Madden NFL 98

"Not the best Madden around"

When Madden 98 was released in 1997, the game was top notch and many considered it the best football game of all time. Looking back now, it is quite humorous to think that this at one time was considered the best of the genre. Quite frankly, Madden 98 is just an average football game.

Perhaps the first thing once notices upon playing a game of Madden 98 are the shoddy in-game visuals. I believe that this was the last Madden game to not use polygons, and it is quite obvious. The game declares it uses 'V-Poly Technology' (whatever that is) to make the graphics fast and fluid. Sure, the game runs pretty fast but it does it so at the benefit of blurry and pixellated graphics. The game can get downright ugly at times. Slow animations are commonplace and the bluriness just makes things worse. This is a case where the poor graphics actually take away from the in-game experience - it can get hard to tell who catches the ball during pass plays. Sometimes it will look like the defender intercepts the ball, but the receiver is the one that actually catches it and takes it in 60 yards for the touchdown. Needless to say, the visuals help make Madden 98 a frustrating game.

The poor visuals aren't the game's only problem - the running game is also flawed. It can get very difficult to gain any significant yardage in the game. It seems as though the running game is one of the few things the Madden series has never been able to get just right - it's too difficult here, but in the newer versions it is too easy. Even while using Barry Sanders, the best running back in the game, it can become hard to get any real yardage on the play. As a result of the subpar running game, one will have to rely on passing to win games. If the team doesn't have a good quarterback, chances are that the team won't be real successful.

Thankfully, the computer AI (artificial intelligence) is not a problem unlike the visuals and the running game. The computer actually shows some skill here doing strategies that the NFL teams do in real life. The computer opponent will often waste the clock if they are ahead near the end of the game and they will call timeouts when they need to stop the clock. I did notice that sometimes the AI would call unnecessary timeouts, but that isn't a big problem.

Madden 98 has the usual game modes found in other football games - exhibition, season, custom season, tournament, and fantasy draft. Exhibition is just a regular game of football where you set the rules, weather conditions, and whatever else you feel is necessary. Season mode is the biggest mode of the game. In it, you select a team and try to guide it to a Super Bowl victory. Once the season is over, you can play another one right after it using the same team (with whatever changes you made in the season). Custom season is pretty self-explanatory - you can re-align the divisions to however you see fit. Tournament mode allows you to play an eight or sixteen team single elimination tournament. Finally, fantasy draft lets you play a round robin tournament using completely new team rosters from the draft. None of the above modes are really special, as they have all been done in other (and more importantly) better football games.

One thing that Madden 98 does well despite all of its handicaps is deliver a solid football experience. Sure, it may not have the best visuals or a decent running game, or even any original game modes, but it still follows through with what its all about - good ol' American football. Madden 98 captures everything from real life football and puts it right into the video game. The game has true-to-life playbooks and it has accurate statistics. Granted, the players all look the same on the field but they have different attributes. Some players go faster than others while some are stronger. The differences aren't always noticeable, but they are there nonetheless.

Also true to the Madden series is the 'enthusiastic' commentary from Pat Summerall and John Madden. John has his trademark 'Madden-isms', but thankfully he isn't as talkative as in other games. Pat Summerall isn't as talkative either, as he just gives the hard facts about the game taking place. Pat's play-by-play also sounds a little awkward. One such example of the awkwardness - ''The 49ers. 21. The Bears. 7.'' It sounds like he starts a new sentence after every few words, even when he's right in the middle of the sentence. Thankfully things would improve as the years went on.

As for the sound effects, they are the usual run of the mill type sounds found in football games. The crowd sounds like the usual complete and utter crap, as found in the other Madden games. The ''Let's Go (insert team here)'' and ''Dee-fence!'' chants do seem a little more inspired here, but overall the sound just isn't that great.

Overall, Madden 98 is just an average football game but it will always have a special meaning to me (it was my first Playstation game). I can't recommend a purchase or even a rental to anyone on this game, unless you are a game collector in which case you probably already have this game. Madden 98 really shows its age nowadays (in every department), so there is no reason to bother. Get one of the new Madden games instead.

Best Feature: It's football, Madden-style.
Worst Feature: Visuals and running game.

Final Analysis:
Graphics 3/10 - blurry and pixellated
Sound 5/10 - drab commentary, run of the mill sound
Gameplay 5/10 - bad running game, good AI
Control 6/10 - easy to learn, but not as good as newer versions
Replay Value 5/10 - not worth playing anymore
Challenge 8/10 - can get difficult
Overall 5/10

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 11/18/01, Updated 11/18/01