In addition, it is the first game in the series to have a player, instead of John Madden featured prominently on the box art.

A 3-way tie for the best defense in the game belongs to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Baltimore Ravens and the Jacksonville Jaguars with scores of 95.

"[54] Bro Buzz of GamePro said of the Nintendo 64 version, "For hardcore N64 football freaks, Madden NFL 2001 is all you need even as new console systems make their appearances.

With the topnotch [sic] gameplay in this cart, you can give the Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, Dolphin, or even the Xbox all the time they need to produce a great football game.

"[56][g] Cheat Monkey said that the PlayStation version "delivers a realistic and deep pro football experience for this season.

With all the experience the Madden team has under its belt, this veteran simulation scores a TD in overtime to take the PlayStation title for this year.

The great Madden gameplay is backed by a console system that finally has the power to show football action as it should be.

"[58][i] Bryan Melville of AllGame gave the PlayStation version four-and-a-half stars out of five, calling it "the ultimate 32-bit football game.

The overall strength of NFL 2K1 on the Dreamcast keeps Madden from being the unanimous choice for best pigskin title of 2000, but you won't find a better version of the sport in this season's lineup -- on the consoles or the PC.

"[61] However, William Abner of Computer Games Strategy Plus gave the PC version three-and-a-half stars out of five, saying, "If you are a Madden fan who isn't into playing online, then the decision as to whether or not it's worth another $45 bucks becomes a bit more difficult.