Then & Now Madden Football Turns 20 (Gamespot)

[rckabillyRaider]

IMO, Madden 95 and 96 were the worst ever

[laker8la]

I used to love Madden back in the day. It was a lot of fun, until I discovered the marvel that was 2k football. They just brought it to a whole new level, and Madden was never the same for me. The last Madden I enjoyed was 2001 with the leap to the PS2. The jump was incredible and the game was so much fun. I loved the post play animations and the TV style broadcast.

Every game since then has gotten more and more boring, until I stopped playing it all together in 2004 when I turned to 2k solely. The NFL exclusive license was a kick in the nuts for me, and I didn't even buy Madden when it was the only game in town. I would rent it, hate it, return it, and just not play football. It sucked that bad to me. But, I cautiously kept my eye on the game and noticed all the subtle improvements they were making, and to see the developers on the forums made me feel like they were trying to do what is best to satisfy the community. So, I took the leap and bought Madden this year and I have to admit I am pleased. The game is nice, really nice. The gameplay shines after some slider tweaks, and the celebrations are very FUN. Something Madden hasn't been to me in a long time- FUN. I am not too happy with the fact that CPU sliders are missing and the developers chose to sit on this little bit of information, but I digress. The game simply is good and if they can focus on getting some atmosphere into the game (2k type atmosphere) then this game will rock. And I mean blow it out, real halftime highlights, put together into a SHOW, a weekly wrap-up with highlights, full TV-style broadcast, better announcing from the play by play guy, etc. I mean just do what 2k did and boom- as Madden would say- you got it!!!!

[cbc72]

Wow...

I had no idea how bad it looked back when I was playing those older Maddens. :-)

BTW, how about the start of the Madden Curse?

In 1999, "Madden NFL 2000" --A slightly visible Barry Sanders on the cover foreshadowed the series' eventual switch to cover athletes. Otherwise, with more tweaks, options, and small features, Madden NFL 2000 was Madden as usual.


From Wiki -

Retirement

Sanders stunned many when he announced his retirement from pro football. His retirement was made public by faxing a letter to the Wichita Eagle, his hometown newspaper in July 1999.[6]

[MaxMan1000]

^^^ but it didn't look bad to us back then. We had nothing better to compare it to...

[Tomba]

That guys voice in the video is ahhh...yeah