Distant Replays of 'Madden'

• By RICH LOUP
• 2theadvocate.com Sports Editor
• Published: Aug 22, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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The Madden NFL series is perhaps the most transcendent home video game of all time. It debuted on an Apple, contained John Madden's full name for a few years and didn't pick up "NFL" in the title until 1993 (Madden NFL '94) when it gained licensing from the league.

In real-life NFL terms, Madden has spanned franchise relocations, expansion and rules that have gone and come back again in different forms (use of instant replay).

As for the man himself, John Madden has become exponentially more famous since his tenure as Oakland Raiders head coach from 1969-78. One generation knew him as a successful football coach, whose fame grew as a top network NFL broadcast analyst and as an endorser. And another knows him as the name on the game, a title that was created before current-day college freshmen were born.  

Full disclosure here: I didn't discover the Madden game until the fall of 1991. It was called John Madden Football '92 and it was the first game I bought for Sega Genesis. So my random memories go no further than there in this look back at the Madden series:

BEST VERSION FOR ITS TIME: Madden '94. This title was a step up in technology on several different levels. Graphics were much better, player movements a tad more fluid, and this title also introduced night games. But this version also gave us ...

WORST CHEESE MANUEVER: Punt Block, Madden '94. It was a license to steal points, especially against the weak AI of the CPU.

Runner-up: The HB Screen play of Madden NFL '97 nearly led my two roommates in those days to kill me. Their alternative was to watch me run no-huddle and they didn't like that, either. For all of their griping, you'd think I was undefeated. It was probably more like 10-6 for every 16 games played.

BEST NEW FEATURE: Toss-up -- Instant replay in the early '90s and Season Mode in Madden NFL '96. The wow factor of instant replay and the fact that it could overturn calls was hard to top.

But the simulation junkie in me was glad when seasons were added. With the season introduction, you could sim a week in about five seconds. Four years earlier, I had the CPU play the CPU in a complete 224-game regular season (16 games for 28 teams and each game took about 30 minutes to sim) and the 11-team playoffs. I manually set up each game and kept track of the wins and losses. Buffalo went 16-0, then lost in the playoffs. Sound familiar (2007 Patriots)?

My college GPA that semester? Take a guess and don't start higher than 2.0.

WORST NEW FEATURE: Vision cone, Madden NFL '06. The section of the field eyed by the quarterback would light up. It was very disorienting.
 
BEST COMEDIC FEATURE: Ambulance, John Madden Football '92. When a player got hurt, an ambulance would come out to the field to get him. Problem was that it usually ran over at least two other players to get there. Amazingly, those players run over by the ambulance were OK but the guy with the original injury was out for a while.

Runner-up: Pat Summerall's "Oh, no, there's a man down!", circa Madden NFL '96. Nothing like hearing the authoritative Summerall monotone on a video game.

WORST UNRELATED SIDE EFFECT: The Madden Curse. NFL players have graced the cover since the early part of this decade. The list is a group of players who had flashes of brilliance or more in their careers -- just not the season following their spot on the Madden cover. The full list is under the Then and Now section. The curse has already struck for Madden NFL '09, and this year's circumstance is the most bizarre example.