"What if I told you that you could have the entire NFL in your pocket?"

A quick glance at Madden NFL 08 for the DS would give a lot of gamers the impression that it is nothing but a generic attempt at a quick buck by EA. However, for those that actually give the game a chance, they will find some surprising fun gameplay and brilliantly simple controls that help Madden NFL 08 stand out from the dozens of other sports titles released constantly.

Everything about this game is simple, and that's what makes it great. Too many sports titles nowadays make the mistake of making everything way too complicated by bogging down the gameplay with ridiculous menus making it a hassle just to start a match. Madden NFL 08 gets right to the point with a “Play Now” feature that lets you jump right into the action immediately.

Season Mode and Franchise Mode, the game's two main gameplay modes are, strangely, pretty much the same thing. In Season Mode, you choose an NFL team, or one of your created teams, and play games weekly until the season ends. Franchise Mode is basically the same routine, except you can add and remove teams from the season. Quite honestly, these features could have easily been combined into one entity, and it's a little odd that the developers didn't take this route in the first place.

Creating your own team isn't a hassle at all either, further pushing the simplicity factor. You can customize everything from your team's name to their hometown to the minor details on their jerseys. Tony Hawk's American Sk8land had some customization to it, but Madden NFL 08 absolutely trumps it in the customization department. Unfortunately, when you choose a symbol for your team, your options are pretty limited and I wonder why the developers didn't give you the option of making your own symbol by taking advantage of the touch screen.

Multiplayer is a huge reason why any sports series is successful in the video game world, and no one can deny that heavy sports titles like MLB or the WWE games would be far less great without multiplayer giving them that extra edge. Sporting single-card play that is just as extensive as its multi-card play, Madden NFL 08 has some of the best multiplayer the DS has ever seen. Unlike games like Mario Kart DS where the second player is forced to use a Shy Guy if they don't have a copy of the game, the second player can choose from any team they want.

Multiplayer goes farther than just playing games though. Mini-games like paper football (which utilizes the touch screen) as well as many others can also be used in multiplayer. To make things even better, Madden NFL 08 can be taken online via the Nintendo Wi-Fi connection to surprisingly slick results with only some minor lag and quick loading times.

You've probably noticed that I haven't actually said anything about actually playing the game of football yet. You'll be glad to know that there are plenty of options available to you, and you'll be greeted with controls just as good as its console counterparts. Passing is simple, kickoffs are simple, field goals are simple; everything is simple. While the games seem a tad longer than they usually are on consoles, it is still a nice presentation that, while it can get boring sometimes, is still a very solid experience.

The game takes advantage of the DS's dual screens in a pretty smart way, but I think they have it a little backwards. In Mario Kart, you had your map on the bottom screen and the actual racing on the top screen simply because the top screen provides slightly better visuals since the touch screen can get scratches all over it pretty easily. In Madden NFL 08, all of the action takes place on the touch screen while there is a little map of sorts on the top screen, with little icons representing the players to help you understand how a play you've just picked is going to turn out. In most football games, you have to constantly hit a button to switch between players to choose the one you want, but on the DS, you can touch a player to be them, making switching a lot easier. However, it would have made much more sense to have that “map” on the touch screen (it's top-down and 2D) as it would be easier still to switch between players on the fly.

While Madden NFL 08 isn't the prettiest game around, it still isn't that bad looking either. Some of the stadiums are nicely detailed and look great, plus there is no lag or slowdown to deal with. The character models are pretty bad and jaggy, plus they often walk right through each other! The environments in other areas besides just the football field look pretty bad as well, as everything has a weird jaggy look on them for some reason. Luckily, there is practically no loading times and saving is a breeze, so the technical aspects of the game are still pretty good.

The murmur of the crowd and their thrilled cries whenever someone gets a touchdown is a nice touch, but the game definitely does not take full advantage of the DS's audio capabilities. Elite Beat Agents proved that the DS can provide some great audio, but Madden NFL 08 barely even tries. While some of the sound effects are nice, it's just not the same to play a sports title without a licensed track to listen to while you play and the commentators talk so low it's virtually impossible to understand what they're saying, and it's really a mystery why they were even including in the game in the first place.

Season Mode is decently lengthy, maybe eight to ten hours, but it will definitely get repetitive. Franchise Mode is pretty much the same thing as Season Mode so there's not going to be much replayability there, but the multiplayer makes up for what Madden NFL 08 lacks in single-player options. There are some mini-games to master, though they're kind of simple, and they can also be played on multiplayer so you'll have even more to do.

Madden NFL 08 surprised me. Even though it has some obvious flaws, it really wasn't as awful as I expected it to be. The game is actually pretty fun, providing great multiplayer options (even for single-card play), mini-games like paper football that are quirky and interesting, and on top of that, football buffs will love the somewhat extensive customization system as well as the ability to tailor the teams to their liking. Madden NFL 08 is nowhere near a perfect game, but if you need your sports fix on the DS, then it is definitely the way to go.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/16/08

Game Release: Madden NFL 08 (US, 08/14/07)