Madden NFL 99

"A very frustrating game, yet, addictive"

Wow, this was actually (beleive it or not) the very first football game that I can actually win a game in!! So, I bought it at a local Toys R us store. I liked it for a few monthes, got frustrated (I'll explain later), then threw it out the window. But, I retrieved it and started to play it again.

Graphics:
These 3D polygons look absoloutly amazing. You can see the breaths of the players when it's cold, the players' jerseys get all dirty after they've been through a tough tackle, and there's few glitches! Every football field is there to the very last detail. I live in Pittsburgh, and the Pittsburgh stadium looks exactly like the real thing. There's 3 beggining FMV's of football playing at the beginning, which a friend of mine when he first started playing Playstaytion said, ''whoa, cool graphics!'' what a dumbhead. Sorry Richard, had to use you :)

Sound/audio
The sounds make the game very like you're actually watching a football game on T.V. John Madden and Pat Summerall do the talking, and they do quite alot of talking. Pretty soon though, like every game that has announcers, you'll start saying every line along with the 2 guys. The fans also yell out random lines, like ''Yea'' and ''All right'', and ''You filthy bastard, can't you catch a damn ball??'' (Kidding :) that's what I say) The only music that I noticed was the music at the intro screen, and most of the other options screens that you'll see. Oh, and the player grunts are realll smooth. Well, they sound more like they're humping each other when they make a flying tackle.

Gameplay:
Well, if you watch football, you'll probably know what the gameplay is like. There's a ton of options you can change though, like often the refs call penalties, or if they's fatigue, or the difficulty level. There's season mode, franchise mode (you take a team through up to 15 seasons where you are the coach and do all the firing and hiring) custom season, fantasy draft, (do a nfl draft except with all the pros) practice, (you practice in a indoor field) or a regular game. When you choose to make a play, like other football games, you choose a play from a specific playbook from any team. The yellow boxes are passing plays, and the white boxes are running plays, simple.

Controls:
They are a little confusing at first, with all the moves, but you'll get used to it. A very unique option is the one button mode, which you choose a button that does everything. (Pass, run, speedburst, tackle, ect.)

Buy/rent
I would rent it first, see how you like it. It's not a very arcadish game like NFL blitz, a true football game that follows every rule.


Copyrighted 2000, all rights reserved. If you try to copy or rip off this reveiw, I can and will sue you, and easily win, just don't do it. :) Have a nice day!!

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 03/11/00, Updated 03/11/00