These days, the NFL has only one video game and one video game, madden. Named after the iconic Oakland Raiders coach, the series has been running since 1998 and shows no signs of slowing down. In the mid-2000s, EA Sports got the exclusive rights from the NFL, meaning no one else could make NFL games.
With that, any other game with the NFL was no longer allowed. That’s why many newer fans may not know that there were football games in addition to Madden. In fact, at one point, there were so many NFL games coming out that it was hard to keep up.
10 NFL Tour
In 2008, EA Sports decided to create a unique title and part with their madden franchise, for one game anyway. Their one-time experiment title eventually became: NFL Toura game where football stars played without pads, in an arcade-style title.
This game is mostly forgotten for a good reason, it wasn’t very good. This title received mostly mediocre reviews from fans and reviewers alike and was forgotten within a few weeks of its release.
9 NFL Street
NFL Tour was supposed to be a spiritual successor to NFL Street. Unlike the successor, however, the original was well received. NFL Street was an arcade game just like NFL Tourbut the difference is that this title isn’t actually set in an arena.
Instead, it takes place on a street and sees teams play in a seven-on-seven match. This title was actually a lot of fun and is still a much-loved game for fans today. Unfortunately, this franchise only got three titles and was discontinued after 2007.
While NFL Street might have been a more mature NFL game, backyard soccer was the exact opposite. The franchise ran from 1999 to 2010 and was designed to be more kid-friendly. The player models were all based on NFL players, but as kids they played in the backyard.
This franchise was loved as an alternative to madden. Although it is designed for younger football fans, the backyard soccer games were fun for everyone of any age. Mainly thanks to the arcade mechanics and easy-to-use controls.
7 NFL Quarterback Club
NFL Quarterback Club was a franchise that ran from 1993 to 2001 and was developed by Acclaim. Although this series had released multiple titles, it never seemed to gain much momentum or be able to disband madden as the top dog.
As for the gameplay, NFL Quarterback Club was a simulation title, the main focus was, you guessed it, passing. The main mode besides franchise and practice games was the quarterback challenge. There, players focused on precision passing and competed against other passers-by.
6 NFL fever
NFL fever was a series that lasted from 1999 to 2003. The franchise was actually developed to help sell the new XBOX console and was developed by Microsoft itself. The titles themselves were simulation-based and similar to the beloved NFL 2K franchisee.
Unfortunately, like NFL 2K, NFL Fever was killed because of EA Sports’ exclusivity deal, which halted future titles. With that, the franchise was sold to Ubisoft for pennies and it has stood still for almost two decades.
5 NFL Game Day
While NFL 2K, NFL Feverand madden were all fighting out, there was another forgotten franchise. NFL Game Day ran from 1996 to 2004 and was a simulation title developed by 989 Sports. The studio was owned by Sony and made titles such as everquestand turned metal.
However, their NFL Game Day series was unable to get as much hype as their other titles. The games certainly weren’t bad, but they were a clear fourth place compared to the other franchises at the time. This franchise also ended after EA Sports’ exclusivity deal in 2005.
4 NFL Blitz
NBA Jam is an extremely beloved franchise that is just basketball, but with some absurd animations and arcade gameplay. Many fans may forget that the NFL had its own franchise that was supposed to be similar to NBA Jam, the title was: NFL Blitz.
This franchise was not as popular as the aforementioned basketball version, but NFL Blitz was still quite popular thanks to its arcade-style gameplay. Unfortunately, this franchise ended after Midway shut down and the game failed in 2012.
3 NFL Pro
NFL Pro was a series of titles developed by Gameloft for portable systems and phones. The franchise had released six games, from 2009 to 2014. Before 2012, the franchise was simply called “NFL”, which shows how creative the development team was.
The games themselves weren’t great either. While it may not be easy to make a good mobile NFL game, these titles were nothing more than money grabs that were clunky and broken.
2 NFL Xtreme
Of NFL Blitz going on, 989 Sports and Sony decided they wanted to break into the arcade game genre. So they decided to develop NFL Xtremewhich was an absurd, heavy arcade-style title to compete.
NFL Xtreme only lasted two games, as they didn’t sell well. As for the titles themselves, they weren’t terrible at all, but they were generic and didn’t stand out much compared to other arcade games.
Fast hit football was a browser title released in September 2009. In the beginning, the game had no NFL involvement, but was just an indie game that revolved around coaching. In fact, players couldn’t even control the players once a game started. It was a title that was a coaching simulator, and not much more.
However, the title picked up steam and even got NFL licenses the following year. After that, there were teams and legendary coaches like Dick Vermeil, Marty Schottenheimer and more.
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