Madden NFL 99
- January 01, 2000 00:00 AM PST
They finally got it right. After two years of mediocre Madden on the PC, EA�s finally created a football masterpiece that lives up to the high expectations it created with such stellar sports franchises as NHL and FIFA.
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Madden is visually stunning (the game, not the guy!). The animations�more than 300 new ones�are excellent, from the stutter-step juke to diving tackles to the one-handed pass catch. Even better, they�re always appropriate. You don�t see defensive backs leaping for passes that are at their feet or running backs high-stepping when they�re about to get crushed.
What this version does better than any other is capture football�s nuances. It�s the simple things�players in the huddle adjusting shoulder pads or removing mouthpieces, linemen approaching the line of scrimmage and settling into their stances, the holder spinning the ball laces out for the kicker, referees making the appropriate hand signals when calling penalties. You feel like you�re watching real athletes in the real stadium.
Developer Tiburon Entertainment (who did the PlayStation version for years�this is its PC debut) also used three different models for the poly players, so linebackers are bigger than running backs are bigger than wide receivers. Yes, that�s a generalization�thought was put into which player got what model.
The Madden team has always had a feel for good gameplay, and this year�s is no exception. It�s fast and hard-hitting, and you�re required to employ true-to-life football strategies. The game understands every football rule and enforces it correctly, and the AI is as smart as a coach. It calls time-out, goes for the two-point conversion, and mercilessly milks the clock when it should.
And now there�s a whole new level of depth and addictiveness. If the game�s 600-plus plays aren�t enough for you, create your own. admittedly, the play editor is somewhat limited: you don�t just freeform-draw pass routes or running plays on a chalkboard. You�re given a selection of over 40 different routes to run, and then you assign pass-blocking schemes and determine how far back the QB drops to throw.
The sim aspects are much improved. You can create a player or even a team, enter franchise mode to guide your team through 15 seasons, trade players while adhering to the salary cap, and more. While EA�s going in the right direction with Madden�s sim features, there are flaws�you can�t adjust difficulty levels or length of quarters in Season or Franchise modes, and you can�t enter the latter with a team you�ve created.
Multiplayer remains Madden�s forte. Same-PC and LAN games worked flawlessly and taxed our football-strategist minds. While there is TCP/IP play, we weren�t able to make it through a half without crashing. EA recommends that low-bandwidth players stick to coaching mode.
Those not ready for the big time can get help in this game: Madden explains football strategies on a separate disc, One-Button mode gets you into the basics, and Arcade mode features Blitz-like big hits (see the toss move below) and a limited selection of plays.
So the complete package has something for every football fan, as long as you have the hardware. And when you�re listening to Madden and Pat Summerall�s expanded and appropriate commentary, watching the highly detailed players make the plays as pads pop, and hearing players yelling and the crowd getting loud, you feel like you�re right there. It�s the most beautiful, realistic, and deep representation of football we�ve seen on the PC.
