Madden NFL 2002

"Fun Football Action?!?"

Wow, football on a handheld. FUN football on a handheld. This is a revolutionary leapt up from the old Madden games, and it shows. Remember the ''good ol''' days where the gameboy football games featured players represented by symbols? Well this Madden for the gameboy exceeded all my expectations, especially considering the fact that it only cost $9.99 at GameStop, which is quite a bargain for any GBA game!

Gameplay: This game is a blast to play. There are many different options and plays to chose from on both offense and defense. There are only two skill levels, with the only difference being the speed at which the game flows, but that is forgivable. All of the nfl teams are in the game, including the Houston Texans and the All-Madden Team. All teams have rankings, and all players have ability numbers, so you can see how one matches up to another. Passing is very well done. After hiking the ball, pressing A again presents you with the option of passing to four recievers, with the button that correlates to them right under the player. That is, unless you select a running play. On offense while running with the ball, L dives, R jumps, B spins, and A bursts. Running plays can be done fairly easily in this game, especially if you master the controls. Defense is harder to play then offense, but with the variety of deep covers and powerful blitzes, it is possible to cream the competition. On defense L tackles. While this seems ungainly, it is easily done and feels right, as B and A are used for speed bursts and switching players respectively.

The gameplay modes includes Play Now, Season, and Playoffs. Play now just allows you to match any team with any other. Playoffs in simply that, you get to take a team through the playoffs toward the superbowl. Season is fun, as you can play through the nfl schedule with your favorite team. One of the saving graces in this game for really inexperienced or unskilled players is the fact that in season and playoff mode you can play as any team, so if your favorite team is knocked out of the competition, you can play as one of your lesser favorite teams.. One of the major gaps in this game is the lack of multiplayer, but this game is not very popular, so I wouldn't really expect many to be able to play multiplayer.

Graphics: The graphics are good, top notch for what they have to do. The sprites are clear and easy to see, and although you cannot distinguish between individual players, you can easily tell the difference between different football teams, especially if you enjoy football. The team logos and other menu items are also top notch, and all the text is clear and easy to see. The play book is especially commendable, as it is very easy to see what the play does, and runs and passes are colored coded for even easier reference. Throughout my time playing this game, I have yet to encounter any slowdown in the graphics, which is quite impressive with 22 men on the field.

Sound: The music that plays on the menu screens is okay. At first I thought, this isn't football music, but eventually you can get used to it. The sound in the game is great, especially if you use headphones. While the crowd seems sort of droning and annoying, the tackling sounds and the crunching of pads and players sounds very crisp and nice. The little quips of speech that Summerall say are good, like ''First Down'', and Madden will occasionally say more complex things, like ''It looks like he ran into a freight train.'' All the speech said in this game is clear and crisp.

Replay: Good. While I wish there was a franchise mode, I love this game. The gameplay is so smooth and refreshing that you will want to play it again, unless of course it's not your type of game. Season mode and playoff mode adds quite a bit of replayability.

Pros:
- Nice clean smooth graphics with no slowdowns or glitches
- Good theme song
- Good sound effects and speech
- Fun gameplay
- Large playbook with a variety of plays
- All of the NFL teams are included
- Fun to play

Cons:
- It is hard to kick field goals
- No franchise mode
- No multiplayer

If you can find this game for under 10 dollars, I really would recommend you buy this. If it's 20, I might wait until Madden 2003 drops in price, they always do ;p.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/24/02, Updated 09/24/02