Last season, I talked
alot of shit
about Madden like their piss poor reviews, annoying glitches, and all the
things I could think of that are missing from the game but were in earlier
versions or in other games. But this year, it's only right that I honor
John Madden by
detailing my favorite Madden video games. This list is based on how much fun
I had playing it, not ratings.
10. Madden 11
Ozzy Osbourne only had
2 songs on the
Madden 11 soundtrack but it felt like more with how often it would come up.
Considering all the shitty rap songs that dominate Madden nowadays, I'll
gladly take Ozzy on loop over the trash soundtracks of today. Other than
that, it was pretty much the same as Madden 10. It's memorable to me but not
much to write home about.
9. Madden 10
I liked the little halftime recap and end of week show in franchise but
that's pretty much it. It was at this point that they started locking away
things to their online modes where I wasn't able to play the AFL Legacy
Mode. Thankfully the AFL presentation came with Madden 11 by default.
8. Madden 06
I brought this thinking I would be able to play with the
NFL Europe, legends,
and
fantasy teams. I was wrong. All those cool things that were on the PS2 wasn't on the
XBOX 360. That was such bullshit so Madden 06 gets left off the top 5 list.
The music was
still good
though.
7. Madden 2004
I didn't play Madden 04 that much with my cousin so I didn't get to
experience the lore of Michael Vick. He was a Colts fan and I knew next to
nothing about video games so the legend of the Mike Vick Falcons never came
up. I was busy creating teams, which he deleted after I left.
6. Madden 2005
Madden 05 opened a whole new world to me. I would take every chance I could
get to hit stick my cousin. Sometimes I would cause a fumble, other times I
would completely whiff but it was fun either way. One time I spent the
weekend with my cousin and he noticed that I created like 10 teams with free
agents and other low rated players. He finally asked why I keep making these
trash ass teams. I responded that I wanted to see if the announcers would
say their names and if their models have their faces. He felt it was stupid
but at least he didn't delete them this time.
5. Madden 2001
When my cousin brought a PS2, he gave me his N64 along with a few games. I
mainly remember Quake 64, which I rarely played and NBA Jam 99 which had a
weird glitch where if you block a dunk, the player would literally be hung
on the rim until his teammate frees him by scoring. I can't find any videos
that replicates this glitch but I know for sure it was
NBA Jam 99 because I
remember Keith Van Horn being on the front of the cartridge. It went both
ways so if I got blocked, then I would be at a 2-1 handicap until I could
score and break my teammate loose.
But the headliner for me was Madden 01. Back when Madden cards were
unlockables that gave you powerups like kicking the ball further, the
ability to play with the '85 Bears and the chance to play against a team of
clowns. I played that game day and night on a old B&W TV that my uncle
gave me from a salvage yard. It was the first console I owned and I had it
for a couple years until my mom threw it out calling video games a waste of
time. I never forgave her for that.
4. Madden 25
I'm coaching the Browns, WR for the Jets and owner of the Jaguars so I'm
only on my 4th season in the league. I was excited that I could relocate my
team but was underwhelmed once I did it. I moved the Jags to Ireland to
become the Celtic Tigers. I liked the uniforms but it was
disappointing that I couldn't wear the Jaguar uniforms as throwbacks.
(EA being a disappointment. What else is new?) Also the pregame team hype
video was generic as hell. Like damn, you're forcing us to choose these
teams and wear these uniforms, the LEAST you could do is put in the effort
of creating videos for each relocation team like you did with the NFL teams.
I bet if I jacked up the ticket prices, it would still be a packed house
unlike NHL 08 where the stands would be empty until the playoffs because God
forbid they put effort into Madden!
3. Madden 13
I played the most seasons of franchise mode in Madden 13 with 10 seasons
as the Jaguars coach. I have it on rookie because I want to break every
record in the game. Also, I like signing older free agents to give them a
chance to win a Super Bowl before retirement and to see does Jim Nantz say
their names. I ran the ball all the time for like the first 4 seasons so
MJD has the top ten rushing yards and TDs in a game, season and career
beating Emmit Smith's yards record by 3,000 and has 444 total rushing TDs.
After he retired into the HOF, I drafted a QB in the 3rd round named
Daniel Zabzebski and aired it out for the rest of the seasons. He already
has the game and season records but he has a way to go before hitting the
career marks.
Another thing I do is try to break the game so I trade players for draft
picks every year and keep my roster at the minimal so at my last
draft, I had 42 picks leaving multiple teams with 3 or less picks for that
draft. I also draft based on how unique the player's last name is. I find
it lazy to generate these names only for them to not be said in the game
but that's EA for you. Anyways, I trade away players who are rated under
70 for more draft picks and signed more older free agents and repeat the
process every year. Because of my haphazard way of building a roster (and
I maxed out the injury slider looking for career ending injuries), I
discovered that if you only have one backup at a position, the injured
starter stays in the game showing no signs of injury. You can tell that
when he freezes during the injury animation then you see him in the huddle
for the next play (Speaking of huddles, Maurice Jones-Drew grows a foot
during those cutscenes).
2. Madden 12
The last Madden with a decent soundtrack and create a team. Career mode was
so bare bones that I could complete the entire season from preseason to
Super Bowl in a day with 5 minute quarters. Again, I was interested in
breaking records so I made my WR 7 foot 235 pounds and went to the Patriots.
Tom Brady retired after my 2nd year so for the rest of the 13 seasons in New
England I had a QB who couldn't throw for shit when he passed to the other
receivers. I would always break off routes, hit the seam and call for the
ball usually for a wide open TD or at least a big play. It was funny looking
at the season stats leaders where I led in TDs and yards but was last in
receptions. I'm currently 5th in career receptions with 659 behind Ciante
Cureton who is in his 9th year with 200 more receptions than me but I have
10,000 yards on him. LOL
I found it weird that it would always rain in my home games. 15 seasons
playing in Foxboro and it was only sunny for like 7 games. All the other
times it's either snowing, rainy or a night game. I'm not from there so I
don't know how often it rains there. It was cool though that the
cheerleaders and mascot attire reflected on the weather conditions and our
uniform choices. So if we wore red jerseys, the cheerleaders wore red tops.
If we wore throwback pants, Pat Patriot wore them as well. And during cold
and rainy games, the cheerleaders wore coats during the pregame
introductions. It's small details like that that makes me appreciate the
older games.
Bonus: Quick Hit
Quick Hit was a F2P browser game like NFL Head Coach where all you did was
call the plays and develop your players. I had fun playing it and ranking up
so I can afford better players and plays. At first they used generic players
along with NFL legends and former coaches. Later on, they got the NFL
license so you can use NFL logos for your created team. I guess the contract
was too much for them and they went bankrupt. It's a shame because I haven't
seen another browser game that's similar to it. I don't even need the NFL
license, I just want to be able to coach up a rag tag team from weaklings to
world beaters for free. Madden Mobile doesn't count.
1. Madden 09
I LOVE Madden 09! I feel it has that perfect balance between realism and
fun. You can create teams. The field gets muddy during rainy games which
gets on the players. It has a
nice soundtrack.
Players don't look plasticky. You can hire a agent, hit free agency and go
to another team. There are off season workouts to build up your player's
ratings. There are different celebrations you can do depending on the
player, the team and where you are on the field. You can win trophies that
you can view in the main menu. Hell, you could even earn rings that you
could buy and have delivered to your house via Jostens! That's much better
than the worthless crap people spend on online modes that become worthless
as soon as the next game drops and EA shuts down the servers. If i'm
spending thousands of dollars on cards and tacky uniforms for my player,
that shit better be in my mailbox a couple weeks after the online modes are
disabled.
So those are my top 10 Maddens. I will also create a Madden Greatest Hits
playlist that took me fucking forever to make. Oh, and the AFC
wins this
20-17 over the NFC Pro Bowl all stars.
LAST WEEK 1-1
PLAYOFFS 7-5
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