Madden NFL '94

Teams and speed! 80 teams. Fast speed. Add an NFL license, new visuals, full-season play, and terrific control. This one has it all but solid artificial intelligence.

This may have been the year that the SNES Madden finally overtook the Genesis version. Madden '94 also marks the first time the game is officially endorsed by the NFL - hard to believe! This plays as good as it looks, using the SNES rotation and scaling capabilities to maximum effect. The 360-degree instant replay is definitely something you will not find in the Genesis edition. The players are more lifelike and better animated as well. Madden '94 includes 80 teams, a play-calling "bluff" mechanism, and support for up to five players. On the downside, the game still features those "passing windows" which limit your view of the field. Even so, Madden '94 ruled the gridiron in 1993.

Gillar du amerikansk fotboll så kommer Madden ´94 inte att göra dig besviken, det kan jag lova.

Madden '94 was the first Madden game to be endorsed by the NFL, believe it or not. It also introduced some major new features, like faster gameplay, larger players, 80 teams, and support for the four-player multi-tap. Minor additions include a reverse angle replay and an expanded playbook. This game was also the first to let you "flip" your plays - a major innovation. The graphics are a mixed bag. Yes, the players are larger and look more realistic, but they are almost too big, and tend to crowd the screen. Also, they run like fruitcakes shaking their butts from side to side. The running is easier in this edition, and tackling is harder. The biggest improvement of all is the speed in which you can select your plays. The sound is better but still rough, and you still get John Madden's grainy commentary. He loves to say "boom" every now and then after a big hit.

The biggest problem with Madden '94 I guess is that it's rather bare bones, especially compared to today's football games. It's football, plain and simple, and I love football, especially for the Genesis. Much like my beloved Lions in the early 1990s, this game plays really good football but falters when it really counts. But, it has Barry Sanders, and I can at least pretend that my Lions are decent. For a title that has so many things that irk me, it still is quite fun. It's fun to play on an emulator and on a Nomad when you are watching the real NFL, and it's quite cheap. There is no good reason why you shouldn't run this one in for six. Whether it's six minutes, hours, days, weeks, months or years is up to you, and in this reviewers opinion, you should play ten times more Bill Walsh College Football.