REVIEW: Madden NFL 97 for the Sony Playstation by Thomas Moore


I have purchased many football video games over the past few years on
different platforms and one thing is for sure: these games keep
getting more realistic with new features that really improve the
gaming experience. The competition is fearce, how does Madden NFL 97
stack up?

With Madden NFL 97 for the Sony Playstation, EA has introduced some
new features never before seen in a video football game and it sets
new standards in realism for which all other football games will be
judged. It also bests it's arch rival, Sony's NFL Gameday, in many
areas and proves why the Madden series has been so successfull on
other video game platforms. 

PRESENTATION: GOOD

The TV-like video commentary is some of the best I've seen, which
include FOX commentators James Brown, Pat Summerall and John Madden.
The opening video animation and sound will blow you away and the
menu's are colorfull and loaded with options. The only problem is that
I immediately became confused with the layout of the various levels of
menu's and it took quite a while to simply figure out how to start a
game! The HELP menu makes up for some of the confusion, but I couldn't
understand why they didn't just group all the settings, options and
game types onto a single screen or two rather then in the 20+
submenus. The commentary is very clear and well done, what little
there is. This is not the continuous commentary I expected (like the
Sega NFL series or the latest FIFA), but this may be due to space
restrictions on the CD.   

SOUND: EXCELLENT

The sound quality of the music (stereo with Q-sound), commentary (even
the reffs voices sound like they are really on the field!) and other
effects are top notch. The rockin' sound track is very similar to that
of FOX TV and you'll be humming it long after the game is over!

GRAPHICS: EXCELLENT

This is just about as good as it gets on the Playstation, the 3D
effect on the field will even leave some a bit dizzy (like DOOM), but
you can always change the camera angle for a more 2D-like view. The
instant replay views are particularly well done (better then
Gameday's). The colors are vivid and you can clearly distinguish the
various types of plays, teams and all 31 stadiums which are very
detailed. As always you have weather conditions like rain, snow and
wind. The animations on the field are fast and smooth. 

CONTROL: GOOD

The controls in general are very quick and accurate, however since
they tried to take advantage of ALL of the buttons on the PSX
controller during EVERY part of the game I found this somewhat
overwhelming at first and I still don't think the R and L buttons are
nessasary in this game (Madden on my old Genesis worked great with
just A, B and C). Movement on the field is sometimes hampered by the
speed of the animation itself. You often wonder if it was your slow
reflexes or the controller that left your QB flat on his back.:)

GAMEPLAY: GOOD

The gameplay is a mix of many streghths and some weaknesses. The best
aspect of this game has to be how well they represented the streghths
and weaknesses of each player and yes, they even got their running
speed right! No more 99 yard runs by the QB or getting stopped from
behind with Jerry Rice!:) Sony, are you listening??? Even the stats
reflect the accuacy, WELL DONE! 

Passing in this game is fast and furious, there seems to be a constant
pass rush and the recievers and defenders move fast, but you do find
the open recievers with practice and you'll learn which plays work and
which don't with your team. The only flaw is that, unlike previous
Madden versions, you can't throw a deep pass in front of your reciever
and have him dive for it, all passes seem to be either right to him or
slightly behind. The plays, however, are excellent (Madden's
experience here really shows), every play you could possibly want is
here and you can even "bluff" the defence with different formations,
throw the ball out of bounds and even lateral, yes LATERAL the ball to
another player!:):):)

Running in this game is somewhat inconsistant. I have used many plays
(especially the I-formations) with success and it's very satisfying to
"follow your blockers" in this game. However, very often my HB gets
"stuffed" for a big loss behind the line of scrimage and it's very
hard to "spin off" or "stiff arm" an approaching defender. I might
improve with practice, but so far I have to say that you better have
Emmit of Bary if you want to be consistant on the ground and you
better know the plays. Sometimes you can see when the formation of the
defence is going to stop your run, in this case you MUST use audibles.
I believe the main weakness here is that the spin and stiff arm could
be more effective, especailly when running behind the line of
scrimage.

Kicking is easy in this game WHICH IS GOOD! Nothing irriates me more
than an otherwise great football game that leaves you scared to try a
field goal because of kicking difficulty. I like the way Madden
handles kicking, your only enemy (besides distance or maybe an
approaching defender) is the wind.

On defense you have a ton of plays and you can contol any player on
the field. The blitz plays work well and you can definately get burned
"big time" on a pass play using a run defense or visa versa. It's
tough to defend against short passes due to the speed of the animation
and there are very few interceptions even in double or tripple
coverage. Most interceptions are made by jumping for the ball. For
tackling, you have the "dive" or "power tackle". I have not had much
luck with the power tackle and end up using the dive most of the time.
The dive should BE the power tackle, in my opinion.  I think this is
another example of "filling all the buttons" with something. 

There are 10 different penalties total. On deffense you can get nailed
for penalties like unnessasary roughness (hitting a player after the
play is over!), encroachment, pass interference, roughing the QB, etc.
The offense can even get intentional grounding now! 

OVERALL: EXCELLENT

Overall a great football game with some minor flaws (which will
probably be fixed in Madden 98) and the best football game on the
market bar none. Football season is here, don't miss this one.