NFL GameDay '98 Review

For PlayStation

Rating: Awesome
  Much to my surprise, I was very disappointed with NFL 
GameDay '98 for a full two games before the fun started to 
kick in.  The passing game is much harder than NFL GameDay 
'97, both offensively and defensively.  On offense, if the 
receiver isn't open, he isn't going to catch the ball, so you
actually have to look for an open man instead of already 
having your receiver picked before the play if you want to 
have any chance of a completion.  This is frustrating at 
first, but makes the game more realistic in the long run.  
Defensively, the art of hitting the receiver at just the 
right time before he catches the ball is still the only way
to force an incompletion or interception, but it's a lot
less effective than in past years. You still have to try hit
the receiver right before the ball gets there if you want to
have any chance at breaking up the pass, only this time it 
seems to be more random and less based on skill and timing.
Also, interceptions are even rarer in GameDay '98 than they
were in GameDay '97.  As you probably already know, GameDay
'98 marks the first time a football game has ever used 
polygonal players, and the effect is stunning, with larger,
more realistic-looking players.  The sound is as good as its
ever been, and while Sony (thankfully) kept the classic 
GameDay theme music in the game at menu screens, they have 
changed the order of a couple sections of the song, so it's
not an 100% authentic version of the classic original tune.
What really makes this game awesome is the running game.  
It's hard to describe, but believe me, once you get used to
it, it's like nothing you've ever experiened before.  You 
really have to find holes in the line to get past the line
of scrimmage rather than being able to just blindly run 
forward and dive for a crazy seven-yard gain every time. You
really earn every yard you get, which makes the running game
a very satisfying experience.  NFL GameDay '98 also features
much more outside-the-game features than previous years, 
including the return of the cool Draft feature, more League
Leader stats, Pro Bowl Voting, the option to sign and release
players instead of tediously trading them to and from the 
"Free Agent" team, and for the first time in the GameDay 
series, real stat tracking for every player. I was shocked by 
how initially disappointing NFL GameDay '98 was to me, but I
stuck with it and have discovered it to be what I knew it 
would be all along: one of the most challenging, rewarding, 
and entertaining football games ever. For the insanely low 
price of $35-$40, NFL GameDay '98 gives you a tremendous 
amount of bang for your buck.
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NFL GameDay '99 Review
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