Came across this on YT a short time ago...

[Kramer5150]

All I can say is WOW!...

This video really says a lot...

1-Last time for TV style presentation along with player introductions
2-Halftime highlights...

and last but certainly not least...

functioning penalties WITH defensive holding...imagine that!

[edaddy]

Quote: Originally Posted by Kramer5150

All I can say is WOW!... This video really says a lot... 1-Last time for TV style presentation along with player introductions 2-Halftime highlights... and last but certainly not least... functioning penalties WITH defensive holding...imagine that!

That was the most realistic and fun Madden I ever played the penalties were realistic and you got punished for pressing too much or mismatches at skilled positions. The penalties literally made you think about your strategy. But I distinctly remember the competitive outrage and then slowly but surely the penalties got nerfed!! Sort of like what happened with the realistic movement when Madden 21 came out on next gen!!

[BodamEscapePlan]

Ahh yes, as much as I love SportsDrinkTV's videos and whole-heartedly agree with many of his takes on Madden and how it's handled, I almost have to avoid his videos to not ruin the little enjoyment I still do have with the current iterations of Madden. It's a shame, I wish they would go back to prioritizing mimicking a television broadcast and tried to make Franchise mode "fun" and addictive again but with the state of the video game industry as a whole and the easy money that comes from micro-transactions and catering to low maintenance and easy to please modes like Ultimate Team, you understand why that's the area of the game that sees the most year-to-year attention.

[drae2]

Wow...That Big Ben and Antonio Brown interaction.......

[SmashMan]

Quote: Originally Posted by BodamEscapePlan

Ahh yes, as much as I love SportsDrinkTV's videos and whole-heartedly agree with many of his takes on Madden and how it's handled, I almost have to avoid his videos to not ruin the little enjoyment I still do have with the current iterations of Madden.

There’s nothing wrong with enjoying something and also wanting it to improve in other areas.

That type of balance doesn’t get YouTube clicks so these guys don’t do it, but you as a gamer are free to have fun even when you might not like everything about a game.

[ripcandlestickpark]

While I have my gripes with this particular YouTuber (his retrospective videos are generally well-made, but he can be absolutely grating when talking about modern games), it's always nice to see Madden 16 getting some attention.

If anything, SoftDrink undersold M16, gameplay-wise. I'm definitely in the camp that feels as if M16 still represents the peak of Madden gameplay. Things like player weight and physics just felt right, there was a solid balance between offense and defense, and underlying systems like fatigue and penalties simply worked. And while this game does kinda live in infamy for the aggressive catch mechanic/animations, I personally never felt it was as overpowered as a lot of folks made it out to be.

On the other side of the coin, I feel like he oversold presentation a little bit. While it was great having EA mostly mimic the look and feel of CBS telecasts of the time, I generally prefer the Gaudin/Davis commentary team we've had since M17. And while I've never been much of a fan of Jonathan Coachman's voice-overs, I prefer having the halftime show feature scores and stats from other games as opposed to highlights from my own.

Franchise mode (or Connected Franchise as it was still referred to then) is probably the hardest part of the game to return to in 2024. But, while it is missing some integral features that were added in subsequent years (practice squads, out-of-town score ticker, proper stat-tracking on player cards, etc.), it's still perfectly playable.

While it's a relatively small aspect of the game, player equipment is another thing that can be difficult to return to. For my fellow equipment geeks, M16 was the last year in which player gear was comically outdated. From M17 onwards, Equipment Guru/Kane has done a much better job of keeping the equipment in the game up-to-date.

And, lastly, while it is pretty subjective, M16 has my favorite soundtrack since the introduction of EA Trax. M17's was excellent, too, but from M18 onwards, the lack of genre diversity became a distinct flaw, IMO.

If you haven't played M16 since it was current (or have never played it all), I'd highly recommend giving it a whirl ASAP. There's a good chance you'll be pleasantly surprised!

[Coach Captures]

What I remember about that game is it couldn’t cover a slot streak. You had to bastardize your defense every play to cover for bad programming by EA.