The screenshots move right down the series: John Madden Football (1991), John Madden Football '92, John Madden Football '93, Madden NFL '94, Madden NFL '95, Madden NFL '96, Madden NFL '97.
It's quite amazing to see how John Madden Football evolved during its years on the Sega Genesis, beginning with the original cartridge in 1990. True, the football game began on the home computers, but it was Scott Orr and Mark Lesser's Genesis adaptation where the iconic classic was born. And it's remarkable to see just how solid the original gameplay engine proved to be.
Today, the Madden series continues to dominate, but it's really only by default. The games have been stagnant for years; perhaps this is because there are no competitors like NFL2K, perhaps this is because the video game sport has essentially been perfected. I'll leave that for you to decide. But there's no question that the Genesis titles continue to reign supreme. This is where sports video games became great.
Since I've been playing a lot of Genesis Madden this past week, I'd like to write more detailed posts on each version. For that, I need more playing time to better understand what makes one year stand apart from another. Madden '93 was my favorite back in the day, and Madden '96 is the weakest in the pack, but they all play a great game of football. Time for another round!
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