426:
tinkering." However, they praised the rendered character sprites, the widened camera views, and the new moves, and gave the game a recommendation. They judged the SNES version to be superior to the
Genesis version due to its faster animation and inclusion of drills specific to each position, and called it "the top-ranked SNES football cart".
32:
432:
panned the Game Boy version in a brief review, stating, "This Madden features no NFL license, old lineups, and none of the improvements made to the '96 SNES version. The small sprites will cause eye strain, player control is difficult, and passes sound like bombs falling from the sky." They made many
338:
would have no chance in the market if it missed the season. Reasons the development team were not able to make the original deadline included a lack of familiarity with the PlayStation hardware, initially mediocre technical support from Sony, and the short time frame allowed for development (8-9
425:
found the AI a somewhat mixed blessing, remarking that "The mean and nasty A.I. will answer the prayers of hardcore Madden players, but it will surely frustrate rookies and bandwagon fans." They also deemed the new
Scouting Combine feature "an excellent idea that could nonetheless use some
339:
months). A member of the PlayStation version's development team, speaking under condition of anonymity, commented, "Part of the problem was that we were trying to do too many new things for the first time. We'd never done a 3D game before. We'd just purchased our first copy of
400:
gave the
Genesis version scores of 9.5 and 9.0 out of 10, stating that "EA listened to players and has come up with the best 16-bit football game ever made." They praised the "hard as hell" AI and the addition of speed bursts. A reviewer for
260:
unlock a playable NFLPA team made up of free agents and user created players. Each of the established 28 teams unlock the lineup from their historical best season, ranging from the 1960
210:
situations, spike the ball, and cover the receivers with better efficiency. In addition to the 16-bit console and portable versions, a DOS version was also released under the title of
198:, but the PlayStation version was delayed and ultimately cancelled, with the game being published only for previous-generation consoles, PCs, and handhelds. Compared to previous
307:, the default programming language of the PlayStation. Features were to include customizable playbooks, penalties, weather conditions, and playing surfaces, and commentary from
364:, said cancelling the game rather than shipping a product EA could not be proud of was the right decision, and argued that decision was vindicated by the massive success of
433:
of the same criticisms of the Game Gear version, which they noted had better control but was still "a below-average attempt to bring football into the handheld arena."
407:
deemed it "a definite improvement from last year's poor effort", citing the more solid player graphics, faster play, and tougher AI. He further remarked that while
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252:, the victory screen reveals a code for the winning team, such as BYBYLA for the recently relocated Oakland Raiders. Having both debuted in 1995, the
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says he made the final decision to cancel the PlayStation version because it had become clear that it would not be ready in time for the 1995
1517:
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219:
The game was well received by critics, with the improved A.I. garnering the most praise. It was the last to explicitly be endorsed by the
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Though EA announced a delay from the fourth quarter of 1995 to the third quarter of 1996 for the game's release, executive producer
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Years after the PlayStation version's cancellation, a playable early development build of the game leaked onto the internet.
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The Create a Player feature is added, which includes position-specific mini-games that determine the ability of the player.
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268:. The classic teams have golden logos, historical stadiums, but the rosters consist of jersey numbers only, no names.
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352:
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1424:
497:"Electronic Arts to ship six PlayStation titles in first 60 days; nine new titles to launch before Christmas"
323:. But after several delays, the game was canceled because it did not meet EA's quality assurance standards.
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series right as it was being confronted by the first serious challenger to its dominance in years, the
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shortly after the console's launch in 1995. The programmers based the code on the 3DO game
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The cancellation of the PlayStation version was seen as a major blow to the
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343:. We'd never done a CD product before. We'd never programmed in C before."
334:. He judged that Christmas was crucial enough to football video games that
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Air
Hendrix (January 1996). "Madden Takes the Field on the PlayStation".
357:
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635:
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was the best two-player experience. He gave it four out of five stars.
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The video sequences starring Madden and
Summerall were repurposed for
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473:
327:
106:
98:
58:
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Slo Mo (December 1995). "Madden SNES: Another
Championship Season".
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series to include secret "classic" teams. Each time a player wins
102:
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742:
651:
553:
421:
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133:
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Slo Mo (December 1995). "Madden
Genesis Gets Tough for '96".
708:. No. 76. Sendai Publishing. November 1995. p. 248.
408:
451:"Madden NFL 96 Release Information for Genesis - GameFAQs"
194:
intended for it to be the first licensed NFL game for the
577:
415:
was still the best football video game in single player,
283:, was originally planned to be the first NFL game on the
110:
469:"Madden NFL Football: Limited Edition for DOS (1996)"
1444:
679:"The asterisk on Madden's annual release legacy"
628:David Short (March 1996). "Madden '96 in '97?".
833:
672:
670:
668:
666:
360:, executive vice president of marketing for
648:
627:
550:
1508:Video games developed in the United States
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826:
377:. Visual Concepts would go on to make the
256:unlock an All-Madden super squad, and the
30:
1493:Multiplayer and single-player video games
663:
676:
649:Dan Elektro (May 1998). "Vapor Trails".
525:
523:
521:
519:
225:, although a knock-off/rendition of the
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760:
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206:has been boosted and can now hurry in
1513:Video games scored by Tommy Tallarico
1458:Cancelled PlayStation (console) games
821:
516:
1518:Video games set in the United States
573:"IGN Presents the History of Madden"
213:Madden NFL Football: Limited Edition
600:"PlayStationMuseum.com - Madden 96"
229:theme would continue to be used in
13:
14:
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800:
190:, licensed by the NFL. Publisher
16:1995 American football video game
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1:
1425:Jacksonville Landing shooting
729:. December 1995. p. 195.
702:"Box Score: Madden NFL '96".
677:Paprocki, Matt (2017-08-22).
436:
244:The game is the first in the
233:for several years afterward.
1503:Tiertex Design Studios games
1483:High Score Productions games
394:The two sports reviewers of
389:
7:
530:"What the Hell Happened?".
236:
10:
1539:
1403:EA Sports College Football
293:, rather than the Genesis
1412:
1387:
1318:
1115:
857:
792:. April 1996. p. 86.
782:"ProReview: Madden '96".
705:Electronic Gaming Monthly
631:Electronic Gaming Monthly
540:. April 1998. p. 42.
397:Electronic Gaming Monthly
332:Christmas shopping season
158:
146:
116:
88:
76:
64:
52:
38:
29:
24:
1335:John Madden Football II
1396:Mutant League Football
48:High Score Productions
142:1996 (Game Gear, DOS)
45:Tiburon Entertainment
1342:John Madden Football
1327:John Madden Football
866:John Madden Football
356:series. Nonetheless
301:John Madden Football
290:John Madden Football
254:Jacksonville Jaguars
1371:Madden NFL Football
505:. September 6, 1995
272:PlayStation version
262:Philadelphia Eagles
1498:Sega Genesis games
1350:Madden Football 64
808:Madden NFL '96
604:PlayStation Museum
1440:
1439:
1378:Madden NFL Mobile
1364:NFL Head Coach 09
477:. Blue Flame Labs
383:series of games.
258:Carolina Panthers
186:designed for the
172:
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138:November 30, 1995
129:November 10, 1995
1530:
1523:EA Tiburon games
1453:1995 video games
1431:Fantasy Football
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655:. No. 116.
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606:. Archived from
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581:. August 8, 2008
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208:two-minute drill
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788:. No. 91.
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767:. No. 87.
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746:. No. 87.
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725:. No. 12.
722:Next Generation
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536:. No. 40.
533:Next Generation
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404:Next Generation
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362:Electronic Arts
303:was written in
299:games, because
281:Visual Concepts
279:, developed by
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266:New York Giants
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192:Electronic Arts
188:1995 NFL season
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71:Tommy Tallarico
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19:1995 video game
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801:External links
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771:. p. 114.
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750:. p. 115.
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719:"Madden '96".
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638:. p. 121.
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561:. p. 128.
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417:Madden NFL '96
413:Prime Time NFL
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659:. p. 42.
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610:on 2011-07-22
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375:Madden NFL 97
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367:Madden NFL 97
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329:
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321:Lesley Visser
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163:Single player
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686:. Retrieved
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612:. Retrieved
608:the original
603:
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583:. Retrieved
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507:. Retrieved
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80:
54:Publisher(s)
40:Developer(s)
1420:John Madden
1319:Other games
1311:(25 – 2024)
1237:(25 – 2013)
858:Main series
358:Bing Gordon
353:NFL GameDay
317:James Brown
309:John Madden
285:PlayStation
202:games, the
196:PlayStation
167:multiplayer
90:Platform(s)
66:Composer(s)
1488:Madden NFL
1447:Categories
1253:Gronkowski
1203:Fitzgerald
850:Madden NFL
688:2023-03-08
636:Ziff Davis
614:2011-05-17
585:2011-05-17
509:2011-05-17
481:5 November
437:References
348:Madden NFL
296:Madden NFL
277:Madden '96
227:NFL on Fox
222:NFL on Fox
200:Madden NFL
184:video game
82:Madden NFL
1463:DOS games
1309:McCaffrey
1185:Alexander
1155:Culpepper
813:MobyGames
474:MobyGames
390:Reception
328:Scott Orr
216:in 1996.
107:Game Gear
99:Super NES
59:EA Sports
1231:Peterson
1207:Polamalu
1123:Williams
237:Gameplay
181:football
148:Genre(s)
103:Game Boy
1291:Mahomes
1281:Jackson
1275:Mahomes
1247:Beckham
1241:Sherman
1235:Sanders
1225:Johnson
1139:Sanders
785:GamePro
764:GamePro
743:GamePro
683:Polygon
652:GamePro
554:GamePro
430:GamePro
422:GamePro
159:Mode(s)
117:Release
95:Genesis
1330:(1988)
1297:Madden
1219:Hillis
1179:McNabb
1175:(2005)
1169:(2004)
1163:(2003)
1157:(2002)
1151:(2001)
1149:George
1145:(2000)
1143:Levens
1133:Hearst
1127:Wilson
1108:(2024)
1030:(2013)
380:NFL 2K
319:, and
246:Madden
231:Madden
153:Sports
77:Series
1345:(3DO)
1303:Allen
1287:Brady
1269:Owens
1265:Brown
1259:Brady
1213:Brees
1197:Favre
1191:Young
1173:Lewis
1161:Faulk
1129:('95)
341:Alias
179:is a
1305:(24)
1299:(23)
1293:(22)
1283:(21)
1277:(20)
1271:(19)
1261:(18)
1255:(17)
1249:(16)
1243:(15)
1227:(13)
1221:(12)
1215:(11)
1209:(10)
1199:(09)
1193:(08)
1187:(07)
1181:(06)
1167:Vick
1135:(99)
964:2005
957:2004
950:2003
943:2002
936:2001
929:2000
483:2021
409:Sega
901:'96
894:'95
880:'93
873:'92
811:at
790:IDG
769:IDG
748:IDG
657:IDG
578:IGN
559:IDG
411:'s
111:DOS
1449::
1289:/
1267:/
1233:/
1205:/
1141:/
1125:/
1105:25
1098:24
1091:23
1084:22
1077:21
1070:20
1063:19
1056:18
1049:17
1042:16
1035:15
1027:25
1020:13
1013:12
1006:11
999:10
992:09
985:08
978:07
971:06
922:99
915:98
908:97
681:.
665:^
602:.
575:.
518:^
499:.
471:.
453:.
370:.
315:,
311:,
204:AI
165:,
134:EU
125:NA
109:,
105:,
101:,
97:,
841:e
834:t
827:v
691:.
617:.
588:.
512:.
485:.
457:.
305:C
136::
127::
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