It’s an undoubtedly rare thing for a franchise to continue steadily from the earliest days of the video game industry into modern times. Most franchises start early and then fade away, or debut in the era of 3D graphics and establish themselves quickly. But the Madden NFL series has been going strong since 1988. Its annual releases have continued apace for 36 years and counting. And since every single game to date has more or less tried to do the same thing as its forebears, the Madden franchise is a perfectly self-contained timeline of its own history. 1995’s Madden NFL 96 is a particularly significant entry. It came out for the Genesis, Super Nintendo, and Game Boy, much like its predecessor Madden NFL 95. Unlike the other entry, it was also available on computers.
Madden NFL 96 Premise
As with every other Madden game, Madden NFL 96 is a sports simulator that lets you play football at a professional level. It simulates real-life teams using their playing stats from the 1995 season, including secret “classic” teams that can be unlocked during play. Madden NFL 96 was also the first game to let you create your own player. Accordingly, there are a variety of minigames based on the various positions in a football team. Your performance in those minigames correspondingly determines your character’s abilities. Modern Madden games have a detailed character creation system that would rival most open-world RPGs, and that tradition undeniably started here. Madden NFL 96 was also praised for the advances it made to the series’ AI, which was considerably more difficult than previous games.
Madden NFL 96 Main Characters
As a straightforward sports simulation, Madden NFL 96 does not have characters, or any sort of narrative other than the lead up to the Super Bowl. John Madden’s presence throughout the game is inescapable, but as a prominent football commentator and coach, he hardly qualifies as a character either. Instead, here is a full list of the teams available to play in Madden NFL 96, courtesy of the Madden wiki.
- Chicago Bears
- Cincinnati Bengals
- Buffalo Bills
- Denver Broncos
- Cleveland Browns
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Arizona Cardinals
- San Diego Chargers
- Kansas City Chiefs
- Dallas Cowboys
- Indianapolis Colts
- Miami Dolphins
- Philadelphia Eagles
- Atlanta Falcons
- San Francisco 49ers
- New York Giants
- Jacksonville Jaguars
- New York Jets
- Detroit Lions
- Houston Oilers
- Green Bay Packers
- Carolina Panthers
- New England Patriots
- Oakland Raiders
- St. Louis Rams
- Washington Redskins
- New Orleans Saints
- Seattle Seahawks
- Pittsburgh Steelers
- Minnesota Vikings
- Amsterdam Admirals
- Scottish Claymores
- Barcelona Dragons
- Rhein Fire
- Frankfurt Galaxy
- London Monarchs
- AFC
- NFC
- St. Louis Cardinals
- Baltimore Colts
- Los Angeles Raiders
- Los Angeles Rams
- Dallas Texans
- All 50’s Team
- All 60’s Team
- All 70’s Team
- All Madden
- Hall of Fame I
- Hall of Fame II
- Team Madden
- NFL PA #1
- NFL PA #2
- NFL PA #3
- NFL PA #4
Madden NFL 96 Titles In The Series
Overall, very few franchises have been as steadily prolific as the Madden series. This has been to its advantage as well as its detriment. Madden NFL has certainly enjoyed its position as the most prominent franchise of football games on the market. If you want to play a game of virtual football, there are essentially no alternatives for you other than Madden. Unfortunately, the frequent releases that have earned this series its prominence have also made it very hard for the developers to keep each entry feeling fresh and new.
As a result, fans complain quite frequently about new entries, which they feel have not added nearly enough to justify the cost of a new full-size video game every single year. Madden is not the only sports franchise to have this problem, however. 2K’s WWE series actually went on a two-year hiatus after WWE 2K20 released as a result of overwhelmingly negative reviews. There’s nothing to indicate that Madden will follow suit any time soon, though, so here is a full list of Madden NFL games released to date.
- John Madden Football (1988)
- John Madden Football (1990)
- John Madden Football II (1991)
- John Madden Football 92 (1991)
- John Madden Football 93 (1992)
- John Madden Duo CD Football (1993)
- Madden NFL 94 (1993)
- John Madden Football (1994)
- Madden NFL 95 (1994)
- Madden NFL 96 (1995)
- Madden NFL 97 (1996)
- Madden NFL 98 (1997)
- Madden Football 64 (1997)
- Madden NFL 99 (1998)
- Madden NFL 2000 (1999)
- Madden NFL 2001 (2000)
- Madden NFL 2002 (2001)
- Madden NFL 2003 (2002)
- Madden NFL 2004 (2003)
- Madden NFL 2005 (2004)
- Madden NFL 06 (2005)
- EA Sports Madden NFL Football (2005)
- Madden NFL 07 (2006)
- EA Sports Madden NFL Football: Season 2 (2006)
- Madden NFL 08 (2007)
- Madden NFL 09 (2008)
- Madden NFL 10 (2009)
- Madden NFL 11 (2010)
- Madden NFL Football (2011)
- Madden NFL 12 (2011)
- Madden NFL 13 (2012)
- Madden NFL 25 (2013)
- Madden NFL 15 (2014)
- Madden NFL Mobile (2014)
- Madden NFL 16 (2015)
- Madden NFL 17 (2016)
- Madden NFL 18 (2017)
- Madden NFL 19 (2018)
- Madden NFL 20 (2019)
- Madden NFL 21 (2020)
- Madden NFL 22 (2021)
- Madden NFL 23 (2022)
- Madden NFL 24 (2023)
Madden NFL 96 Cheat Codes
The main use of cheat codes in Madden NFL 96 is chiefly to unlock bonus teams. You can access special teams with stats based on historic games by inputting a special code on the Team Select screen. These special teams were a huge selling point for the game when it came out, and they remain a major factor of fan nostalgia for the title. Here is a list of codes you can use to unlock these bonus teams for yourself, courtesy of IGN.
- Atlanta Falcons (1980): AABBBCA
- Baltimore Colts (1964): AACACBA
- Baltimore Colts (1968): AACAAAB
- Baltimore Colts (1970): AABCACC
- Buffalo Bills (1973): ABACACA
- Buffalo Bills (1990): ABABBBB
- Buffalo Bills (1991): ABAACAC
- Buffalo Bills (1992): ABAAAAA
- Buffalo Bills (1993): AACCACB
- Chicago Bears (1963): ABBCABC
- Chicago Bears (1966): ABBBBBA
- Chicago Bears (1977): ABBACAB
- Chicago Bears (1985): ABACCCC
- Cincinnati Bengals (1981): ABCACAA
- Cincinnati Bengals (1988): ABBCCCB
- Cleveland Browns (1965): AACBBBC
- Dallas Cowboys (1970): ACACCBC
- Dallas Cowboys (1971): ACACABA
- Dallas Cowboys (1975): ACABBAB
- Dallas Cowboys (1977): ACAABCC
- Dallas Cowboys (1978): ABCCCCA
- Dallas Cowboys (1992): ABCCABB
- Dallas Cowboys (1993): ABCBBAC
- Dallas Texans (1962): BAABACB
- Denver Broncos (1977): ACBCAAC
- Denver Broncos (1987): ACBBBAA
- Denver Broncos (1989): ACBABCB
- Detroit Lions (1962): ACBCCBB
- Green Bay Packers (1966): ACCBACC
- Green Bay Packers (1967): ACCABCA
- Houston Oilers (1980): ACCCAAB
- Kansas City Chiefs (1966): BAAABBC
- Kansas City Chiefs (1969): ACCCCBA
- Oakland Raiders (1967): BABBCCC
- Oakland Raiders (1976): BABBACA
- Oakland Raiders (1980): BABABBB
- Oakland Raiders (1983): BAACCAC
- Oakland Raiders (1990): BAACAAA
- Los Angeles Rams (1968): BACBCCB
- Los Angeles Rams (1979): BACBABC
- Los Angeles Rams (1984): BACABBA
- Los Angeles Rams (1991): BABCCAB
- Miami Dolphins (1971): BBACBCC
- Miami Dolphins (1972): BBABCCA
- Miami Dolphins (1973): BBABABB
- Miami Dolphins (1982): BBAABAC
- Miami Dolphins (1984): BACCCAA
- Minnesota Vikings (1969): BBBCBCB
- Minnesota Vikings (1973): BBBBCBC
- Minnesota Vikings (1974): BBBBABA
- Minnesota Vikings (1976): BBBABAB
- New England Patriots (1976): BBCBAAC
- New England Patriots (1985): BBCABAA
- New Orleans Saints (1979): BBCBCBB
- New York Giants (1970): BCABAAB
- New York Giants (1986): BCAAACC
- New York Giants (1990): BBCCBCA
- New York Jets (1968): BCABCBA
- Philadelphia Eagles (1960): BCBAACB
- Philadelphia Eagles (1980): BCACBBC
- Pittsburgh Steelers (1974): BCCAACA
- Pittsburgh Steelers (1975): BCBCBBB
- Pittsburgh Steelers (1978): BCBBCAC
- Pittsburgh Steelers (1979): BCBBAAA
- San Diego Chargers (1963): CAAACCB
- San Diego Chargers (1966): CAAAABC
- San Diego Chargers (1981): BCCCBBA
- San DIego Chargers (1994): BCCBCAB
- San Francisco 49ers (1981): CABBBCC
- San Francisco 49ers (1984): CABACCA
- San Francisco 49ers (1988): CABAABB
- San Francisco 49ers (1989): CAACBAC
- San Francisco 49ers (1994): CAABCAA
- Seattle Seahawks (1978): CABCBAB
- St. Louis Cardinals (1975): BCCACCC
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1979): CACAABA
- Washington Redskins (1972): CBAACBB
- Washington Redskins (1982): CBAAAAC
- Washington Redskins (1983): CACCBAA
- Washington Redskins (1987): CACBBCB
- Washington Redskins (1991): CACACBC
- All-Time 50’s Team: CCABBBA
- All-Time 60’s Team: CCACABC
- All-Time 70’s Team: CCACCCB
- Hall of Fame I: CBABBCA
- Hall of Fame II: CBACACC
- All Madden: CBBAAAB
- Team Madden: CCAACAB
- AFC Pro Bowl: CBBACBA
- NFC Pro Bowl: CBBBBBC
- NFLPA #1: CCBACAA
- NFLPA #2: CCBBBAC
- NFLPA #3: CCBCABB
- NFLPA #4: CCBCCCA
- Amsterdam Admirals: CBBCACB
- Barcelona Dragons: CBCAAAA
- Frankfurt Galaxy: CBCACAC
- London Monarchs: CBCBBBB
- Rhein Fire: CBCCACA
- Scotland Claymores: CBCCCCC
Madden NFL 96 Cheats FAQ
Who is on the cover of Madden NFL 96? Nowadays, Madden games basically always feature a central star player on the cover. There is even a legendary Madden Curse; fans claim that if you appear on the cover of a Madden game, you are fated to have a terrible football performance afterward. Back in 1995, however, this tradition hadn’t started. John Madden himself was still the central figure on the cover of Madden NFL 96, with two anonymous players fighting it out in the backdrop. This local news article from WCNC Charlotte identifies one of the players as the little-known Cary Brabham, but he actually retired from football between the photo being taken and it being selected for the cover of Madden NFL 96.