Madden ‘97
My initial reaction upon starting up Madden ’97 and watching the intro video was simple- “WOAH! FULL MOTION VIDEO AND FANCY GRAPHICS! SUPER BOWL XXXI! NEW ORLEANS
This is what happens when you first make the jump from playing Madden on the Genesis to seeing Madden for the first time on a Playstation 1. I never had a Playstation growing up, and I actually sat out from playing Madden ’97 (as I was still busy playing Madden ’96 on SEGA every day after school). Madden ’97 jumps out from the start by showing off the “full motion video” capabilities of the Playstation (utilizing CD-ROMs rather than cartridges). Rendered images of Bourbon street (Super Bowl XXXI was in New Orleans) followed by “high-tech” rendered images of 3-d players in the opening video create a sense that the game is going to be a major breakthrough in the series – the new technology should mean new life, right?
Well, the answer is a bit more muddled. There are certainly a ton more options out of the gate regarding rosters, trades, team management, etc. Figuring out the option screen (not to mention the comparatively more sophisticated PS1 controller- a jump from 3 buttons to 6) – took a little bit of getting used to.
After simulating through most of the regular season, the Pats were teetering on the bring of elimination at 9-6 coming into Week 17, so I decided to play through that final game of the regular season (vs. the Giants) to help lock things up.
Before the game began, I was treated to a “Pregame Show” featuring FOX commentator James Brown, who said a few generic sentences (something like: “It’s week 17 and the regular season is winding down. Who will win? Let’s go to the field with John and Pat.”) Then there is another FMV sequence with John Madden and Pat Summerall offering even more generic “analysis”.
Pat: So John, what can we expect to see on the field today?
John: Well, in order to win, the home team will have to make some plays and put points on the board.
Pat: Thanks John! Let’s go to the coin-toss.
(LOADING SCREEN)
*
Right then- so FINALLY, I am ready to get on the field. Seeing the “in-game” engine for the first time is a bit jarring because to this point all you have seen is full motion video. Put simply, everything suddenly looks a bit crap. Does it look better than the Genesis? Well… I guess.
The newest feature seems to be a 3d-ish field. For the first time, a player can actually rotate the screen around 360 degrees (in replays and things). The field also seems BIGGER and the players seem scaled differently. The camera is also zoomed in a bit closer to the field, bringing you “closer to the action”. The player models seem to be 2d bitmaps, giving the game a surreal feel. Put simply, imagine a 3d-ish field and 2-d paper men running around on it. This was the Madden franchise entering the awkward tween years of its existence - past the 2-d arcade play of the Genesis, but not yet quite grown into full 3-d.
The gameplay and pace of the on-field action was strange to me. Plays take longer to develop- especially in the running game. At first, I thought that this was more realistic, but pretty soon, it got ridiculous. Unless I ran a QB sneak from the goal line formation, the defense would come crashing down on my runner just as the ball was handed off by the QB (usually resulting in a loss of yards from scrimmage).
With the running game seemingly useless, I had to rely on the passing game. Again, this strange mix of 2-d players with a 3-d field made it difficult for me to properly judge where the (2-d) football was in the passing attack. After the QB throws a pass, the ball simply disappears off the top of the screen and then reappears just before it hits the ground. You can see the ball’s shadow on the field, but this is awkward and makes it a guessing game as to where the ball is going. Adding to the surreal nature of the passing attack is that it is difficult to determine if a pass was completed or not. A selected receiver who just made a catch looks pretty identical to one who just dropped the ball (the possession indicator at the player’s feet is hard to read).
All of these complaints added up to a lot of frustration for me- receivers would drop (or just miss) wide open passes time and time again. When I tried to manually control the receiver and catch the ball, it would go through his hands.
Anyway, my Week 17 game vs. the Giants was loaded with these sorts of incomplete passes and backward runs. I fell behind 10-7 at the half, struggling to figure out how to work the game and how to handle the pacing. There were times when the speed of the game would slow down and speed up within a single play. I assume that this was a hardware issue, but I blame it on bad programming.
It is also worth noting that there are rather detailed motion captured TD celebrations. These actually look pretty good. What is weird about them though, is how the high frame-rate for these celebrations contrasts with the choppy on-field player animations during gameplay.
Going into the 4th quarter, I was losing 13-7 to the Giants. I still had not found a rhythm and did not think I had much hope. It started to rain in the game and the wind picked up. I thought it was over, but completed a “hail mary” on 4th down and long to Terry Glenn for a 68 yard score with :38 seconds to go. Tied at 13, I lined up for the XP. The ball was snapped and I put it through (in spite of the intense wind), but there was a holding penalty, so I had to re-kick. Backed up 10 yards further, I lined up and kicked it through once again. But wait- ANOTHER holding penalty. Suddenly my XP attempt had become a 34 yard field goal attempt into the swirling rains. I just barely put it through for a third time, putting me up 14-13 for the win. Phew.
The wildcard matchup was against the Oilers. Remember the Oilers? Anyway, I felt like this game was more of the same, but this time with even more wacky penalties. I also noticed that the player models all had the same ugly smudged jersey number (something that looked like an 81 or 31). WHY COULD THE GENESIS SHOW JERSEY NUMBERS BUT NOT THE PLAYSTATION??
Penalty after penalty against me. Random calls I had no control over- holding on the offensive line, personal foul. 1st down and 30. Second and 45. What the hell was going on? Was this game broken?
After a defensive pass interference call against me, the Oilers managed to tie the score 3-3 at the half. Why did the field feel so huge? It felt like it was miles wide and even more miles long. After the super fast players on the comparatively tiny fields of Madden ’95 and ’96, this game felt radically different. Why did my receivers ALWAYS DROP THE BALL?
Deep into the 3rd quarter, the Oilers threw up a lame duck pass into triple coverage. I watched in disbelief as the ball went THROUGH THE CHESTS OF 2 OF MY DEFENDERS and they went on to score on the 81 yard pass. At this point I noted that the game would have been better titled BULLSHIT ’97.
The only talented player I seemed to have was my punt returner (David Meggett). I could usually make the first person miss and gobble up a lot of return yards. After one of these returns, I finally found an offensive play that would work for me. QB Sneak, up the middle, Drew Bledsoe. It would guarantee 2-4 yards every time. Not saying much, but better than the rest of my offense. Based on the strength of lumbering Drew’s running, I managed a score at the end of the 3rd to tie the game at 10.
Why does every play take so long to develop? Why does the game feel like it is a half finished product? Why is there one tackle animation that looks like a grenade explosion- sending the player straight up into the air doing back-flips?
As I pondered these questions, I managed to get the ball back with 3 minutes left in the game. I got some semblance of a passing game going and scored the go-ahead TD before getting a pick-six to win the game 24-10. It was ugly, but a win nonetheless.
The divisional playoff game was against the Raiders in Oakland
The championship game was at Pittsburgh
Super Bowl XXXI was vs. the Cowboys. The Super Bowl logo was featured at mid-field and each endzone featured the AFC and NFC champ, respectively. Dallas
After years of lamenting the Patriots real-life loss in Super Bowl XXXI to the Packers, I had finally seen my team win bring home the 1996 championship. While this was gratifying, I was even happier to know that I was done playing the erratic and seemingly unfinished product that is Madden ’97 on the PS1.
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