New England Patriots

Tied for the league's best offense with a perfect 100 score in Madden NFL 98.

In Madden NFL 98, the New England Patriots are recognized as one of the premier offensive forces in the game. In Madden NFL 98, developed by Tiburon Entertainment with a focus on artificial intelligence, the Patriots share the best offense rating, a perfect 100, with the Cowboys and Packers. Alongside the Dallas Cowboys and the Green Bay Packers, the team holds a perfect score of 100 for their offensive capabilities. Critics agreed that the game's new "Liquid AI" did away with the series' old "money plays".

Quick Facts

Offense score: 100

Lore & Background

The development team dubbed their new system 'Liquid AI,' which aimed to eliminate exploitable 'money plays' and create more challenging, realistic simulations. Within this framework, the Patriots emerged as an offensive juggernaut, sharing a three-way tie for the best offense in the game with a perfect score of 100 alongside the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers. While reviewers like Kraig Kujawa called it 'the smartest football game I've played' due to these AI improvements, the visual representation remained distinct; the game utilized 2D sprites on 3D playing fields rather than polygons. Despite criticism from outlets like Next Generation that the series had been dethroned by polygonal competitors like NFL GameDay 98, the Patriots' statistical dominance within the 'Liquid AI' system provided a solid foundation for gameplay that many felt outweighed the graphical shortcomings.

Reader's Guide

To succeed with the New England Patriots in Madden NFL 98, players must leverage their perfect 100 offensive rating while adapting to the game's 'Liquid AI' defenses. The title introduced touch passing, allowing users to control pass speed by how hard they push the button, a mechanic essential for exploiting the intelligent defensive schemes now present. Since control can be switched to any player at any time, managing the flow of the offense is critical when facing the smartest simulations in football history.

While the game lacks polygonal graphics, favoring 2D sprites, reviewers like Dean Hager noted that gameplay quality remained superior despite visual competition from NFL GameDay 98. Several reviewers singled out the game's new fantasy draft option. Note that this is the final installment of the series for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Sega Genesis, where the team's performance might vary slightly due to porting differences, though the core AI logic remains consistent across platforms.

Did You Know?

Madden NFL 98 was the last game in the series to be released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Sega Genesis.
The Windows version of the game allowed players to download the latest NFL rosters directly from EA's website to keep the Patriots' stats current.
The Green Bay Packers had the best overall team score (95), while the Baltimore Ravens had the worst (71), highlighting the wide disparity in team ratings.