You know how most football video games are just way too fast? Don’t you think it’s annoying when there’s not enough time between plays?
Yeah?! Well, this game is gonna knock your socks off!
Wait. You said no, right? Right. Yeah, you said no. You clearly said no.
Sega Genesis
Released in 1991 by Electronic Arts
Grade: C
This game has some great ingredients. It also has poison. Two types. One, it takes forever to get from play to play, especially against the lame CPU. Two, passing windows. Passing windows suck.
Where it falls in the series
The first John Madden Football was on Apple II in 1988, then MS-DOS, Commodore 64, and Commodore 128 in 1989, and those versions look utterly unplayable. John Madden Football then came to Sega Genesis in 1990. Same name. Different game.
This is the second edition on Genesis. Madden 93 and Madden 94 are minor upgrades, but also have the stupid passing windows. EA got it right by removing them for Madden 95 and never ever brought them back. Genesis versions lasted through Madden 98.
Praises and gripes
When it comes to the core gameplay elements, running and tackling, this game is solid. It’s easy to control. The plays often play out like simplified football plays, and back in 1991, that was an impressive feat. The players move like they do in EA’s early hockey games, with a bit of momentum and looseness, but much slower.
The graphics are simple and effective, and have retained their charm. The camera moves nice and smooth.
Unfortunately, the pace from play to play is slow as math class. Way, way too slow. It’s constantly annoying. You’ve got to choose your package (a playcall step that was eventually dropped forever), choose your formation, choose your play, wait as your players (who all look exactly the same) substitute in and out of the game, wait for your team to line up, wait for the QB to yell “Set!” and finally snap the stupid ball. That’s a lot of waiting. If you’re playing against the CPU, forget it. You may as well shop online between plays.
Passing windows suck. They cover the view of the field, right where all the receivers are. I cannot believe they stuck around as long as they did.
The best strategy is to memorize the sketchy diagram on the playcall screen, including the button each player is assigned to, snap the ball, survey the field, and once you decide who to pass to, quickly pull up the windows and throw. Otherwise, you’ll end up pressing A to throw to the guy on the left … and Oops! Threw to the guy in the middle. But guess what? You’ll probably complete the pass anyway. Receivers seem to catch everything, against all odds.
The passing windows are an even worse problem on defense, because, again, they cover the view of the field. Playing as a DB is pointless.
The running game has its own issues. Most of the time, the defense is on top of the ballcarrier in no time. But if you can avoid that, you can plow through defenders quite easily. There’s no button for sprinting, but there is one to lower your shoulders, and it works too well, which looks weird with the slowed down movement.
The series had some growing to do — more challenging CPU, more plays, more options, NFL license, slower passes, then faster passes again — but who needs the details. Just don’t buy this game unless you’re a dorky Madden collector like me. Not even the most absurd gag in sports video games, where an ambulance zooms onto the field and knocks a bunch of players out of its way, makes this game worth owning.