Madden 2001

SONY Playstation 2

Click HERE for screenshots.

Wow!  The graphical jump in going from the original Playstation to the Playstation 2 is huge.  From the opening menus to gameplay on the field, Madden 2001 looks prettier and runs more smoothly than any of its predecessors.  That said, are these dramatic improvements enough to make it the best Madden yet?

Well, yes and no.  To begin, the new Madden Rap (“The Mad in the Game”) by Xzibit is inferior to the 2000 rap by Ludacris.  I found it to be comparatively mean spirited and less catchy.  Sorry Xzibit, maybe next time! 

The other gripe that I had off the bat was the long loading times.  Loading screens to get to the main menu and to launch actual games are notably longer than in earlier years.  I’m sure that this is a result of the improved graphics and animations, but is noteworthy nonetheless. 

Madden 2001 came out in anticipation of the 2000 season, which means it was based on the rosters/ratings following the 1999 regular season.  By the end of 1999, the Patriots were in serious trouble.  Curtis Martin and many other stars were long gone and were playing for the hated Jets, rookie phenom Robert Edwards had blown out his leg in a volleyball game at the pro bowl, and cheerleader/coach Pete Carroll was fired.  These are just some of the components that add up to the 2000 Patriots team in disarray. 

After some jiggering with certain settings, I managed to get the team to the playoffs, where I reset the game to the default settings (including “pro” difficulty) and settled in for their first matchup in the divisional round against the Seattle Seahawks. 

Getting right into the game, I was immediately struck by how tricky the kickoff meter is in the game.  It is fast and unforgiving- be sure to err on the side of kicking before the “power meter” reaches its apex rather than after, because you can easily end up with a terrible kick. 

My impressions of playing the game on offense and defense were generally positive.  The game has a more realistic feel than 2000 – the emphasis on arcade action has been scaled down a bit to increase the sense of simulation.  The PS2 controller adds a few more buttons to the equation, but I was doing alright and found myself ahead 7-0 by halftime vs. Seattle.

After one half of play, I did have a few nitpicks.  While the graphics are awesome compared to all the predecessors, the smoothness of all of the player models and animations do give them a bit of a sterile/Ken doll appearance.  There is not much “grit” to show here – everything looks squeaky clean, even in bad weather games.  Another thing I noticed was that the audience in Foxboro kept repeating the same generic “Let’s go TEAM!” chant throughout the game.  It is a stupid chant and got old fast.

My second half against the Seahawks did not go very well.  They scored a field goal early in the third, and my frustration began to grow with the way some of the plays went.  I got the sense that play outcomes were pre-ordained, regardless of my efforts at coordinated button mashing on the field.

There were instances of open receivers dropping balls, double covered receivers making impossible catches, open running lanes disappearing instantly, etc.  The most flagrant took place when Seattle scored the game winning TD with 20 seconds remaining on a hail mary pass into triple coverage.  Frustrated with my 10-7 loss, I was not sure if the game was buggy or if I was just upset about my loss.

My rematch against the Seahawks was higher scoring, but also included a fair number of buggy plays.  I could put intense pressure on the Seattle QB and he would wheel around and side arm a perfect 25 yard strike into double coverage.  In spite of these frustrations, I did manage a 14-13 halftime lead. 

I managed to increase my lead to 24-13 as the forth quarter wound down.  Once again, Seattle managed to score on a hail mary play against my “prevent” defense in the final moments to close the score.  In spite of this push, I managed to hold on to the 24-19 win.

As I braced myself for the AFC Championship against the Jets, I couldn’t help but get a bit emotional.  After having watched the Jets upset the Pats out of the playoffs in real life a few days before, I was wary of losing to them in Madden as well.  As the game loaded up, I noticed that this was the first time in four Madden games that there were no pre-canned videos of James Brown, Madden, or Summerall before the game giving me vague advice about “putting points on the board”.  A good decision by EA sports to let these go. 

The Championship game was in the snow in Foxboro and began with a series of defensive stops.  After four consecutive three and outs, the Jets started to win the battle for field position and got some offense going with Curtis Martin.  A pair of sacks by Willie McGinest forced the Jets out of field goal range late in the first quarter, and when Bledsoe and co. got the ball back, I was able to put together a nice TD drive.  The Jets answered with a fieldgoal, but a deep TD pass from Bledsoe to Terry Glenn extended the Patriots lead to 14-3 at halftime. 

I opened the third quarter with another TD bomb to Glenn, which put me up 21-3.  It was at this stage that I discovered a trick/cheat on defense.  If I reshuffled my defensive line manually before the snap, the CPU did not know how to react and I could force pressure every time.  In other words, by moving my nose tackle to the end of the line and keeping my defensive end in place, the pressured side of the o-line could not block everyone and I could sack the QB. 

It might have been cheap, but it worked, so I went with it and sacked Jets QB Vinnie Testaverde 8 times in my 28-9 win. 

My Super Bowl matchup was once again against the Panthers.  The game was set in the rain, and while I did not notice much of an impact on the way the game played, the gravity of the game was enhanced by the repeated thunder claps throughout.  An early interception by Bledsoe set up an easy Panther TD and put me down 7-0 early.  I decided to go back to the player with the most production from the Jet game and aired it out to Terry Glenn, whose spectacular one-handed catch in the back of the end zone tied things up.  The Panthers responded with a great drive and TD run before I managed a field goal at the end of the half, making the score 14-10 Carolina at halftime.

Halfway through, the Super Bowl game was excellent and felt completely realistic.  It reminded me of the good games of Madden ’98 where you had to fight for every yard and the CPU was smarter than you thought.  There were not any garbage plays that made no sense either.  I made note that I needed to take more shots at Terry Glenn in the second half if I was to come away with the big win.

The third quarter was a defensive struggle, but I managed to just barely make a short field goal as the quarter ended, closing the score to 14-13, Panthers.  The kicking meter is rough.  All too easily, the Panthers marched down and answered with a field goal of their own, making the score 17-13.

Running out of time, I put together a great 8 play, 75 yard drive deep into Panther territory.  With two minutes left in the game, Bledsoe got into the endzone from one yard out on the QB sneak.  For the first time all game, I led 20-17! 

I was looking forward to stopping the Panthers one last time and running out the clock, but the game was far from over.  The Panthers put together a great drive of their own and seemed to figure out my defensive line cheat.  Whenever I would move a lineman out of position, they would run to the gap where he had been.  This forced me to be more conservative, but ended in disaster when they ran a sweep to the right of the field and I repeatedly failed to bring down their running back.  Four broken tackles later, I was stunned to find myself down 24-20 with 1:13 left on the clock. 

Once I had the ball back, I fired a strike to the sidelines to Troy Brown for a quick 14 yard gain.  I then saw my note to throw more often to Terry Glenn and decided to take a shot deep with the volatile wide out.  As I dropped back, I was surprised to see he was in single coverage streaking downfield.  I threw the ball up and watched as he jumped for it.  He made the catch and shook off the lone defender before walking into the endzone for the game winning score.  I won the game, 27-24.  Glenn finished with over 200 yards receiving and two huge TDs.  He was named the game’s MVP. 

In the end, I had fun with Madden 2001 – it was better than I thought it would be.  The graphics are definitely the best yet in the series and the gameplay was pretty good.  My d-line “cheat”, which yielded 8 sacks against the Jets (and only 9 points allowed), did not work nearly as well against the Panthers (2 sacks and 24 points allowed).  It seems that the machines are beginning to learn…

Madden 2000

Madden 2000

PSX

“What you want?

The ROCK in the PALM of my HAND

What you got?

I got JOHN MAAA-DEN!”

                - Ludacris in opening theme

Click HERE for screenshots.

Madden 2000 opens with a bang, featuring the first ever John Madden rap, written and performed by Ludacris.  While I would have preferred seeing Madden perform the rap himself, the song is set to action packed NFL clips and gets me fired up and ready to play every time.

After this intro video, one IMMEDIATELY notices how much smoother the menu interface is than it was in Madden ‘99.  The PSX seems less overwhelmed by the game menus than it was in ’99- responsive controls, much faster load times between screens. 

In getting into the game itself, my first reaction upon seeing the players run onto the field for the coin toss was to burst out laughing.  The player models look ridiculous!  The best description I have is “fidgety umpaa-lumpaa bubble men” – the players all look squat and fat and can’t seem to stop moving around, even when they are standing still.  The player models did remind me a bit of the popular football arcade game from the era, Midway’s NFL BLITZ, but the players look less muscular and more tubby.  Wide receivers look like lineman and lineman look like sumo-wrestlers.  This said, they run smoothly and the frame rate is excellent, resulting in faster, better game play than ’99. 

The presentation of the game is MUCH improved over ’99 as well.  Player names and numbers are much easier to read and to understand.  For the first time, a yellow line has been included for on-the-field action to indicate the first down marker. 

Getting right into the Patriots in the playoffs, my wildcard matchup was against the evil New York Jets, who had recently stolen from the Patriots hall of fame coach Bill Parcells, hall of fame running back Curtis Martin, and a variety of others.  Once again, there is a little pre-game show featuring James Brown and then on the field “analysis” with Pat Summerall and John Madden.  While these “shows” are still pretty silly (“you have to play hard, play tough, and put points on the board to win today”), the in-game commentary from Madden and Summerall does seem to be improved and more spirited than in previous years. 

As soon as gameplay was underway, I was struck by how much faster the game was.  All the players fly down the field in a way that is vaguely reminiscent of Madden ’96 on the Genesis.  Definitely more in the vein of arcade action than “simulation”, but not AS dumbed down as BLITZ.  The controls are extremely responsive – again, a HUGE improvement over ’99 – which actually make the game FUN.

My game against the Jets was in New York and as the game kicked off, I was greeted with the signature crowd chant : “J-E-T-S! JETS! JETS! JETS!”  A nice touch.  The game was a defensive struggle, with the Pats clinging to a 3-0 lead at the half.  Midway through the fourth quarter, with the same score, Bill Parcells rolled the dice by faking a punt on 4^th and long.  The gamble worked and the Jets ended up scoring later on the drive.  Down 7-3 with less than two minutes to go, I managed to put together a 12 play, 62 yard TD drive to win the game 10-7.  An exciting nail biter that ended in a Patriot victory- as it should be. 

Going into the Divisional round at Denver, I took note of the funny ska music that played on some of the menus.  From Ludacris to SKA, Madden 2000 sure knows how to kick it.  This game was set in the snow, but still managed to run well and look pretty good.  After the Broncos got on the board first with a first quarter field goal, two late TD strikes by Bledsoe put me up 14-3 at the half.  I opened the second half with a 5 minute, grinding TD drive.  This effectively put the game out of reach for the Broncos, who managed just one more score (and a failed 2-pt conversion), in a fun 28-9 thumping. 

The AFC Championship game was at Miami against Dan Marino’s Dolphins.  The pre-game show was noteworthy as Brown, Madden, and Summerall all described the game repeatedly as a “slugfest”.  Brown: “This game is sure to be a slugfest.”  Madden: “I think we are looking at a real slugfest today.” Summerall: “How will the players cope with a slugfest like this?”  Madden: “That’s the thing with a slugfest, you have to slug it out!”

Well, the “slugfest” ended up being one sided- I was up 21-7 at the half and cruising to victory into the 4^th quarter when the game FROZE on me.  My reboot and replay of the game played out completely differently.  I managed only a 3-0 lead at the half, which I stretched to 10-0 going into the fourth quarter.  The Dolphins then put together an impressive 15 play drive that took them 79 yards to my 1 yard line.  Somehow I was able to keep them out on four attempts from the 1 and preserve my 10-0 win.  A completely different experience than the game that froze, but a win is a win. 

The Super Bowl featured the Pats vs. the Vikings.  I must admit that I was feeling under the weather when I played this game, and it actually impacted the way that I played the game.  I managed a first quarter TD on a pass from Bledsoe to backup running back Lamont Warren, but could barely move the ball after that.  I had a decent drive late in the first half that got me to the goal line, but Bledsoe fumbled on a QB sneak, killing the drive. 

The Vikings’ offense, led by Randall Cunningham, could not do much better.  They managed an opening drive fieldgoal attempt (wide right), and were effectively shut down the rest of the game.  Randy Moss had a terrible game- 1 catch for 10 yards – and that was it.  7-0 at halftime, and a 7-0 final.  This lame score felt pretty anticlimactic after playing through a very good game in Madden 2000.  To me, it drove home the idea that focus mattered in the game.  I was not feeling well, I was not paying as much attention as I would normally to the game, and my gameplay suffered.  

On the whole, Madden 2000 is one of the best games in the series yet (’91-2000).  Madden ’96, 98, and 2000 are all the front runners so far.  While ’98 might have inferior graphics (2-d player models), it felt more real to me than 2000.  Madden 2000 is a lot of fun and features lots of fast action and great controls.  For great arcade football action that is smarter than NFL Blitz, Madden 2000 is the answer.  For a more realistic feel, Madden ’98 stays at the top.  

Madden '99

Madden 99

Click HERE for screenshots. 

SONY Playstation 1

“Hey, you want big-time football?  The boom, the doink, the whack?  It’s all here!  This is MY game!” – John Madden (from introduction)

“Don’t worry about the horse being blind, just load that wagon.” – John Madden (from Super Bowl pregame pep-talk)

Madden ’99 was a banner product in EA’s “year of the cyber athlete” – the year in which all of their major sports franchises went to full 3-d.  The game opens with a little video showing athletes jumping around with sensors attached to their bodies against blue and green screens.  These motion captured feats are the basis for the player models and animations used in Madden ’99.  Unfortunately- much like Madden ’97 – Madden ’99 feels like an unfinished product.  EA Sports was breaking down a new boundary in going over to full 3-d and as I struggled through the sluggish controls on the opening menu (that’s right, the MENU screen), I distinctly got the feeling that the kinks hadn’t been worked out yet. 

Jumping right into things, I simmed through the regular season and found that my Pats had won the right to host a wildcard matchup against the Seahawks – remember when the Seahawks were in the AFC?  Anyway, the pregame nonsense featuring James Brown, Pat Summerall and John Madden are in tact for this game and the game was preceded by the usual vague football clichés (“you have to play hard, but play smart”). 

As the game got underway, I was struck (hard) by the horror of the graphics.  The hideous graphics are only eclipsed by the choppy and almost unplayable frame rate issues that plague everything – from menus, to the play-calling screen, and ESPECIALLY on-the-field action.  This issue was particularly intense as this game vs. the Seahawks was in the snow.  Having the snow falling on the screen on top of all these 3d models was clearly too much for the PSX to handle.  Nevertheless, I adjusted the camera to “Madden classic” (the default view is WAY too close to the field to see anything), I got set to kick off and the game was underway. 

Everything in the game was slow- it reminded me of the earliest Madden games on the Genesis (’91 and 92 in particular).  As the Seahawks systematically marched down the field for the score on their opening drive, I grew somewhat detached from the game itself and tried to take in the visuals as some form of bizarre abstract art.  The player models are made up of a few boxy polygons.  White gashes (“snow”) streaks choppily across the screen.  Everything moves in slow motion as players execute pre-programmed motion captured spins, only reacting several seconds after you press the corresponding button.  It was like a ballet of horror.  The stadium itself is strange and is in pieces.  There are 3 or 4 separate chunks of stadium seats around me, and each one just ends abruptly at a 90 degree angle.  I would hate to be a fan sitting on the edge of one of those seats as there is no barrier protecting against a deadly plunge.  I thought to myself that Madden was quiet and not providing much commentary – the whole game seemed very quiet – and then I realized – EVERYTHING IS QUIET ON THE MOON!  HAHAHAHAHA!

Ok.  At halftime I was losing 14-0 and it wasn’t even close.  I had no idea what I was doing out there and had produced -6 yards of offense all day.  I managed a FG and a late score + 2 pt. conversion late, but a Bledsoe pick in the closing seconds ended my chances for a comeback.  The 14-11 loss in this dreadful game was insult to injury and I didn’t pick up the controller again for a couple of weeks. 

**

When I summoned the courage to return to this experiment, I tried to be more positive.  I noted that the 3-d player models DID seem to give the players a better sense of weight.  The physics seemed improved by it.  These were no longer paper men than could turn on a dime, but were instead boxy chunks that rumbled down the field into one another.  Yes, the animations were not great, but at least players didn’t explode like they did in Madden ’97. 

In my rematch vs. Seattle, Bledsoe threw 3 interceptions.  I lost 10-7.

**

I took another week or so off from the game before my third attempt against Warren Moon and the Seahawks.  I was angry and annoyed at the slow load times and cruddy menus.  The fact that the game took place in the rain was appropriate for my mood. 

Bledsoe came out hot and completed his first 10 passes.  I raced to a 17-0 lead.  They scored a TD with 2 minutes left in the first half, but for some reason opted for the 2-pt conversion (which failed).  I went into halftime up 17-6.  The second half opened with another impressive drive by me, resulting in a Ben Coates TD and cementing my 24-6 shellacking of the Seahawks.  Third time is a charm, I guess.

The divisional round put me in Buffalo against the Bills.  A defensive struggle throughout, I had a 45 yard TD pass to Terry Glenn called back after a holding penalty away from the play.  I went into halftime tied at 3-3.  The third quarter was just as sleepy as the first two – sluggish controls and short drives resulting in punts- and it wasn’t until late in the 4^th quarter that Terry Glenn caught a key pass to set up (what I thought was) the game-winning field goal with <1 minute remaining.  Up 6-3 with :27 seconds to go, the Bills had no time outs and a long way to go for a tying field goal attempt. 

I went with the Prevent defense and put all of my corners deep.  Inexplicably, this resulted in the completion of a 60 yard bomb that put them at my 20 yard line with the clock running down.  8 seconds, the wide out passes the ball to the ref, 7 seconds, the players start to line up for the snap, 4 seconds, the players get set, 2 seconds, Rob Johnson snaps the ball and SPIKES it to the ground to stop the clock – but it reads :00!  The game is over!  I win!

Whatever- I will take it.

The AFC Championship featured the Raiders at New England in the snow.  As mentioned above, the game runs slowest and looks the worst in these snow games.  By this point, I had noticed that there was an unusually high percentage of tipped passes at the line of scrimmage in this game.  On defense, as long as you press the “jump” button when the QB throws the ball – regardless of which player you are controlling – the ball will be batted down about 60% of the time. 

Another boring, low scoring game was 6-3 Pats at halftime and ended 20-3 after a pick six late in the fourth quarter by Ty Law to close things out.  The Raiders marched down and scored a field goal on their opening drive and were held to 1 first down for the rest of the game.  Not the most realistic scenario, but a win is a win in Madden ’99. 

The Super Bowl XXXIII matchup featured the Pats vs. the Rams in a preview of the real life Super Bowl XXXVI.  This game was far less interesting than the real life game however.  I watched the pre-game show and was confused as to why the Vince Lombardi Trophy- which is made of sterling silver- is completely transparent during the pre-game show with James Brown.  Was it a trophy or a hologram?  Whatever.  I was going to win that hunk of glass no matter what. 

After another eternal wait for the game to load, the game was underway.  Damn this game is ugly.  Why did they pick such crappy fonts to show player names under the selected player?  It is just barely legible and I am playing the game on a giant television!  What would it have looked like on a 19” screen? 

Anyway, I scored a rare TD on my opening drive and the rest of the half was typical stagnant Madden ’99.  7-0 at the half.  I thought I was going to score again to open the second half, but another holding call wiped out my TD and on the very next play Bledsoe threw a key interception which was run back deep into my territory.  The Rams couldn’t move the ball on this drive though (or on any other drive), so they had to settle for a field goal, putting the game at 7-3. 

That was really the game.  I managed to grind out the clock and ended up scoring again (almost by accident) on the final play of the game.  This made the score a deceptive 14-3 final, but 7-3 is far more accurate.  In fact, this could have been the tagline for Madden ’99 – “Every game feels like it is 7-3.”

In one final parting shot, the “prize” for winning the game was a Super Bowl championship video, which featured a number of clips showing the Packers hoisting the Super Bowl trophy after their Super Bowl XXXI win and the Broncos doing the same following Super Bowl XXXII.  As a Pats fan, this was just insulting.  The Packers BEAT the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXI and now I had to watch their celebration all over again?  The Broncos THRASHED the Patriots the following season, but I had to watch them celebrate too?  Fuck it.

Madden ’99 is garbage.