Madden NFL '97
Reviewed by Dale Kulas
Graphics: 8: Remember the tiny sprites off the Geneseis and
SNES versions of Madden, Well you got sprites in here too,
but there just bigger. They don't look bad though, but
polygons would've been better because it's main competition,
NFL Gameday featured polygons. The game blew a lot of memory
on FMV's of Madden and Summerall talking for a mini pre game
show. You got pictures of all the NFL players and all the
menus are nicely layed out. You got a nice view of the
field, and on instant replay all the stuff looks great close up.
Sound: 8: Lots of use of voice from Madden and Summerall.
All the sound effects are done well. The opening theme music
is pretty good too. Sound is really good overall.
Gameplay: 9: Gameplay is simple, especially the passing
system where you hike the ball;press the hike button again
to get the buttons above the players, and press that button
to throw it to tha player. Running is fairly easy too.
Create-a-Player is fun because you get an amount of
attribute points to distribute on your player and beef him
up as much as you like. The game keeps track of stats in a
plethora of categories to keep you buisy. Like all madden
games this one has the NFL and NFLPA liscense. Theres a
salary cap on trades, but you can turn this off too so you
can make a team of all stars. So many different types of
ways to get injured you can't even keep track. There are
lots of classic teams to choose from, plus some hidden teams
you can unlock with a code.
Replay Value: 8: The game can be played by up to 8 players
so you can really duke it out with all your buddies. And
you'll always be buisy following all the stats in season
mode too. Theres also all the classic teams to choose from
too so you can see how great the '90 49ers were.
Overall: 8: A pretty solid Madden game. A nice debut on the
PSX. Again, polygons would've been nice, but we would've had
to wait until Madden '99 to get those on the PSX. Plenty of
options and lots of other stuff to keep you buisy in this
game. Go ahead and give this one a rental if you're a Madden freak.
