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Madden 99 is a sim game, (with great stats, good presentation, etc.) where as Gameday 99 is not. If you are a sim fan, you definitely have to buy Madden 99. Graphically, I have to say Madden 99 is too grainy compare to Gameday 99. Although, Gameday 99's big polygonal player looks good visually, the control of the players is not as enjoyable and realistic as Madden 99. By the way, Gameday 99 graphics is nothing compares to the N64 football graphics. What I like most about Gameday 99 is the sound...WOW, the sound is so good and varies..it really puts you into the game. Initially, you feel as if you're playing a real NFL game because of the sound. Gameday 99's sound is so hyped-up and superior, it makes Madden 99's game sounds like a 16-bit game, really. However, after constantly playing for weeks, the high-volume sound of Gameday can get repetitive, annoying and boring to some. On the other hands, Madden 99's sound is suited to a different audience, ones who prefer to listen to Madden/Summersault on a regular Sunday football game, as oppose to a hyper sound of the other kinds of audience. Although I wish Summersault and Madden could comment more about the game, the crowd of Madden 99 is quite intelligent and loud enough for the ears. The crowd cheers louder on 3rd down and then chants "Defense" inside the red zone. The control of the player in Madden 99 is much realistic and the speed is perfect...it is FAST (who says it is slow?). Any faster would be very unrealistic...like Gameday 99 which is too fast and unrealistic. Control of player in Madden is driven by momentum as players' speed is reduced when making hard turns or changing directions. When it comes to AI, Madden 99 can't be touch, bottomline (e.g. inside the 10 yard line in my territory...3rd and 6...10 sec to go before halftime with the clock ticking down, CPU quickly line up to try to score a TD, but then quickly called a timeout with 2 sec left...wow, is that intelligent enough? They quickly line up and try a field goal instead and made it). I like Gameday's pre snap camera view of the line...it rotates as your team walks to the line...GREAT. I heard people talk about how Phil Simm says things incorrectly...well, my guess is that they crammed so much sound in there, I guess somehow it crammed up...but it wasn't that big a deal since when you played the game, you would just be AWED at how much commentary he can pull off. Phil Simm continues to talk even while in pre-snap situation and while selecting play...this enhances the atmosphere. One more thing, the crowd in Gameday 99 is much louder than Madden 99. Madden's crowd noise is loud enough, but Gameday 99 sounds is more hyper. There is also music playing after every TD and crowd continues cheering louder even during kickoff...GREAT atmosphere. Oh yeah, one other thing, when you called timeout...there is a camera view of players huddling in the sideline while music is playing...very cool. And Gameday announcer called out the players' name and the number too. What I like about Madden 99 is the presentation and the STATS of the game. The stat is much superior than Gameday 99. During game, it pops up players' statistics and it even shows scores around the league...very cool. The game's presentation is very professional and very realistic. After every score, there is the score summary (Gameday 99 has that too). Franchise mode is great...this is perfect for sim fan. You can trade, release, sign and do possibly anything that real football league allows you to do. I try to trade 49ers's Chris Doleman for any player I happened to choose...the CPU rejected all of the trade. I finally got Clyde Simmons out of Green Bay for Chris Doleman and the CPU accepted the trade..and I confirmed the trade for the fun of it. If you ask me which game I rather pick? I'll pick Madden 99, because it plays much realistic and the control of the player on the field is more realistic and more in your command. I just feel like Gameday 99 is out of control for me, I guess because it is a little too fast. Trust me, Madden 99 is not slow at all like everyone had said earlier. But if you ask me which football game wins the crown this year? I'll say Madden 99 comes very close, and I can understand if you're a non-sim fan, you are going to say Gameday 99 wins the crown. However, I feel ultimately one has to judge a football game by how much it represents the real NFL game (after all Gameday 99 did try to sound as realistic (in its sound presentation) as a real TV game would sound). I judge both games based on this standard...and I’ve picked Madden 99 over Gameday 99. The camera view in Madden 99 is not a big deal...you can use the other classic cam if you have problem with the default view. If and only IF Madden 99 has the sound atmosphere (or boast enough commentary like that of Gameday 99, this game will be undoubtedly the "king of all football games." I can see it...Gameday 2000 will have better statistic presentation and franchise mode of Madden 99, while Madden 2000 will have the sound and atmosphere of Gameday 99. Bottom line, Madden 99 plays better but doesn't necessarily sound better than Gameday 99.
Madden 99:
Gameplay: 10 (realistic speed, wrap-tacklings, great running
game, etc.).
Sound: 7 (Not quite enough football atmosphere...great
SFX though)
Control: 10 (Great realistic control of player..."captain,
you're in command")
Graphics: 7 (N64 & PC version will be 10)
AI: 10 (Excellent read and react defense, LB side-step
realistically and cover RB, CPU plays strategically)
Interface: 10 (Pleasant to read, and easy to navigate,
small white fonts letter).
Overall: 9
Gameday 99:
Gameplay: 8 (Speed is a little too fast and player can
be out of control, tackling is not varies).
Sound: 10 (Excellent sound; great atmosphere...it immerses
you into the game...all sports games should have this sound).
Control: 8 (You're in control...but since the speed is
fast, you can be out of control)
Graphics: 8.5 (Beat PSX Madden in graphics...but it's
nothing compare to N64 or PC football graphics)
AI: 7.5 (Lack of read by defense...LB side-stepping while
reading is pathetic...hard to out-run the D)
Interface: 6 (Not as good looking as Madden 99...very
cartoonish interface or unprofessional shall I say).
Overall: 8
