Another year, another football season gets ready to swing into full gear and as most of you know that means another slew of football simulation games will be bucking for your video game dollar once again. Recently, over the past few years, it seems that EA Sports had lost some ground due to the success of Sony's surpris ing successful "NFL Gameday" titles. While last year's "Madden" had improved on the defensive aspects of it's gameplay a lot of it's thunder was stolen by "Gameday's" 3-D graphics. So the boys at Tiburon Entertainment have once again taken "Madden" back to the drawing board and what they've come up with is possibly the best football simulation to come out on ANY home system ever! Now EA Sports seems ready to regain it's title back from Sony with the introduction of "Madden NFL '99".
The first noticeable difference you'll see is that the game is completely 3-D with all the players and stadiums rendered in all their polygonal glory and enhanced with high-res graphics. While the poly count is not as high as this year's "Gameday'99" (which is boasting a 350 poly a player count!) the players and all the little details are nicely done. Since I haven't seen (or played) "Gameday'99" I can only say that the poly's and the tackling animation's are much smoother and sharper than those in last years "Gameday'98". Yet, EA Sports didn't stop there, they revamped not only the Defense to play "smarter" and "tighter" than last years (you'll actually see defensive players "Read & React" to your players!) but the inclusion of different playbooks for EACH team now give "Madden" a greater depth than ever before! This years "Madden" will have at least 450 offensive plays for your disposal to try out (depending on your the "Playbook" you choose to use). Players also play like their true life counter-parts. No longer will linebackers like Reggie White be able to catch up and bring down the likes of a Tim Brown or a Deion Sanders. If you blow the coverage it means six points for the other team.
EA Sports has also included a ton of new features never before seen on any "Madden" title before. Since ever team has it's own "Playbook" the folks at EA have included a "Custom Playbook" editor, which allows you to take all your favorite plays from any playbook and lets you compile your own playbook. They've also included a "Custom Play Editor" which allows you design your own plays! The best part is you can save this to your memory card and take it over to a friends house, download it, and play him with your own special playbook (you can also save your Audibles, Subsitutions an load everything in one shot! No more waiting for you and your friend to make all those changes before the game. Just load and play!) I could also change my "Playbook" if I choose to. Say I wanted the JETS to play the 49ER'S "West Coast Offense" I would simply chose the 49ER playbook for the JETS before the game.
The game also allows you to play in three different difficulty modes ("Pro", "All-Pro" & "Madden" and believe me you'll notice the difference unlike previous "Madden's") and also allows you to play in three different styles "Traditional", "Directional" and "One Button". The "Directional" feature lets you "read" where the open man is, without the use of "pass letters" while the "One Button" is perfect for even the novice of players. So no matter your plaing style or skill, everyone can play like a true gridiron champ.
Other features include a new "Practice Mode" which allows you to get accustom to the plays and see what Offensive plays work against which Defensive plays...or vice versa. Another feature includes a "Franchise Mode" which keeps you on as Owner and Coach so long as your team keeps winning. Lose to may games and you could find yourself looking for work. The commentary is informative and even funny at times. Of course the game comes complete with all the present day teams besides all the great "Superbowl" teams of the past and a whole slew of "Hidden" teams to be discovered. All in all, "Madden NFL '99" is by far THE BEST of the series and is sure to give Sony's "NFL Gameday '99" a run for it's money, but until I see and play "Gameday '99" I have to say "Madden NFL '99" is the best football simulation on the PlayStation so far.
Reviewed with the assistance of The Firm $F$ and it's members.