Graphics - What can I say. They are excellent.  The new polygon graphics
are so tight that it's amazing.  With this sharp polygon based display
though, you also get less detail.  As to if this is good or bad, it's
simply what ever floats your boat.  Madden's graphics are no where near as
clean and crisp, but they do offer WAY more detail in every aspect of the
game (players, stadiums, etc...).  Bottom line - a new twist and much
welcomed addition to football graphics (except wouldn't it be cool to see
Laura from Tomb Raider on the field in all her polygonal glory!!).  The
fields while not nearly as detailed as Madden '98 are much wider it seems,
and this is good.  The plays are much harder to figure out than in Madden
'98.  The opposite had been true in years past but I think Sony screwed up
the play calling this year and EA Sports finally figured it out.  Gameday
is way to hard to find the correct play and figure out what they do.

Features - Two ways to look at it.  Tons of feature are either a great
addition or overkill.  I think that it's somewhere in the middle, just
bordering on overkill.  Once all of these great features (such as tackling
high or low, diving over the pile, forearm shivers, stiff-arms, double spin
moves, total control passing w/leading the receiver or under-throwing the
receiver, breaking from the grasp of the defenders) has been learned, the
possibilities are greater than Madden '98.  It's just a matter of do you
want to try this hard to learn all of these moves or just play some basic
football.  A side note - the x button for speed burst is a joke.  Little to
no bursting happens.

Gameplay - Smooth.  Very easy to spot open receivers and the blockers
actually give you some time to see up the field (unlike Madden'98).  I
still don't like the tackling.  It seems that the computer decides you are
going to get tackled before you are getting tackled.  What I mean by this
is that most of the time, the defenders start a tackle sequence that once
it starts, your going down, period.  It might be fun to some, but for me,
after I make a nice 8 yard run, I don't want to get spanked back 5 yards by
a defender that is standing still!  It's just a bummer for me that this
happens with almost EVERY tackle.  Also in question is the way that a pass
looks.  It still looks like a blooping high arcing pass even when you throw
a bullet.  
An advantage in gameplay over Madden '98 is that the actual game moves
faster between plays.  Calling a timeout in Madden results in about a 10
second affair.  In Gameday '98, a time out can be called in about 2
seconds.  The only drawback is that after a touchdown, you still move to
the next kickoff WAY to quickly.  Gameplay is smoother overall due to the
polygon graphics.

Sound - The sound is basic but good.  Some nice Triple Play '98 like
commentary comedy such as announcing someone's lights are on in their car
or welcome to the East High Marching Band.  The announcer does a nice job
but nothing extraordinary.

Madden '98 Vs Gameday - So hard to say which is better.  They are both
GREAT games and you couldn't go wrong in buying either (or both for that
matter).  I rented them both for the week before I made my purchase so I
did give both a fair shake.  The winner is....Madden '98 by the smallest of
hairs.  I wasn't even sure right after I bought it, but after playing more
of both games, I have more fun playing Madden.  I feel more in control of
my team and the outcome, while in Gameday it just seem more 'arcade game
like' to me.  It doesn't flow up field the same way.  Not as true a
simulation of football.  If Sony could just fix up a few things, Gameday
actually would be the king of ALL football games.  At 1st appearance
Gameday is the winner, but after extended play, Madden is still the winner
by split decision!

-Todd R.
rosey@now-online.com