Football is arguably the most popular sport in America. If you’re a fan and a gamer, then you know the joy of winning the Super Bowl with your favorite team inMadden. Or crushing your rival team’s quarterback with a massive defensive player. It is just plain fun.
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Not every football game is a directsimulation of the real sport, however. While those games are some of the best, there are also arcade-style versions of football that have left their mark. Football fans have been spoiled over the years with a lot of great ways to virtually experience the gridiron.
8Tecmo Super Bowl
Tecmo Super Bowl was the first sports video game licensed by both theNFLand NFLPA. This allowed it to use real players, real teams, and other NFL assets.
It was released in December 1991 for theNintendo Entertainment Systemand its success saw several sequel attempts.
Of course, the graphics and features don’t stand up to what is available in the modern era, but this was the best football game ever made when it was released. ESPN even named it the greatest sports game of all time, such is the impact it had.
7NFL Street
The Madden series has been the go-to football series for decades. NFL Street arrived in 2004 andbrought a fresh, and welcomed, changeto the standard football simulation formula that provided 7-on-7 gameplay, which was wildly over the top and aggressive.
You can earn style points by running up walls, making incredible catches, or just taunting the other team. These points filled a Gamebreaker meter which is basically the NFL Street equivalent of Mario’s Super Star.
Two sequels were made based on the success of this new style of football.
6Mutant Football League
Mutant Football League launched on Windows in 2017 and it was released on consoles shortly after, in early 2018. It includes the basic premise of American football and the NFL’s rules, but it is incredibly violent and filled with monsters.
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This is as far as you can getfrom the typical Madden gameplay, but with massive mutants taking the field. There are buzzsaws and landmines to avoid, you can bribe the ref, rig the ball with a bomb, and even use a chainsaw as part of your offensive strategy.
It is ridiculous, but so much fun.
5Madden 2005
Madden 2005 launched on PS2, Xbox, and Gamecube, but was also the last Madden game to be made for the original PlayStation. As well, it was the first Madden to utilize Xbox Live.
It truly was a game changer, and not just because of its arrival on then-modern gaming systems. Thecover athlete was Ray Lewis, a Hall of Fame defensive player, known for his heavy hits, something that made Madden 2005 the perfect iteration to introduce the hit stick.
This was a new way to tackle that created different visuals and more impactful hits. Since then, it has become one of the most important features of the series.
4Madden 2004
Ask anyone who played Madden in the 2000s about Madden 2004. They will tell you all about Michael Vick, the cover athlete, and how broken he was.
This version of Vick is considered the best Madden player of all time, withincredibly high statsthat included a 95-speed rating.
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Not only was the overpowered Michael Vick added, but the new owner mode came with Madden 2004. You could control a football franchise of your choice and complete operational tasks that range from setting hot dog prices to hiring coaching staff.
3NFL Blitz 2000
NFL Blitz 2000 was an arcade title in 1999 but was soon ported to consoles. It was the third game inthe NFL Blitz seriesand one of the most spectacular football games of all time.
It had most of the regular football rules but with a faster and more aggressive twist to the gameplay. You could excessively celebrate, interfere with a pass, and land a hit after the whistle without the worry of a penalty.
Since it was developed by Midway, there were cheat codes that allowed you to play as various Midway characters, such as Raiden from Mortal Kombat. Just imagine catching a touchdown as Raiden.
2NCAA Football 14
NCAA Football 14 isthe final installment in the NCAA Football series. No further versions were made because of legal issues with the player’s likenesses.
It continues to be played and updated rosters are constantly created by hardcore fans who want to keep playing college football. Although the game received mixed reviews, it being the last NCAA Football saw it become the most appreciated football game in the world.
There are dozens of colleges you can take control of, and you can create a player and go through their college football career. You can even create your own school and see if they have what it takes to win a national championship.
1ESPN NFL 2K5
The last NFL 2K game to use the official NFL licensing was ESPN NFL 2K5. It featured voices and likenesses of actual ESPN personalities and presented every game as if it were a live broadcast on the network.
Some still feel it is unmatched in terms of gameplay since you could create a team, control an existing one in a franchise mode, or even play in first-person. The addition of a first-person mode, showing you the field from behind a player’s facemask, was groundbreaking.
