John Madden Football

Sega Genesis
Released in 1990 by Electronic Arts
Grade: C-

It’s got idiotic passing windows and a patience-breaking slow pace and some fundamental gameplay issues, but I can see why this game blew people away in its time.

Where it falls in the series

It’s not the first Madden game, just the first one that’s any fun. John Madden Football was on Apple II in 1988, and on MS-DOS, Commodore 64, and Commodore 128 in 1989, and they all have a low-fi, jumpy, 2D feel.

The Genesis version arrived in December of 1990, and it’s a whole different ballgame. The SNES version followed in November 1991, then Commodore Amiga in 1992, and they don’t quite measure up. EA’s games are at their best on the Genesis.

Seven more editions of Madden followed on Genesis. My favorite among them is Madden NFL 95.

Praises and gripes

This game is modest by today’s standards. It’s got just 16 generic teams. Players don’t have names or even numbers, yet you need to wait between plays while they substitute into the game.

The action moves slow. The graphics are plain. The collision detection falters.

The playbooks are tiny, and there are basically no options. When you press pause, there’s no menu. You can call a timeout. That’s it.

On pass plays, the passing windows block your view of the field. The best method is to memorize the play diagram and survey the field before even bringing up the windows, then hit two quick button presses to throw.

On defense, the passing windows are even worse. You can’t see your defensive backs until the ball is released.

This game is also brilliant. It completely revolutionized sports video games.

Before Madden, players in sports games ran in straight lines and stopped on a dime. Here, they turn, curve, speed up, and slow down with lifelike momentum.

Twenty-two guys all move around the screen with a combination of solid AI and a pre-drawn assignment. You don’t see the same thing happen twice. It feels like football, yet anything can happen. Sometimes passes are dropped even when the guy is wide open, and sometimes they’re caught even with defenders all around.

The game is smartly designed to put you in control of the action. You have 11 guys on the field, yet you can always get in the middle of the action. As the ball flies, you can take control of a player and catch it. On defense, it’s easy to switch players and deflect the pass or make a tackle. Fumbles pop in the air so you can go grab them, instead of being automatically scooped up. The pocket becomes an ugly mess on most plays, which forces quarterbacks to move before throwing, instead of comfortably dropping back.

It may not be realistic, but it lends itself to fun. This game has pick-up-and-play appeal while giving a taste of football’s depth of skill and strategy. That’s a tough nut to crack.


For a fun read on Madden’s early days and its impact on video games, check out the review of the Madden series on Revoking the Sega Seal of Quality, a funny and insightful website covering the whole Genesis library.

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