The Madden Saga

[digitalpress]

Like it or not, it is videogaming's longest-running annual franchise and still adored by video football fans. Something I've always wanted to do was build a list of new features or memorable additions appearing in each Madden game over the years so you could see a chronology of change from the first game to the most recent.

What it really takes are people who know the games well, and I'm not one of those people. Other than the earliest titles, the series tends to blur in my mind as I'm sure it does in many other "casual" Madden fans. Here's where you come in. List the features that were introduced with each Madden that you can recall (or just check the back of your game boxes!) here and I'll compile them into this first post. Ultimately I'd like to turn the thread into a web page.

Note that this will include consoles only, no computer or handheld versions are listed here. I'll begin with a few easy ones. Let's see how the series has progressed over the years!

John Madden Football (Genesis)
- One memorable feature was that you would see other games in progress appear in the border at the bottom of the screen, and when your game was over you would be taken to some of the close games to watch the ending.

John Madden '92 (Genesis)
- Ambulances sometimes appear to take players off the field and in a hilarious twist, sometimes leave without them!

John Madden Football (SNES)
- Released for the 1992 season

John Madden '93 (Genesis, SNES)
- The 1993 version featured a "Championship Edition" variant that was available via mail order or rental only. This edition featured the same game engine but with all of the past Super Bowl teams to choose from.

John Madden Duo CD Football (TG-16/Duo)
- Runs on the '93 engine with cheesy video cutscenes of refs and cheering or booing fans. It came it a double disc case (like FFVII) with a huge poster of all the plays.

John Madden '94 (Genesis, SNES)
- The first version to feature an NFL license, before that teams were just generic cities.

John Madden Football (3DO)
- Released for the 1995 season, this was the first "3D" look at the game as well as its 32-bit debut.

John Madden '95 (Genesis, SNES)
- The first to feature real NFL player names, before that players were only represented by jersey numbers.

John Madden '96 (Genesis, SNES)
- The PSX version was deemed unworthy primarily due to the spectacular Sony-produced "Gameday", and was never released.

John Madden '97 (Genesis, SNES, PSX, Saturn)

John Madden '98 (PSX, Saturn)

John Madden '99 (PSX)

Madden 64 (PSX)
- Based on the 1999 season.
- First Madden title to utilize a first-person perspective (though not the first football game to do so)

John Madden 2000 (N64, PSX)

John Madden 2001 (N64, PSX, PS2)
- PSX/N64 version differences?

John Madden 2002 (N64, PSX, PS2, GCN, XBOX)
- PSX/N64 version differences?

John Madden 2003 (PSX, PS2, GCN, XBOX)
- PSX version differences?

John Madden 2004 (PSX, PS2, GCN, XBOX)
- An "owner mode" was added, allowing you to run all aspects of the team's organization on and off the field.
- The ability to transport your NCAA Football players into the game for the draft was added.
- PSX version differences?

John Madden 2005 (PSX, PS2, GCN, XBOX)
- Introduced the "Hit Stick" for more control when tackling.
- PSX version differences?

[downfall]

Joe, here are a few others:

Madden 64 - Obviously only released for the N64, and the first football game to include a first person mode (looking through the eyes of the player).

Madden '99, 2000, 2001, 2002 - All also on N64.

[Gamereviewgod]

Madden '04 on the PS One included the "classic" mode. I believe it was only available in the collector's set on the other consoles.

[goatdan]

Madden was also on the Saturn... in '97 and '98, if I'm not mistaken.

[Mayhem]

Madden 64 - Obviously only released for the N64, and the first football game to include a first person mode (looking through the eyes of the player).

GFL Championship Football for the C64 did that in the mid 80s, so I don't think Madden64 was the first.

[downfall]

Madden 64 - Obviously only released for the N64, and the first football game to include a first person mode (looking through the eyes of the player).

GFL Championship Football for the C64 did that in the mid 80s, so I don't think Madden64 was the first.

Really? I've always, always seen Madden 64 attributed with that bit of trivia, even in mags like Game Informer. Although I suppose it's no suprise that nobody really bothers to check things like that out.

Kinda like me here I guess. :embarrassed: LOL

[goatdan]

Quarterback Attack also did the "through the eyes of the player" thing, although that was much more limited than the Madden 64 one was.

Haven't played the C64 game, so I can't comment on that.

[Kid Ice]

IIRC Madden '95 was the first one to not utilize the passing windows at the top of the screen. I tuned out of it for a little while because I used to like the passing windows. Now I can't figure out why...you can't even tell where the receiver is on the field.

[SoulBlazer]

Good thread, Joe, espeicly with Madden 2006 coming out in a couple weeks -- can't wait to get my hands on that one. :D

I'll have to do some research, and also refer you to some websites I've seen that have all the differences and changes spelled out (there really ARE more done year to year then most non football people seem to think!) but here's some ones I know off the top of my head:

The first game in the series was John Madden football in 1989 for several computer systems. However, the idea had actually been started many years eariler. A Madden game was planned for one of the video game systems -- I think it was the Atari 5200? -- in 1984 but never was finished due to the crash.

Madden himself was involved in a lot of the work and design for the game. One thing he insisted on was that 11 players be on the field for each team. NO football game up to that point had had ALL 22 players on the field at the same time.

I believe the next year's version was the first to get ported to any of the consoles.

For a few years in the early 90's the games also used Fox's football theme music (you can still hear it on their broadcasts today).

Madden games also used to have personal blurbs about all the players. That decreased in recent years, though, and the last game I heard that had them was Madden 2002. (I mean that during the game is player X made a great play, for example, Madden would say something personal about him.)

Madden games started out as being more 'arcady' but over the years they have become more and more sim. I think the last thing that defined them as a sim game was when they added Owner Mode to Madden 2004. Now you could be a owner and run every small thing about your club, where as in past games you just played as a coach.

Also that year a link feature with the NCAA games were started, allowing you to import your draft rosters from NCAA into Madden and keep playing them.

Whew.....I think that's enough for now. :)

[chrisbid]

madden 94 was the first to feature an NFL license, before that teams were just generic cities

madden 95 was the first to feature real NFL player names, before that players were just jersey numbers

[joshnickerson]

If memory serves me correctly, Madden 64 didn't have a full NFL licence, so it could use the team names, but none of the player names.

[slip81]

I think Madden 2005 also introduced the "Hit Stick" for more controll when tackling, '05 also had a CE version that featured past Maddens with updated graphics.

[Ikari Warrior]

There is also John Madden Duo CD Football for the Turbo Duo. Runs on the '93 engine with cheesy video cutscenes of refs and cheering or booing fans. It came it a double disc case (like FFVII) with a huge poster of all the plays.