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Title John Madden Football
Game Type Sport
Players 1-2
Company Electronic Arts
Compatibility All (with Patch)
HD Installable Yes (with Patch)
Submission Chris Vella Profiled Reviewer

Review
From the moment you start this game you know you are in for a quality
product. The intro is very impressive and sets the feeling for a game of
good old American Football. Since American Football can be complicated and
hard to understand for our friends in other countries I will basically
tell you first, the object of the game: To have MORE points (a higher
score) than your opponent when the time runs out at the end of the game.

The game is broken down into time quarters. There are 4 quarters in
the game, each quarter is 15 minutes long, after the the second quarter
there is a 15 minute break called halftime, then the 3rd and 4th quarters
commence.

To start the game a coin is flipped and the visiting team gets to call
either heads or tails. If he calls correctly, his team gets the choice of
either receiving the ball first or kicking off. The team that receives the
ball is now the offensive team and the team that will be defending is
called the defensive team. The total length of the field is 100 yards,
starting at 0 going up to 50 then back down to 0. The offensive team has 4
downs (tries) to get at least 10 yards. If they get at least 10 yards then
they will get another 4 downs to get at least another 10 yards. To move
the ball the offensive team can either RUN the ball or PASS it. If the
offensive team gets to 4th down and don't think they will get the 10 yards
they can elect to punt (kick) the ball as far away from their own goal
line (or as close as possible to the defenders goal line) This is done
because if they didn't get the 10 yards on their 4th down the ball will
automatically be turned over at this spot to the defensive team who in
turn will now be the offensive team. Another possibilty is that if it is
4th down and the offensive team thinks they can't get the 10 yard total
but thinks its kicker can kick the ball through the Uprights (a U shaped
goal post) and they do, then they get 3 points. If the kicker misses the
they get 0 points and the ball is turned over to the other team. If the
offensive team moves the ball across the defenders goal line they get 6
points and one chance to kick the ball through the uprights to score an
additional 1 point.

The defending team will try to stop the ball from advancing by
TACKLING the man with the ball. Wherever the ball is when the man is
tackled this is where the offensive team will run the next play from. For
example, if it is 1st down and 10 (This means its the offensive team's
first [1st] try to get 10 yards) and the runner runs 4 yards before being
tackled the next play will be 2nd and 6 (meaning its their second chance
to get 6 more yards) If the next play is a pass and the receiver (player
whom the ball is thrown to) misses or drops the ball, the ball doesn't
advance and the next play will be 3rd and 6. I think you get the idea now.
Another thing that could happen is called a fumble. This is when the
offensive team advances the ball and the ball carrier drops the ball
before being tackled. There will be a mad scramble for the ball because
whoever gets control of the ball will now be on offense, or while passing
the ball the defending team catches it instead of the offense then the
ball is also turned over to the other team. There are many rules and
regulations, far too many for me to list so I hope my quick reference
atleast gives you an insight into American Football.

Now on to this game, John Madden is a very good version of football.
The controls are very responsive and movement of the players is very
smooth. The gfx and sound in the game are very good and I consider it to be
ABOVE average for an Amiga game. You can play this game as a 1 player game
where you will be playing against the computer or a 2 player game where
you can play a friend. The computer plays a pretty decent game but you
should have no trouble beating the computer once you gain some experience.
MANY of the NFL teams are represented in the game but NOT all. I don't
know why this is but many of the more popular teams are represented. Each
team has different attributes making some teams better than others. A good
choice for a beginner to start with is the Minnesota Vikings, This team
has some of the best attributes and will play a strong game.

Computer football is probably best suited for at least a 2 button
joystick, but the programmers did a good job making the game play well
with only a 1 button and anyway there is not an option for a 2 button
joystick, but make sure your joystick is sturdy because you will be doing
lots of movement with it along with the occasional throw the joystcik
against the wall because of anger while losing a game :-)

In conclusion, If you like American Football, then you will like this
game. Its the second best version of football on the Amiga with only the
great TV SPORTS FOOTBALL besting it. Good GFX, good SFX, good gameplay =
Good Game! Buy it, you won't be disappointed.