Madden 97 - PC Review - Gamecenter

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Madden 97

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Madden 97 is also missing a few features that are found in another great football sim, Sierra On-Line's Front Page Sports: Football Pro '97. The first omission is the ability to design your own plays. Madden 97 has hundreds of stock plays included, which you can add to or delete from your customized playbook. But if you need to use your patented snap-a-rooskie play, Madden can't help you. Also missing are customizable coaching profiles for each team. Front Page still rules in this area with its ability to determine a team's likelihood to run or pass and to know how many risks the computer-controlled coach will take. Madden 97 also fails to track statistics over multiple seasons. However, the pluses Madden brings far outweigh the omissions and, dare I say, Madden himself.
he could go all the way
Call your friends, because this game only gets better with two players, which is an option over a network, via modem, or on one PC. Having two PCs is ideal because it allows you and your opponent to set your own preferences and also keeps opponents from peeking at your playbook. screen shot Unfortunately, Madden is a DOS-based game. So after you call your friends, shut down your PC and get out your DOS drivers. Normally this isn't a big deal, but if you plan on playing over a network, don't forget your real mode network drivers. Madden 97 doesn't include any sales pitches for Ace Hardware, but it is a good pitch for computer hardware: the game is best played on a Pentium-133 or higher.
If you have the PC to run it, Madden 97 is much more than a mere console port. The graphics are way better than the Saturn version I've seen, and a lot of depth has been added for the PC version. Even the menus, which are usually a peeve of mine in console ports, are mouse-driven and well designed. So go down and out to the software store and catch Madden 97. And be sure to catch the next edition of Gamecenter's Dictionary of Video Gaming. I've already submitted an updated entry: "Madden (mad'n) v.t. 1. To anger or infuriate PC gamers by constantly whipping all challengers in a legendary football game. See Hugh Falk."

Hugh Falk has no clue about the gaming industry in general and wouldn't know a good game if it was crammed down his throat. This biography is dedicated to those hard-working programmers and quality assurance engineers who have taken the time to critique his crappy reviews of their perfect games. Send your gaming challenges to GamerX.

Facts

Madden 97
Electronic Arts
Price: $60.00
Pentium-60, 8MB RAM, 40MB disk space, SVGA, 2X CD-ROM drive, DOS 5.0, Gravis gamepads; Sound Blaster or compatible sound cards

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Madden 97

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