Sunday, February 6, 2022

Let's Talk Nice About Madden. NFL Pro Bowl Preview

Patrick Mahomes and Tom Brady Madden 22 cover athletes
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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