<s>
Madden	B-Application
NFL	I-Application
98	I-Application
is	O
a	O
1997	O
football	B-Application
video	O
game	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
the	O
last	O
edition	O
of	O
the	O
Madden	O
series	O
to	O
be	O
released	O
for	O
the	O
Super	B-Application
NES	I-Application
,	O
Genesis	B-Operating_System
and	O
Sega	B-Device
Saturn	I-Device
platforms	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
the	O
last	O
Madden	O
game	O
to	O
utilize	O
2D	O
sprites	O
for	O
the	O
players	O
and	O
referee	O
,	O
on	O
3D	O
playing	O
fields	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
game	O
's	O
development	O
focused	O
on	O
improving	O
the	O
Madden	O
series	O
 '	O
artificial	B-Application
intelligence	I-Application
.	I-Application
</s>
<s>
This	O
aspect	O
earned	O
the	O
game	O
critical	O
acclaim	O
,	O
with	O
some	O
reviewers	O
considering	O
Madden	B-Application
NFL	I-Application
98	I-Application
a	O
new	O
landmark	O
for	O
A.I.	B-Application
</s>
<s>
in	O
football	B-Application
video	O
games	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Publisher	O
EA	O
Sports	O
licensed	O
the	O
Super	B-Application
NES	I-Application
and	O
Genesis	B-Operating_System
versions	O
of	O
the	O
game	O
to	O
THQ	O
,	O
who	O
published	O
it	O
for	O
those	O
platforms	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
PlayStation	B-Device
version	O
of	O
the	O
game	O
is	O
playable	O
in	O
the	O
collectors	O
edition	O
of	O
Madden	B-Application
NFL	I-Application
2005	I-Application
with	O
updated	O
rosters	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Madden	B-Application
NFL	I-Application
98	I-Application
introduced	O
touch	O
passing	O
to	O
the	O
series	O
,	O
which	O
allows	O
players	O
to	O
control	O
the	O
speed	O
of	O
a	O
pass	O
by	O
how	O
hard	O
they	O
push	O
the	O
button	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Control	O
can	O
be	O
switched	O
to	O
any	O
football	B-Application
player	O
at	O
any	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
PC	O
version	O
of	O
Madden	B-Application
NFL	I-Application
98	I-Application
allowed	O
players	O
to	O
download	O
the	O
latest	O
NFL	O
rosters	O
from	O
EA	O
's	O
website	O
,	O
thereby	O
keeping	O
the	O
game	O
up-to-date	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
response	O
to	O
the	O
longstanding	O
criticism	O
of	O
the	O
Madden	O
series	O
that	O
its	O
AI	B-Application
is	O
too	O
vulnerable	O
,	O
the	O
development	O
team	O
made	O
improving	O
the	O
AI	B-Application
their	O
main	O
emphasis	O
with	O
Madden	B-Application
NFL	I-Application
98	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
AI	B-Application
architects	O
dubbed	O
their	O
new	O
system	O
"	O
Liquid	O
AI	B-Application
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
version	O
for	O
the	O
Panasonic	B-Device
M2	I-Device
was	O
in	O
the	O
works	O
,	O
but	O
never	O
released	O
due	O
to	O
the	O
system	O
's	O
cancellation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
version	O
for	O
the	O
Game.com	B-Operating_System
was	O
also	O
planned	O
,	O
with	O
Tiger	O
Electronics	O
as	O
the	O
developer	O
,	O
though	O
Tiger	O
producer	O
Allen	O
Richardson	O
admitted	O
that	O
the	O
game	O
would	O
be	O
difficult	O
to	O
do	O
on	O
the	O
Game.com	B-Operating_System
due	O
to	O
the	O
16	O
megabit	O
size	O
of	O
the	O
cartridges	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Madden	B-Application
NFL	I-Application
98	I-Application
was	O
positively	O
received	O
,	O
with	O
the	O
overwhelming	O
majority	O
of	O
critics	O
agreeing	O
that	O
the	O
new	O
"	O
liquid	O
AI	B-Application
"	O
had	O
eliminated	O
the	O
longstanding	O
Madden	O
NFL	O
series	O
problem	O
of	O
"	O
money	O
plays	O
"	O
that	O
could	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
successfully	O
run	O
the	O
ball	O
in	O
any	O
situation	O
,	O
making	O
the	O
game	O
more	O
challenging	O
and	O
the	O
final	O
scores	O
more	O
comparable	O
to	O
those	O
of	O
real	O
football	B-Application
games	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Kraig	O
Kujawa	O
of	O
Electronic	O
Gaming	O
Monthly	O
called	O
it	O
"	O
the	O
smartest	O
football	B-Application
game	O
I	O
've	O
played	O
"	O
,	O
and	O
Gary	O
Cutlack	O
of	O
Sega	B-Device
Saturn	I-Device
Magazine	O
said	O
the	O
new	O
AI	B-Application
"	O
Makes	O
the	O
game	O
a	O
lot	O
harder	O
,	O
but	O
a	O
well	O
earned	O
victory	O
is	O
much	O
more	O
satisfying	O
,	O
do	O
n't	O
you	O
think	O
?	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
Next	O
Generation	O
dissented	O
with	O
the	O
majority	O
,	O
contending	O
that	O
while	O
the	O
AI	B-Application
was	O
improved	O
from	O
the	O
previous	O
installment	O
of	O
the	O
series	O
,	O
they	O
had	O
managed	O
to	O
find	O
some	O
"	O
money	O
plays	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
full	O
polygonal	O
football	B-Application
video	O
games	O
were	O
unexplored	O
territory	O
(	O
the	O
first	O
fully	O
polygonal	O
football	B-Application
game	O
,	O
NFL	B-Application
GameDay	I-Application
98	I-Application
,	O
was	O
released	O
the	O
same	O
month	O
as	O
Madden	B-Application
NFL	I-Application
98	I-Application
,	O
and	O
GameSpot	O
acknowledged	O
that	O
polygonal	O
graphics	O
are	O
a	O
much	O
greater	O
drain	O
on	O
processing	O
power	O
in	O
football	B-Application
games	O
than	O
other	O
genres	O
,	O
due	O
to	O
the	O
large	O
number	O
of	O
players	O
)	O
,	O
most	O
critics	O
felt	O
that	O
the	O
Madden	O
series	O
,	O
as	O
the	O
leader	O
in	O
the	O
football	B-Application
genre	O
,	O
should	O
have	O
advanced	O
into	O
it	O
by	O
this	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Next	O
Generation	O
in	O
particular	O
felt	O
that	O
the	O
Madden	O
series	O
had	O
unequivocally	O
been	O
dethroned	O
by	O
its	O
failure	O
to	O
beat	O
NFL	B-Application
GameDay	I-Application
to	O
fully	O
polygonal	O
graphics	O
,	O
concluding	O
that	O
"	O
despite	O
some	O
problems	O
,	O
at	O
least	O
the	O
gameplay	O
is	O
solid	O
–	O
a	O
distinct	O
improvement	O
over	O
last	O
year	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
GameSpot	O
countered	O
that	O
"	O
Although	O
some	O
might	O
scoff	O
at	O
Madden	B-Application
98	I-Application
not	O
using	O
polygons	O
like	O
its	O
chief	O
competitor	O
GameDay	O
98	O
,	O
these	O
player	O
sprites	O
are	O
well	O
animated	O
and	O
detailed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Arguing	O
that	O
the	O
excellent	O
gameplay	O
and	O
AI	B-Application
outweigh	O
the	O
graphical	O
shortcomings	O
,	O
Kujawa	O
deemed	O
Madden	B-Application
NFL	I-Application
98	I-Application
"	O
the	O
best	O
PlayStation	B-Device
football	B-Application
game	O
"	O
,	O
while	O
his	O
co-reviewer	O
Dean	O
Hager	O
,	O
like	O
Next	O
Generation	O
,	O
held	O
that	O
GameDay	O
98	O
had	O
edged	O
it	O
out	O
with	O
its	O
polygonal	O
players	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
most	O
reviewers	O
did	O
not	O
compare	O
versions	O
,	O
GamePro	O
noted	O
that	O
the	O
Saturn	B-Device
version	O
has	O
greater	O
pixelation	O
than	O
the	O
PlayStation	B-Device
version	O
and	O
uses	O
an	O
antiquated	O
"	O
gliding	O
sprites	O
"	O
method	O
of	O
animation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Despite	O
this	O
,	O
the	O
Saturn	B-Device
's	O
much	O
smaller	O
library	O
of	O
football	B-Application
games	O
(	O
Sega	O
's	O
only	O
answer	O
to	O
Sony	O
's	O
NFL	B-Application
GameDay	I-Application
was	O
the	O
critically	O
panned	O
NFL	B-Application
'	I-Application
97	I-Application
)	O
left	O
critics	O
with	O
few	O
reservations	O
about	O
declaring	O
the	O
Saturn	B-Device
version	O
of	O
Madden	B-Application
NFL	I-Application
'	I-Application
98	I-Application
the	O
best	O
football	B-Application
game	O
on	O
the	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
same	O
issue	O
in	O
which	O
they	O
reviewed	O
the	O
Saturn	B-Device
version	O
(	O
and	O
just	O
a	O
month	O
after	O
reviewing	O
the	O
PlayStation	B-Device
version	O
)	O
,	O
Electronic	O
Gaming	O
Monthly	O
ranked	O
the	O
Saturn	B-Device
and	O
PlayStation	B-Device
versions	O
as	O
the	O
19th	O
best	O
console	O
video	O
game	O
of	O
all	O
time	O
,	O
saying	O
that	O
the	O
AI	B-Application
was	O
the	O
best	O
of	O
any	O
football	B-Application
game	O
yet	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
also	O
named	O
Madden	B-Application
NFL	I-Application
98	I-Application
a	O
runner-up	O
for	O
"	O
Saturn	B-Device
Game	O
of	O
the	O
Year	O
"	O
(	O
behind	O
Saturn	B-Application
Bomberman	I-Application
)	O
and	O
"	O
Sports	O
Game	O
of	O
the	O
Year	O
"	O
(	O
behind	O
International	B-Application
Superstar	I-Application
Soccer	I-Application
64	I-Application
)	O
at	O
their	O
1997	O
Editors	O
 '	O
Choice	O
Awards	O
.	O
</s>
