Top 10 NFL Video Games of All Time

Feature Article

Submitted on: 05/16/2008 by James Linden

We’ve come a long way since the Magnavox Odyssey released what I believe was the first football game for videogame consoles, circa 1972.

Growing up, NFL football has always been my favorite game to play. That being said, I’ve played a LOT of football games over the last 25 years and seen some great versions in my days. It’s tough to breakdown my top 10 football games of all-time, but here it goes...

#10. NFL Fever 2004 (Xbox)
The only reason this game made the list was because it was the first football game which I played online, which is par for the course now with sports games. The graphics were so-so (lineman all looked pudgy at best) and gameplay was suspect at times. Being able to play a guy in Des Moines, Iowa at 3:30 AM online for the first time, however, was enough to get this game on my list.

NFL Fever 2004 was one of the pioneers for online sports gaming.

#9. NFL Blitz (PlayStation)

Not a whole lot of “realism” with this game, but the arcade hit did make a good transition to the console world. The bone jarring hits and razzle-dazzle of this game made it a good “smack talking” game amongst buddies.

#8. NFL Quarterback Club 1996 (Nintendo 64)
The short lived NFL QB club series had some cool features that were eye opening to the sports game enthusiast as far as realism is concerned. I'll always remember the reaction my buddy and I had in 1996 in our college dorm playing this game. It was Chicago at Green Bay and once we realized that you could actually see the players' breath due to the cold temperature we were mesmerized. This was also one of the first games to feature unique stadiums and a franchise mode as well.

#7. Madden '93 (Sega Genesis)
The best feature in this version of Madden was the inclusion of 38 championship teams, post first Super Bowl. Granted the NFL didn’t allow player names to be used, but a football guru such as myself knew who was who after watching countless Super Bowl shows on ESPN. Mercury Morris and Larry Csonka were absolutely unstoppable for Miami '72, but the two teams I liked the most were the 1979 Steelers with Franco, Stallworth, Bradshaw, and Lambert; and the 1989 49ers with Montana, Rice, Taylor, and Lott.

#6. NFL 2K (Sega DreamCast)
"Wow" I think was the first word out of my mouth the first time I played this game. The initial release to the NFL 2K series, this game could simply not be put down. Some of the groundbreaking features in this game were the replays and the announcer dialog -- they were like nothing I’d ever heard or seen in previous football games. This game had it all: stats, practice mode, tournaments, franchise mode. Everything you ever needed in a football game and more could be found in this amazing first entry.

#5. Madden 2006 (Xbox)
This was my first return to the Madden series in quite some time since I'd been in love with the NFL 2K series since its inception. However, what I missed in the 2K series was quickly forgotten with the 2006 Madden game. I have always been a big fan of the franchise mode for systems and I felt this game more than any other football game I’d played to that point perfected the franchise mode. I played over 10 seasons with my beloved Seattle Seahawks and still had players from the 2006 season on the team in 2016! A feature that was great then, but is no longer available in Madden 08, was that you could import a player onto a team in salary cap mode (a frustrating feature in Madden 2008, only available without salary cap). Not only that, but the offseason was also very cool. The NFL Draft was set up like the real deal, in a room with people chatting and an announcer notifying you who was drafting and who was up next. Again, these features are not available in the 2008 "next-gen" versions. My gut tells me that EA Sports isn’t a big fan of franchise because they want you to buy the latest version every year. For example, the 2008 version also had a few glitches (pre-patch) when going beyond your first season. Coincidence? I think not!

Michael Vick and the vision cone ruled Madden NFL 06

#4. Tecmo Bowl (NES)
The first football videogame I felt that brought any sense of NFL realism to the user experience was Tecmo Bowl. Despite the fact that the first version only featured 12 teams and 8-on-8 football, the game blew me away with real players, real stats, and real player movements. There were a few glitches with the game of course, such as the impossible-to-stop Cap Bosa pass or just Bo Jackson all together. I mean, check out this run on Youtube of Bo….unbelievable. However, overall, this game was revolutionary and brought us out of the dark ages of plain Jane football games.

#3. NFL Football (Intellivision)
I expect some grumbling amongst the Operation Sports fans out there about this one, but anyone whose been around long enough knows of the importance of this game in the video football game timeline. Previous versions of football games by Atari featured zero realism, gameplay, player movement, or anything that could be conceived as a football game. The Intellivision football game featured players with actual arms, legs, and a football field for Heaven’s sake! Moreover, the game came with a PLAYBOOK when you opened the game box. "8 enter" was a common term used around my block as a kid, which was the code punched in for punts. It may not have been as cool as games to come, but for me, this brought home the first NFL game that actually resembled what you watched on Sundays.

#2. Madden '92 (Sega Genesis)
The longest running title in sports game history, I wanted to give credit to this release of the Madden series for a number of reasons. This was the first NFL game that I can recall that featured all players, teams, depth charts, and kept stats on your games played. Simply put, these are breakthroughs in football gaming that I will never forget. This was also one of the first games that I recall having commentators that actually pointed out what happened on the field, such as "he’ll feel that one tomorrow" after a big hit. Speaking of big hits, how cool was it when the ambulance came onto the field after taking out your opponents starting QB?

#1. NFL 2K5 (Xbox)
The final version of the 2K series, I felt that this game was the tops on my list for everything football. This game continued to show great improvements year after year, and the franchise mode and player create mode on this version were the coolest things I’d seen in football videogames in some time. It’s a tragedy for any football videogame fan out there that the NFL decided to do an exclusive deal with EA Sports, and I believe a lot of Operation Sports fans would agree with that statement.

NFL 2k5 was the pinnacle of the NFL 2k series

Here's some other NFL games that didn't make the cut

NFL 10-Yard Fight (NES) - Should have been titled 10-Yard Bites.

Atari Football (Atari 2600) - See #3 Intellivision Football…the Atari football version was dog meat compared with what the Intellivision featured.

Joe Montana Football (Sega Genesis): This game had a few cool features, but just never jived with my style.

NFL GameDay (PS1): I always felt the graphics and gameplay in this series were horrible.

Fourth and Inches (PC): Not a bad game for the PC, but overall, had major glitch problems and never really felt like a solid football game.

Member Comments

# 21 TRJ22487 @ 05/17/08 10:57 AM

also 10 Yard Fight isnt an NFL game not that it really matters

# 22 Skyboxer @ 05/17/08 05:24 PM

Front page Sports wasn't on consoles which I'm assuming the list is about. If not then not having FPSFF on here is a joke.

Anyways, I agree with the Intellivision Football. I played it every day for a looooong time.

# 23 mercalnd @ 05/17/08 05:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DLaren


	NFL Gameday'97 needs to be on this list somewhere. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that was the first game to have "branching animations" and true gang-tackles. In my opinion, Gameday 96 filled the football-gaming void on the PS1 since Madden'96 was never released for that console. Then the next year Gameday'97 was flatout better than Madden'97 (due to gang-tackling and the ability to manually break tackles, two things that weren't in Madden yet). It wasn't until '98 that Madden took the crown back but Gameday'98 was still a great game. So the Gameday franchise deserves some love for going hard in the late 90's.

Really? I would have said '99. '98 was the year when EA said Madden was still using 2D sprites because polygonal football was not possible and Gameday actually had 3d polygonal graphics. To me, this is why Gameday '98 should be on that list.

# 24 schwally @ 05/17/08 06:14 PM

You can still relieve tecmo super bowl with current rosters. If you go to www.tecmobuilders.com, you can get an update to tecmo super bowl that allows you to have all 32 teams with 2007 rosters. They release them each year. Just wanted to post, I found this yesterday.

# 25 schwally @ 05/17/08 06:15 PM

That's relive, I mean

# 26 seanmac @ 05/17/08 06:45 PM

Doesn't look all that much like my list, aside from having NFL2K5 at the top. In terms of putting in the time with a game, my top five would have to be

1. NFL 2K5
2. NFL 2K1
3. Madden 05
4. Gameday 98
5. Madden 00

# 27 WatchdogXC @ 05/18/08 10:55 AM

Good idea for a list, but it was totally screwed up with the lack of Tecmo Super Bowl. You have a Bo Jackson Tecmo Super Bowl youtube clip in the original Tecmo Bowl section and the picture for the article shows a Buffalo Bills touchdown in TSB as well. TSB is easily #1. It isn't just the best football game ever, it is easily one of the best games ever.

# 28 JonahNYC @ 05/18/08 02:24 PM

No Front Page Sports: Football Pro? This article as no credibility.

# 29 BrianFifaFan @ 05/19/08 02:33 AM

Joe Montana should've been on that list. First game with commentary.

# 30 boomhauertjs @ 05/19/08 08:39 AM

No Tecmo Super Bowl? WtF!!!!

# 31 Sausage @ 05/19/08 09:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PlayaHataSupreme


	Other than the vision cone, they really aren't too much different, at least it wasn't on the PS2. The deep ball may have been slightly easier in 06 once you got used to the vision cone.

The franchise in 06' is similar as well? Thanks again for the response. I guess 06' is not fondly remembered, but is ranked pretty highly.

# 32 WatchdogXC @ 05/19/08 10:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BTG


	That's a clip of the original Tecmo Bowl, Watchdog. Count the players and notice the more zoomed in camera and choppier field. Tecmo Bowl it is.

That isn't Tecmo Bowl, it is Tecmo Super Bowl. Here's how:

1. The music, that song is ingrained in my memory forever.
2. 8 Offensive Plays that include the players names, Tecmo Bowl had just 4 and there was only 1 running play that had Bo Jackson.
3. Tecmo Bowl showed the players stats for the previous year under their player name while playing the game itself.
4. The NFL logo-Tecmo Bowl had the Players License, but not the NFL license so the teams were only knowns as New York, San Francisco, Miami, Cleveland Etc...

# 33 Shadymamba @ 05/19/08 11:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Complex


	No love for any of the Joe montana games?

Ahh i remember those games...i couldnt complete a pass for ****!! the D was crazy lol

# 34 Shadymamba @ 05/19/08 11:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WatchdogXC


	That isn't Tecmo Bowl, it is Tecmo Super Bowl. Here's how: 1. The music, that song is ingrained in my memory forever. 2. 8 Offensive Plays that include the players names, Tecmo Bowl had just 4 and there was only 1 running play that had Bo Jackson. 3. Tecmo Bowl showed the players stats for the previous year under their player name while playing the game itself. 4. The NFL logo-Tecmo Bowl had the Players License, but not the NFL license so the teams were only knowns as New York, San Francisco, Miami, Cleveland Etc...

ooh this was sick..Bo Jackson had to be the fastest player ever in Video Game History lol!!!!!! I think tecmo bowl would be famous for the 40yd drop back 90 yd bomb you can throw with Marino LOL!!! those were the fun days..but when tecmo added all the teams now that game was the classic best in my mind

# 35 Shadymamba @ 05/19/08 11:36 AM

I agree with all the tecmo superbowl hype...def one of the best of not the best of "its generation" hands down

# 36 NCAAFootballFreak @ 05/19/08 12:12 PM

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Madden '99 the first game to introduce Franchise gameplay? I played like ten seasons and won three Super Bowls with my Cowboys on that game on my N64.

I and I agree with everyone else that Tecmo Super Bowl is the greatest NFL game, if not the greatest game, of all time.

# 37 muggins @ 05/19/08 01:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BTG


	That's a clip of the original Tecmo Bowl, Watchdog. Count the players and notice the more zoomed in camera and choppier field. Tecmo Bowl it is.

That is definitely Tecmo SUPER Bowl.

# 38 ifiok25 @ 05/19/08 06:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Laettner32


	I have fond memories of the old NCAA Gamebreaker series on the PS1. Starting w/ '98 I believe with Eddie George on the cover. I loved the "gamebreaker" aspect as you knew right away no matter what team you were playing who you stars were.

Gamebreaker was horrible. I could break school records and still lose. I could have 700+ yards of offense and still lose by 2 touchdowns. Also, the lateral button on PS1 didn't even work right; it would always result as a fumble and then Keith Jackson would say, somebody pressed L2 on accident.

# 39 kthekilla @ 05/20/08 08:01 PM

2k5 best football game ever!

the way they used their ESPN licensing was awesome from the music to chris berman. it was a classic til EA had to come along and stole 3 years of realistic football gameplay from us.

# 40 ostheman @ 05/20/08 08:04 PM

i better luck say that its between Madden 08 and madden 98

08= had way good graphics, might have so glitches or mistakes

98= One of the classic games ever i always score like 45 in the games

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