Madden NFL '96

Madden NFL '96 is a football video game designed for the 1995 NFL season, licensed by the NFL. The AI has been boosted and can now hurry in two-minute drill situations, spike the ball, and cover the receivers with better efficiency.

It was the last to explicitly be endorsed by the NFL on Fox, although a knock-off/rendition of the NFL on Fox's iconic theme would continue to be used in Madden for several years afterward.

Additions

The Create A Player feature was added, which includes many position specific mini-games that determine the ability of the player.

The game also was the first in the Madden series to include secret "classic" teams, which are unlocked by playing any of the 28 pre-expansion NFL franchises in the playoffs and by winning Super Bowl XXX with that team (a rather easy feat as the playoff tournament system allows a player to abort the game while in the lead and still win). The 28 pre-expansion teams are each represented by a classic era equivalent, which range from 1960 (Philadelphia Eagles) to 1986 (New York Giants), although all players identify as number-only. The Jacksonville Jaguars and Carolina Panthers, having debuted in 1995, do not have a secret classic team revealed in this manner, nor do the All-Madden team. However, Carolina is attached to the blank slate NFLPA team used for Create-A-Player, and Jacksonville and All-Madden hide the "superteams" with players named after the developers; these teams are accessed using unstated cheat codes.

Madden NFL

Madden NFL (known as John Madden Football before 1993) is an American football video game series developed by Electronic Arts Tiburon for EA Sports. It is named after Pro Football Hall of Famer John Madden, a well-known former Super Bowl–winning coach of the Oakland Raiders and color commentator. The series has sold more than 100 million copies, and influenced many players and coaches of the physical sport. Among the game's realistic features are sophisticated playbooks and player statistics, and voice commentary that allows players to hear the game as if it were a real TV broadcast.

Electronic Arts founder Trip Hawkins conceived the series and approached Madden in 1984 for his endorsement and expertise. Because of Madden's insistence that the game be as realistic as possible, the first version of John Madden Football did not appear until 1988. EA has released annual versions since 1990, and the series' name changed to Madden NFL in 1993 after EA acquired the rights to use NFL teams and players. Despite Madden's retirement as a broadcaster in 2009, he continues to lend his name to and provide expertise for the game.

Madden NFL 15

Madden NFL 15 is an American football sports video game based on the National Football League and published by EA Sports. The game was announced for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One on April 28, 2014, and was released on August 26, 2014 in the United States and Europe three days later. As in previous years, EA Sports conducted a fan vote via ESPN to elect the cover athlete for the game.Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman won the cover vote.

Cover vote

Due to the late release of the game, EA created a much smaller bracket than the previous years with a cover vote. It featured a 16-player bracket with offensive and defensive players. On June 6, 2014, Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman was announced as the official cover athlete. Also featured in the bracket were Alshon Jeffery, Jimmy Graham, Demaryius Thomas, Luke Kuechly, Colin Kaepernick, Nick Foles, Cam Newton, Antonio Brown, Jamaal Charles, A.J. Green, LeSean McCoy, T. Y. Hilton, Andrew Luck, Eddie Lacy and Alfred Morris. The official cover image was released on the NFL's Instagram page.

Madden NFL 98

Madden NFL 98 is a football video game. It features John Madden on the cover. It was the last version of the Madden series to be released for the SNES, Sega's Genesis, and Saturn platforms as well as the last Madden game to utilize the 2D sprite based in-game models for the players/referee, on 3D playing fields.

The Green Bay Packers had the best team overall in the game with a 95. The worst team overall was the Baltimore Ravens with a score of 71. A 3 way tie between the Dallas Cowboys, the New England Patriots and the Green Bay Packers for the best offense with a perfect score of 100. There is also a 3 way tie for the best defense in the game between the San Francisco 49ers, the Seattle Seahawks and the Green Bay Packers with a score of 97. The San Diego Chargers had the best special teams in the game with a score of 96.

Reception

GameSpot gave the PC and PlayStation versions 8.8 and 8.1 out of 10, respectively. EGM rated it 9.0.

References