FAKE RONJAN!!Countdown: RJ's favorite NFL video games
Madden Week continues! Today, I'm going to quickly count down my favorite NFL video games ever.
#5: Tecmo Super Bowl (Super NES)
Most people remember the original NES game as being the best, with Bo Jackson, Jerry Rice, and Lawrence Taylor all being unstoppable. The Super NES version slightly toned town the wackiness in the stats but largely kept the same gameplay, only with super amazing graphics:
#4: Madden NFL 2001 (PS2)
I thought Madden was kind of "meh" in the late 1990s, but then this game came out and blew my mind. The reviews were glowing, and I remember being blown away by the graphics. It's still the most impressive first impression I've had for a football game, just barely beating out Joe Montana Sports Talk Football. It's the reason I bought a PlayStation 2. It even had a great intro video:
3. John Madden Football 93 (Super NES)
Perhaps it's all because Madden 93 was the first football game I ever owned, or perhaps it's because I have so many great memories playing it, but I'll always have a soft spot for this game. What a classic, even though it technically wasn't an NFL game since it had no license.
2. NFL Blitz 2000 (Nintendo 64)
So many amazing memories from this one, too, and we'll probably use one of the classics in a future Box Score Monday. The game was well-known for cheating in favor of the losing team, creating memorable endings like this random one I found on YouTube (skip to the nine-minute mark):
1. NFL 2K5 (Xbox)
The best football game ever made, killed in its prime. Great visuals and commentary, incredibly fun & realistic gameplay (difficult to get both of those right at the same time), and just an incredibly polished overall package. This game has such a following that the community found a way to hack it so its rosters could be updated with current players. A classic.
-rj