Madden NFL 2005

"EA tries to make the handheld experience work, but ends up laying down an average football game."

Introduction:

The Madden franchise has been going on for a long time, and has been giving quality console football fans what they want. However, the handheld games have left a bad impression on most gamers. We'll see if the DS version is any better.

Gameplay: 5/10

This is always the most important part of a game, yet I didn't feel moved by the gameplay at all. Picking plays with the touch screen was a plus, but there were too many problems. When I passed the ball on offense, the quarterback sometimes threw the ball to a different receiver without me clicking any buttons, sometimes resulting in an incomplete pass which could have been possibly caught by a different reciever. The running game puzzled me as well. Although it was fun, some of the defenders seemed to bounce back up a second after they were blocked by a defensive member of my team. It also seems like you can't outrun the defense. The kicking system was fine with me.

As for the season mode of the game, I did find this pretty good. A lot of stats are kept, and it is pretty fun to keep up with.

Graphics: 8/10

The graphics rating is based on a handheld, of course. I found these graphics far above average, and better than any of the past Madden handheld games. Maybe it is just because of the new DS system.

Audio: 7/10

The in-game audio is pretty good, making sounds when players are hit and other things. One thing I found annoying was the menu music. Although they were able to put a song with words on this game instead of a song with only music. The song got VERY annoying ever a while though, because they play the same 2 lines of it over and over again.

Replayability: 8/10

Since it is a Madden game, you can play it a lot, because of the fact that it isn't really a game you can "beat". There are Madden Cards in this game, which is a great feature, and hardcore players may try to collect all of the cards.

Rosters: 6/10

The fact that there were full rosters was great, but the player ratings confused me. It seemed that every single above average tight end in the game was an 100. This was kind of strange because when I would start a season with the Dolphins, Tight End Randy McMichael, an average Tight End, was better than Zach Thomas, or Patrick Surtain. I did enjoy the full rosters though.

Overall: 6/10

I don't think that EA put the effort that they could have into this game. Even though it is difficult to bring the impact of football onto a handheld system, this year's Madden for the DS falls down to be an average title. By average, I mean if you were a hardcore Madden/football fan, you might like this title, but if you aren't a huge football fan and are deciding whether or not to get this game, I suggest you rent it or try it out at a friend's house before buying it.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 01/03/05