Madden NFL 98

Madden NFL 98 was positively received, with the overwhelming majority of critics agreeing that the new "liquid AI" had eliminated the longstanding Madden NFL series problem of "money plays" that could be used to successfully run the ball in any situation, making the game more challenging and the final scores more comparable to those of real football games. Kraig Kujawa of Electronic Gaming Monthly called it "the smartest football game I've played", and Gary Cutlack of Sega Saturn Magazine said the new AI "Makes the game a lot harder, but a well earned victory is much more satisfying, don't you think?" Next Generation dissented with the majority, contending that while the AI was improved from the previous installment of the series, they had managed to find some "money plays". However, other aspects of the game were widely praised as well, particularly the lively audio commentary, realistic animations, and wide selection of options. Several reviewers made particular mention of the new "fantasy draft" option. By far the largest source of criticism was the use of sprite-based rather than polygon-based players. While full polygonal football video games were unexplored territory (the first fully polygonal football game, NFL GameDay 98, was released the same month as Madden NFL 98, and GameSpot acknowledged that polygonal graphics are a much greater drain on processing power in football games than other genres, due to the large number of players), most critics felt that the Madden series, as the leader in the football genre, should have advanced into it by this time. Next Generation in particular felt that the Madden series had unequivocally been dethroned by its failure to beat NFL GameDay to fully polygonal graphics, concluding that "despite some problems, at least the gameplay is solid – a distinct improvement over last year. However, it's too little too late, and stacked against the jaw-dropping GameDay, good is no longer good enough." GameSpot countered that "Although some might scoff at Madden 98 not using polygons like its chief competitor GameDay 98, these player sprites are well animated and detailed.", and pointed out several impressive graphical features accomplished with the sprites. Arguing that the excellent gameplay and AI outweigh the graphical shortcomings, Kujawa deemed Madden NFL 98 "the best PlayStation football game", while his co-reviewer Dean Hager, like Next Generation, held that GameDay 98 had edged it out with its polygonal players. While most reviewers did not compare versions, GamePro noted that the Saturn version has greater pixelation than the PlayStation version and uses an antiquated "gliding sprites" method of animation. Despite this, the Saturn's much smaller library of football games (Sega's only answer to Sony's NFL GameDay was the critically panned NFL '97) left critics with few reservations about declaring the Saturn version of Madden NFL '98 the best football game on the system. In the same issue in which they reviewed the Saturn version (and just a month after reviewing the PlayStation version), Electronic Gaming Monthly ranked the Saturn and PlayStation versions as the 19th best console video game of all time, saying that the AI was the best of any football game yet. They also named Madden NFL 98 a runner-up for "Saturn Game of the Year" (behind Saturn Bomberman) and "Sports Game of the Year" (behind International Superstar Soccer 64) at their 1997 Editors' Choice Awards.