Madden NFL 99 started a transcending of sorts for EA's biggest brand as it went from the sort of pixelated sprites of Madden 97 and 98 as they transformed to the 3D era of everything going forward from here onward. As I noted in the Madden NFL 98 review I would not be able to compare it to Madden 99 in a lot of ways but the best way to say is to point out the improvements of this game from Madden 98, and yes there are also downsides to this game (much in the same as Madden 98.)
Improvements from Madden 98:
1. 3D models of Players- Major upside here is to compete with NFL Gameday 98 and 99 and Madden turned it to 3D models of players and they got better overall. It looks more realistic and it was a very nice change overall with the player models.
2. Franchise Mode- Besides player models, Franchise mode is the biggest addition to this. A fifteen year Franchise mode enables you to go through the regular season, meet team expectations, or possibly get fired for not meeting expectations, signing players due to holes on the team during the year, trading, and all the off-season stuff like retirements, drafting, trades, and so forth. This was a major step forward in terms of competing and ultimately overtaking NFL Gameday's game.
3. Updated Graphics- Not just the player models, but the stands and stadiums are also more refined overall. They looked better as a result and they continued to showcase the art of being better at this.
4. Updated playbooks- This was a big thing as well as they were more accurate on playbooks at this time so they did their homework prior to making the game. Overall this was a big step forward for a franchise that needed to get going forward.
5. Fantasy Tourney- There are generic teams played at a generic stadium in San Mateo, California like the Generals for lack of better team names however the main reason I put this in is this: The Fantasy Tourney helps a lot and pretty much brings forward what is true about Fantasy Football today, getting the best team able and get the best of everything over a season.
6. A Password Code System for Added Things- One thing you can do is bring back the Cleveland Browns (Thanks Art Modell for taking them away for no reason) in exhibition mode with a password code you can type in. There are others you can do as well but this is the main one (And yes they come back for real anyway in Madden 2000.)
Negatives:
1. Passing Game- Yep again it is a major struggle. It is exceptionally difficult to complete passes in this game and it is honestly annoying because if your running game isn't good then you are sunk offensively overall. This also then leads me to..
2. The Line of Scrimmage- It becomes a bit of a moshpit and jumbled mess with a lot of bodies almost right away when passing. This leads to a lot of batted down balls which can be good on defense but on offense it is very annoying to deal with. This was a problem that seemed to be better with 97 and 98 but reverted back in 99.
3. Some Stadiums realism: Tennessee's stadium is unrealistic in one end zone, which may be expected because they unexpectedly went from the Liberty Bowl to Vanderbilt Stadium in Nashville in a year. However Raymond James Stadium was complete by the time the Bucs played there for 1998 but the game showcases them at their old Houlihan's Stadium.
4. Camera- It doesn't work well with the close up camera. It feels too close even at the snap of the ball with the layout of the play. With running plays this comes into conflict as well and makes it a struggle in some ways. With the passing camera, it's okay but the passing game is already a struggle. However with turnovers it goes very zoomed in and a major struggle.
Overall Rating:
Madden NFL 99 is better than Madden 98 and 97 but that was going to be a given. However it is still a work in progress and a game that still needed refining overall. It got closer to the NFL Gameday franchise in terms of overall play but still lagged behind it. On the opposite hand, it progressed in a big way from simply above average to good as a franchise with this game. Overall rating: 8 out of 10.
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