What's the best football game on Sega Genesis?

This one is a very subjective argument, but my vote goes to Madden NFL 95.

And here’s my top ten “power rankings” of football games on Sega Genesis:

Madden 95 plays nice and smooth. Games are exciting. It’s not overly simple or overly complicated as a Genesis game. It’s the first in the series without passing windows.

Madden 97 is good too, but just not quite as “raw fun” as 95. Madden 98 is basically the same as 97, except with awful menu screens. If you’re wondering why there’s no Madden 96 on this list, it’s because they went crazy with gameplay that’s too fast and out of control. Madden 94 is the best of the first four (which all have passing windows) because it moves from play to play faster than the earlier Maddens, where the delays really weigh down the fun.

Tecmo Super Bowl II and III changed the classic Tecmo style with slower action and more contemporary graphics, and I like their style. The first Tecmo Super Bowl on Genesis is like a port of the old NES versions, which most people love. The Tecmo trio is better on SNES than on Genesis.

In EA’s college series, I find College Football USA 97 to “technically” be the best game of the bunch. The feel is a lot like Madden 97, but with some dials tweaked for more wide open offense. A lot of people prefer Bill Walsh College Football 95, which definitely has simple charm. It’s like Madden 94 without passing windows. College Football USA 96 isn’t terrible, but it’s pretty useless to own assuming you’ll go with 95 or 97.

If you’re reading this page this far down, dude, you may as well pick up an early Madden just for the hell of it. I find the original John Madden Football pretty interesting with its fake teams and slim playbooks. Madden 92 and Madden 93 have more meat on the bone, and they play great, but I just don’t have the patience to go from play to play so slowly.

And if you’re reading THIS far down the page, maybe pick up NFL Quarterback Club too. The gameplay is like Madden on valium, but there are cute QB challenge mini games.