Madden NFL 06

"Madden for the PSP? Not as good as it could have been..."

Madden... One of the most popular football franchises in existence, available on the little gadget we call the PSP. While I can't speak for everyone, I can say that this game was an impulse buy for me, and I was a tad disappointed. Admittedly, however, my expectations for this title were unrealistically high. The PSP has a lot of power, and should be able to handle something as basic as Madden without any trouble, right? Well...

Graphics - (20% Weight): 4/10
The graphics were the first thing that jumped out at me when I first turned on this sucker. I was expecting something reminiscent of the Playstation 2 Madden 2006's graphics... Instead, I got flat, cardboard looking figures running around the screen at an awkward framerate. Player models have very little detail. The field looks like the developers took a crack at putting some detail into it, but it comes off looking like it was colored in by a crayon. (A dull crayola crayon that needs to be sharpened in particular... If you used to draw a lot as a kid, you probably know what I'm talking about.) Considering the PSP's power, there's no real excuse for this. There are flat-out better looking games out there on the PSP. On a slightly unrelated note, the camera seems to be tilted at a slightly different angle from the PS2 version, allowing you to see much more of the field than necessary. This wouldn't be a bad thing, except it will more than likely throw off players who are used to the PS2 version of the game. It was probably implemented to draw attention away from the lack of detail on the players... Oh well. Not everything about the game's graphics is bad, however. The game is bright, easy on the eyes, and colorful. Once you get used to the weird framerate and get deep into the game's action, the player models are actually easy on the eyes. However, if you're an analytical person, they'll bug you more often than not. Overall, I hope that the developers spend a little bit more time on the graphics for Madden 2007.

Sound - (20% Weight): 9/10
Amazing. Considering how small the UMD discs are, EA managed to fill this sucker up with tons of commentary, and a nice selection of songs for when you are browsing the menus. The sound is crisp and clear, which is honestly more than I was expecting. The soundtrack is filled with mostly new-age pop, but it also has some NFL-related music stuck in there for good measure. The commentary is just as redundant and annoying as ever. Gotta love it. However, it appears that there isn't as much commentary included in the PSP version of the game as in the PS2 version of the game. Still, I wasn't expecting there to be any commentary at all, so it was a pleasant surprise to John Madden and Al Michaels critique my every play, even if they have no idea what they're talking about. One change that bugged me a little however, was the lack of music to go with the commentary. On the PS2, they'd usually pull a song out after a big play to go with the commentary, which helped lift the mood a little. On the PSP, you get total silence, save the commentary. This annoyed me enough to dock it a point.

Gameplay - (30% Weight): 8/10
Gameplay's what really counts, right? Well, it translates pretty well from the PS2 to the PSP. You get the basic stuff, Defense plays, Offense plays, Special Teams plays, timeouts, audibles, you know the drill. The only thing I can really find that's missing gameplay-wise from this version is the ability to challenge a play. However, this isn't necessarily a bad thing, as most of the time when you tried to challenge a play on the PS2, you just ended up losing a timeout. Unfortunately, Instant Replay does not appear to have made it to this port. It's a real shame, as Instant Replay's fun to mess around with when you get bored... The mini-camp returns, with all the typical drills, plus a batch of PSP-only drills. The catch is, these new drills don't really fit in with the other ones. Instead of having a special set-up and special conditions, you're basically thrown into a real game with just one specific goal. For example, you could choose to do a Punt Return drill... All you do is go through a normal scrimmage, only you only get to return the punts. Multiplayer is supposed to be really slow on the PSP version. I can believe it, as the game takes ages to load when you choose a play. Remember that weird framerate I mentioned earlier? It affects the gameplay. All the players seem to be on speed, and can now run at the speed of sound. This can be good or bad, depending on how you like to play. Oh yeah, and superstar mode didn't make the cut. Sorry if you're a fan of that... Overall, the core gameplay translated well enough, and that's all that really matters.

Controls - (10% Weight): 7/10
The controls are nearly identical to the PS2 version. However, there are some minor differences that might trip you up if you're not careful. The best thing to do is to read through the game's manual for the controls... They're similar enough that you'll pick them up fast enough, but if you don't bother to find the controls, you may have a bit of trouble transitioning. The only real problem with the controls is the lack of responsiveness... Sometimes you can press a button for ages, and your guys will just sit there, or run off and do their own thing. It can be very aggravating at times.

Extra Features - (5% Weight): 6/10
Not a lot of extra features here. No Madden cards, no superstar mode, no create a team, no create a player. The only redeeming factor is they attempted to (Even if it was a half-assed job) put in more mini-camp drills.

Replay Value - (10% Weight): 10/10
It's football. What do you expect? If you like football, and you don't mind the eccentricities this game offers, then you can play it over and over and over again as much as your heart desires.

Tilt - (5% Weight): 8/10
This is kind of like extra-credit. If I feel like I like a game, then I'll give it extra points to help raise (or lower) it's overall score. After adding up all the categories before, Madden 2006 would get a 7/10. However, I think the game deserves a slightly higher score, so I'm going to give it a tilt of 8. Which brings us to...

Overall: 7.4/10
This game is by no means perfect. Honestly, it is only worth anything if you have a long road trip ahead of you and you want to play Madden or if you're out of town and can't bring your PS2 with you. With a bit more polish, Madden 2006 would have been a PSP must-have. Do yourself a favor, and buy it when it gets a price drop. Or, better yet, wait until Madden 2007 comes out for the PSP. Hopefully it will have had some more work done on it to make it worth the $50 you have to pay for it.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 04/19/06