The game is the first to feature the concept of covering the ball while running and the chop block and "clothesline" techniques, which were later scrapped and moved to players simply tackling ball-carriers. Although players' heights resemble their real-life counterparts, all players share the same sized physiques. The game includes twelve historic teams, including the 1978 Steelers and 1985 Bears and secret teams such as the Tiburon sports team and NFL All-Star teams from each decade. The Cleveland Browns, who were a year away from rejoining the league, can be accessed for exhibition games via the password "WELCOMEBACK".
This is the first Madden game to feature Franchise Mode, in which the user can control their team for 15 seasons, complete with realistic NFL type schedules consisting of alternating inter-conference divisional opponents. The user is able to trade, sign/release and draft players. Drawbacks to this feature include only one player/team owner being allowed to participate during the same franchised season, and the second prohibits any created players from being added to specific teams or to the free agent pool.
This is one of the few PlayStation games to support two multi-taps allowing for up to eight players to play simultaneously.