Madden NFL ’93 is a 1992 sports video game developed by Blue Sky Productions and Electronic Arts and published by EA Sports. Based on the sport of American football, the player controls a football team in modes such as tournament play and sudden death. Officially endorsed by John Madden, it was the third Madden game for home consoles and the first one that saw a simultaneous release on both, the Sega Genesis and Super NES.
The game’s Sega Genesis version was developed by Blue Sky Productions, which was simultaneously creating Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss. John Madden Football ’93 adds new animations and features, and it allows players to play as and against famous teams such as the Oakland Raiders of 1976. Aside from Madden Football 64, the game was the last in the Madden franchise to lack the NFL license, which was featured in Madden NFL ’94 onward.
Selling over one million units, John Madden Football ’93 was a commercial success. Critics awarded the game high scores and praised its updated graphics; but several reviewers complained that little had changed since John Madden Football ’92. Royalties from the game funded the expansion of Blue Sky Productions, and the company’s director, Paul Neurath, later commented that the size of these royalties led Electronic Arts to develop future Madden titles in-house. Nintendo Entertainment System and Game Boy ports of the game were licensed and developed by UBI Soft but were cancelled.[1]
The game can be played on the Nintendo 64 and PlayStation version of Madden NFL 2002, Alongside the PlayStation versions of Madden NFL 2003 to Madden NFL 2005 alongside the collectors edition of Madden NFL 2005 on the PlayStation 2, with updated roasters and official NFL team licenses.
Gameplay
John Madden Football ’93 is an adaptation of American football that takes place from an isometric perspective in a two-dimensional environment. The player begins each match by selecting such variables as the game mode, weather conditions and team(s). Game modes include pre-season, regular season, playoffs, and sudden death. In addition to the game’s single-player mode, two-player competitive and cooperative modes are available.[2] Unlike in prior games in the series,[3] a coin toss at the beginning of every match determines which team will kick off, and which team will defend each goal.[2]
Before every down, the player selects a personnel grouping, formation, play and, on defense, coverage shell from a menu.[2] The game contains fifty-five offensive plays and seventy-one defensive plays,[4] such as screen and play-action passes, blitzes and man-to-man defense. During a down, the player may control one team member at a time or allow the entire team to execute a play automatically.[2] On offense, depending on the play, the player controls the quarterback, running back or kicker. After a pass, control automatically changes to the ball receiver.[2][5] On defense, the player may at any time switch control between any members of the team. Instant replay is available to review plays.[2]
New features in John Madden Football ’93 include no-huddle offense, overturning certain calls made by referees, taunting, stumbling, head-butting and one-handed catches.[3][6][7] As with its predecessors, the game features updated statistics for the twenty-eight NFL teams in the game, based on their performance in the previous season.[3][8] In addition to these teams, eight famous team line-ups, such as the Oakland Raiders of 1976 and the Dallas Cowboys of 1977, are available.[5][8] An “All-Madden Greats” team is compiled from the best players in the history of the sport and an “All-Madden” team is compiled of recent standout players.[3][8] No official player or team names, colors, or stadium names are used.[9][10][11]
A special version of the game for the Sega Genesis, titled John Madden Football: Championship Edition, was initially released as a rental-only game before it was later re-released exclusively via direct mail. This version of the game uses only “championship caliber” line-ups from the 1966-1991 era. Although it still lacks official names, this version features correct team colors.[12]
