Few things are worse than being excited for new content while concurrently fearing that you’re too out of the loop on its previous iterations to be able to enjoy it upon release. After all, how many of us can truly say we’re willing to refresh our memories by rereading the first five Song of Ice and Fire novels when Winds of Winter is finally released? Well, if you have the same concerns about the Madden games before Madden NFL ‘27 is released this summer, have no fear, because this article will provide a quick plot refresher of the last 37 games in the franchise to make sure you’re ready for this newest one. Be sure to grab a pencil and a piece of paper, because you’re going to want to take notes.

So, John Madden Football was released for Apple and MS-DOS in 1988, and it consisted of 22 simulacrums of actual NFL stars playing football while being controlled by the gamer. It would be ported to the Sega Genesis a year later and subsequently released almost every year afterward to present day for basically every console that has existed from then until now.

As far as the games’ plots are concerned, the arcs of almost everybody on screen seem to be focused primarily on either reaching the end of the field while holding the football or preventing the other players from reaching the end of the field while holding the football. There doesn’t appear to be too much in the way of character development, as the dialogue seems centered on the plays used by either team, penalties committed by various characters, and/or points scored. Each player’s stats seem to be preset and are reflective of that player’s real-life counterpart’s speed, stamina, power, et al. Power-ups are rare, and the weapons cache is extremely limited. 

The boss fights in every Madden game seem pretty similar as well, as the ultimate goal is to reach, and hopefully win, the Super Bowl. The bosses themselves appear fairly similar to the minibosses you face in each game leading up to the Super Bowl, but they are ostensibly more worthwhile opponents; having reached the Super Bowl themselves. Sometimes, characters make repeat appearances across multiple games, but many of them do not as they are presumably killed off between releases, with no explanation as to why. Morten Andersen, Adam Vinatieri, and Tom Brady have the most appearances in the Madden NFL games but sadly will not appear in ‘27. Their characters are also not likely to be referenced in any capacity, either, if past trends continue, giving the series a very brooding and nihilistic atmosphere.

There you have it. Hopefully, this little summary will keep you from getting lost in the plot of Madden NFL ‘27. Have fun, and good luck with those boss fights! Stay tuned for our upcoming recap of Euro Truck Simulators 1 and 2 before the third one comes out.