Madden NFL '94

''Madden NFL '94'' is an American football video game released for the Sega Genesis and Super NES in 1993. Developed by Visual Concepts and published by Electronic Arts, ''Madden NFL ‘94'' is the fourth game to be released as a part of the Madden series. It marked a significant step forward in the popular Madden NFL series, known for bringing realistic football gameplay to home consoles and laying the groundwork for modern football video games. As the first game in the ''Madden'' series with an official National Football League team license, the introduction of official NFL teams and improved gameplay mechanics made it a standout title in the series and a nostalgic favorite for fans of retro sports games.

Gameplay

It is the first ''Madden'' game to use the "EA Sports – It's in the Game" audio tag. It also introduces the "Flip play", "Play-call mode", "Pass-catch mode" and "Bluff play" options to the series. This is the first ''Madden'' title to pause the action and rotate the screen during punts, kickoffs, and turnovers, rather than instantly reversing P.O.V. to the opposite side of the field, which could be disorienting to players. The field can also be rotated to view plays from any angle in instant replay.

This is also the first ''Madden'' game to have Super Bowl teams available for play without any special codes.

Certain versions of the game are labeled as "Limited First Round Editions".

Development

The success of John Madden Football ‘93 inspired game developers at Electronic Arts to produce an improved football video game that would transform the ''Madden'' franchise into something that emulated the reality of American football. Released in the midst of the video game arms race between Sega and Nintendo, ''Madden NFL ‘94'' was developed by Visual Concept for the Super NES and High Score Productions for the Sega Genesis. The Sega Genesis, created as a home console for teenage boys, had tremendous success in sports simulations after its first release of John Madden Football in 1990. Madden on the Genesis stood out to users for its speed and easy gameplay. When Electronic Arts eventually introduced Madden to the SNES, it did not gain as much popularity as its Sega counterpart. Released a year after (in 1991) the Genesis, the Super NES version of John Madden Football ran slower and less smooth. As a result, EA expanded its multiplatform strategy by bringing in a studio to specifically work on the Super NES port in 1993. Visual Concepts combated the notion that the Super NES was inferior for football games by delivering a smooth port that matched the speed of the Genesis version while enhancing it with scaling effects and a pseudo-3D field for added visual polish.

The team behind the making of Madden was large and incorporated someone for every aspect of the game. Several of the personnel from the original John Madden Football, such as John Madden, Jim Simmons, and Scott Orr, contributed their expertise and creativity to ''Madden NFL ‘94''. Most notably, the team behind ''Madden NFL '94'' secured an official NFL license, enabling the game to feature authentic NFL teams logos and uniforms from the 1993-1994 season. This edition was not equipped with a National Football League Players Association licence, limiting players to being identified by solely their number. The ''Madden'' series did not obtain a license with the NFL Players Association—only for the Genesis—until the development of Madden NFL '95.

Reception

The game was a bestseller in the US, and made number 15 in the UK. IGN rated the game 75th on their "Top 100 SNES Games of All Time." They also wrote that instead of playing generic players and teams like its predecessors, the developers had use of the NFL license that players can play official players and teams with enhanced gameplay. They concluded their review opining Madden NFL 94 is: "Arguably the best Madden released in the 16-bit era, and maybe the most retro-nostalgic installment in the entire series."

References

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{{MaddenNFL-Games

1993 video games
EA Sports games
Electronic Arts games
High Score Productions games
Madden NFL
Multiplayer and single-player video games
Sega Genesis games
Super Nintendo Entertainment System games
Video games developed in the United States
Video games scored by Brian L. Schmidt
Visual Concepts games