For whatever reason, this is the game I remember the most. I'm sure in the past I've gotten better games. In fact, I think that year I got both UN Squadron and Final Fantasy II, and this game was actually my brother's gift. And my brother actually wanted Play Action Football, which he eventually got, but it wasn't as fun as Madden.

Nevertheless, there's something about this game that has persisted through the ages with inside jokes. There's that classic EA Sports games, in which they show a Hollywood Squares of sports before replacing all the sports with the intended game. And then there's the introduction.

The introduction has possibly the best worst music I've ever heard. And after the title screen, you see a poorly rendered face of Madden saying "Hey look, I made a football game!" while the credits play.

At the time, I didn't really know anything about football. I couldn't tell a Post from a Curl. It wasn't really until 2002, when Madden got REALLY good and I discovered the San Diego Chargers. So hilariously, I did not know what was going on when playing.

When you call a play, you first choose with formation you want and which package of players you want. You can have fast players, big players, people with good hands, etc. But you couldn't really tell because everyone had no name and the same jersey number. During this time, your players would substitute on field by running off the screen. When I was a kid, I had no idea where they were going. I think at one point, I thought they were going to the bathroom.

The playclock was reasonably annoying too. In real life, the playclock counts down at the end of the play and most teams snap the ball at around 5 seconds because they have to get personnel in and out, as well as walk to the new spot of the ball, decide what play to run, and get in formation. In modern Madden, since everyone just warps in and out and players decide really quick, you often snap the ball with 30 seconds on the clock. In old Madden? The computer would just sit there until the play clock counted all the way down, just to be realistic. So yes, at the end of every play, the computer just loved wasting 30 seconds of your time. They must really loved you.

The most memorable play of the game I ever saw was my brother running around in circles 3 times before scoring a touchdown. I was never able to replicate that, even today.

So tomorrow, when you get that game from your relative that looks like godawful shovelware, pop it in. It may give you a lifetime of bad memories and inside jokes. =)

Merry Christmas everyone!