Madden NFL 2002

"Amazing."

Good lord, where to start? This is easily the best football game I've ever played in my entire life, including Sega's tiring 2k series. It's that good.

Graphics: 10
Dude...did you seriously think it would get something lower? These graphics are awesome. Everything looks good, from the action on the field, to the replays, to the menus, to the famous Madden cards. Wow. The only bad thing I have to say about the graphics is that some of the coaches look kind of...off. But that's no big deal, as you usually don't see them all that often.

Audio: 9
Yes, a nine. Not a ten.
Why?
Look, everything sounds nice and clear, from the grunts of flattened running backs to old John's ramblings. But the music...why? Sure it's nice and all...but when you're wading through the menus trying to trade away that old geezer for some up-and-coming star in franchise mode, that stupid rap tune gets really, REALLY ANNOYING.

Control: 10
Smooth sailing, my friend. The default control setting is just about as good as you can get, and the fact that you can use the right analog stick to perform some moves and the actual use of the L3 and R3 buttons (push the analog sticks in, buddy...) make it even better.

Gameplay: 10
Oh baby. You've got modes galore, covering just about everything you could ever want to do.
Go ahead, bust out a thirty-season career in Franchise mode. Stomp the Bills with Doug Flutie and the Chargers in a quick Exhibition game. Edit Randy Moss down to a 5'11'' 300-pound loser with a speed rating of 15 if you want. Create a superstar quarterback with max ratings and tear up the league. Make your own team and show the other NFL teams what's what. You can do pretty much whatever you want in this game...though I'm still waiting for the ability to start any player at any position. Come on EA, it can't be that hard.
And hey, even if you know nothing at all about football, you can just pop on over to training mode and have Madden himself school you in the basics. Nice!

Fun Factor: 9
Dude, seriously. If you like professional football, this is easily the most fun game on the market today. The only reason it's not a ten is that if you play more than a few games, you'll hear Madden and Summerall repeat themselves a lot, which gets tiring. But hey, you can always turn them down and listen to some tunes or something.

Replay Value: 9
If you're a football nut, you could play this all the time, non-stop, and never get tired of it. If you're a casual fan, it'll keep you coming back for quite a while. And collecting all the Madden cards is gonna take you a long time, if you really go for it.

Bottom Line:
BUY THIS GAME NOW.
No, seriously...if you like football at all, get off the computer, leave the house, and get this game, no matter what you have to do.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 10/31/01, Updated 10/31/01