden. Thank you EA Sports for abandoning the scary choppy animations of John Madden. The static image is straight forward and works much better. A+

Once again I opted to skip the regular season and go right to the playoffs. Right off the bat I noticed how the ratings for the Patriots as a team had improved from previous years. The Patriots finished the 1993 season with a 4-game winning streak and things were looking up at the start of ’94 (apparently).

My first game was against the Broncos in Denver. On the opening kickoff, a little FOX Sports logo popped up on the lower right hand corner of the screen. Immediately I noticed how FAST the game was. The pace of the entire game had been sped up a great deal. Passes zip down the field, and even slow players can fly down the field at record speeds. After having played through the first four Madden games, Madden ’95 seemed wild and out of control.

After I adapted to the change of pace, I was able to move the ball downfield and put up some points. After a 14-3 lead at the half (where J. Elway couldn’t complete ANYTHING), I finished off the game with a 28-3 win. A boring game that was never competitive, it seemed that it didn’t matter which defense I called- the CPU was incapable of completing a pass.

My next game @ Pittsburgh was equally non-competitive. After racing to a 21-3 halftime lead, I focused less on the game play in the second half and more on the details. Why did they opt for such a hideous font for all of the in game title screens? Why were there gray and black lines underneath these ugly yellow letters? Why does the gun at the end of each quarter sound like an explosion? Why does the CPU repeatedly fail to connect on passes even when the WR is uncovered and wide open downfield? As I pondered these questions, the Steelers were able to score a couple of late TDs, but their rally fell far short and I held on to a 42-17 win.

The AFC Championship game was against the Bills in snowy Buffalo. Everything in Buffalo was gray and drab. Again, while this might be more realistic, I can’t say that it made the game any more fun to play. Drab player models with faded colors against a gray field made for the most somber football experience Madden had yet to fork over.

The game itself was another blowout (a 38-9 Pats win), but it was entertaining throughout. The snow element seemed to increase the percentage of fluky plays- especially turnovers (there was one play where my player fumbled, the Bills recovered, but fumbled again, and as I recovered the second fumble, the CPU ruled the play an “interception”). The Bills always use the “no-huddle” which made the pace of the game fast and furious. The Bills could move the ball all day, but could not finish drives so it ended up not being close. Once again, the CPU repeatedly missed wide open receivers, especially on deep passes in critical situations.

As this game came to a close, I began to note some of the positives in Madden ’95. It is great to have detailed player stats (w/player names!). The return of the 2-point conversion to the NFL in 1994 is reflected in the Genesis game as well. The controls on the whole in Madden ’95 are also more responsive than in previous years.

All of this set up “Super Bowl XXIX”, Patriots vs. Eagles. In a bizarre twist, this game played out a lot like the “real life” Patriots/Eagles Super Bowl (XXXIX). The Eagles scored first to get up 7-0, but I responded with a lucky TD pass to Ben Coates (my MVP for the entire playoffs) after the ball was batted up in the end zone. The Eagles scored again in the second quarter to take a 14-7 lead, but once again, I was able to respond with a short TD run by big Marion Butts. I tried to take the lead before halftime with a long field goal, but hit the crossbar and the game remained tied (in Super Bowl XXXIX, the score was tied at 7 at the half).

I managed to get that FG back to take a 17-14 lead in the third, and this was the score in the fourth quarter when I managed to score on another fluke play. I had reached the Philly goal line and ran it up the middle with Butts who FUMBLED, but once again Ben Coates was in the right place at the right time and managed to recover in the end zone for his second TD. Up 24-14 with 2 minutes to go (in Super Bowl XXXIX, the score was 24-14 Patriots at the 2 minute warning), the Eagles were driving. After missing wide open receiver on pass after pass, the CPU finally got its act together on forth and long and scored on a 61 yard pass with 1 minute left to play. I recovered their onside kick attempt and managed to hold on 24-21 (the final score of Super Bowl XXXIX).

As the final gun sounded (or exploded), I was presented with the best end-game sequence yet in a Madden game. A gilded football player -who resembles the same player on the Madden Championship Trophy from Madden 91-93- holding ANOTHER trophy triumphantly over his head as giant text repeatedly flashes between “YOU DID IT!” and “YOU WON!” in the background. This victory screen never got old as I sat mesmerized by it for several minutes. A trophy clutching a trophy. I did it. I won.