Ahhh, its that time of year again. The time to fantasize about being the best you can be, and taking your team to the Super Bowl. Yes it is Madden time. It has been twenty years since the first Madden graced our consoles, and during those twenty years we have seen great improvements in the game, not just graphically but game play as well. Hit the jump to read my review.

Game Play

Probably the number one thing people are interesting about in the Wii version Madden, is the game play. Lot of the old mini-games are back from last year, YAK attack, rushing drills. There are also some new ones added this year. 5-5 is what has been seen on all the videos with the players with the big heads, and it is reminds me of back yard foot ball. The first team, which consists of 5 players, to score 5 touchdowns first, wins. There is also a new party mode, were you can challenge your friends in some Madden trivia, 5-5, or random mini-games, like rush attack, and run and catch.

One new feature in Madden 09 which seemed cool in the beginning, but after a while become very annoying, is the celebration mode. After scoring a touchdown, intercepting the ball, or sacking the quarterback on an important down, you bust into celebration mode. In this mode you have to franticly shack the Wii-mote and nun-chuck to pump up your player, while words like: awesome, great, fantastic flash on your screen. Each time you do this your player does receive a little boost, but after two or three times a game, this becomes really annoying.

EA has also implemented Mii’s into Madden 09. No you Mii’s cannot be used as a quarterback or a wide receiver, but they do show up as referees. This use of Mii’s is pretty cool except for the fact that the Mii selection is random. Who knows what Mii will show up for the job: Michel Jackson, Chuck Norris, Or this guy below.

Controls/ All-Play

The controls for Madden 2009 are pretty much the same as last year, which is a lot better then it was 2007 to 2008 were there was more than a few changes made to the controls. The only big difference in controls, which is a little annoying, it that fact that you have to hold down the Z, unlike last year, to juke and stiff arm, by swinging the nun-chuck for the juke, and the Wii-mote for the stiff arm. This may not seem like a big deal to some, but for a seasoned Wii Madden player, this little change can throw you off at times.

I decided that it would not be fair to All Play if I reviewed it myself. So I called up Kevin, who is not a big Madden fan, and had him come up and play a game with me and check out the some of the features himself.

In ALL PLAY, the controls are simplified so just about anyone can play the game. I am awful at football games or sports games for that matter, and was hoping ALL PLAY could change that. I did do surprising well but found the controls for ALL PLAY were simplified too much.  With a few short flicks of the wrist and the occasional button press, one could compete with the elite Madden players in no time, which is the purpose of ALL PLAY.
With ALL PLAY I found I could do minimal work with large payoff. Every opportunity there was to pick plays; I would simply selected Madden’s picks every time.   From there I would flick my wrist to hick and flick again to pass the ball; the game would choose the receiver for me.  The most challenging thing for me was the kicking, and that was fairly simple.  As I said I am not an avid player of Madden games, I thought all play could change that.  But after playing ALL PLAY I feel the game was playing for me to much, all I was doing was slightly guiding my team rather than making a difference or contribution.  Its seems although Madden 09 has simplified the controls to where the player is barely playing.
What ALL PLAY succeeds in is having a football game were anyone can play. The only problem is near the end of the game when you don’t feel satisfied and you realize the game could have almost played without you.
ALL PLAY is an interesting and a nice addition to Madden 09, it really caters to those casual gamers and those who are lousy at football games.  But ALL PLAY will get a few sessions of ball time with those who wouldn’t normally play, just don’t expect them to play for long.

Graphics:

Finally, EA has gotten the graphics right, well almost. The game looks the best it has ever looked on a Nintendo console. The players look more polished as does the stadiums, but with upside there is always a down side. Last year Madden grass/field textures looked pretty impressive. This year all we get is a neon green surface, with no textures. Also, somehow, I am not sure how they pulled this off, but the crowed looks awful, even worse than the last two games. To end on a good note, the game looks to be finally running in 480p, which is an answer to one of my rants about last year’s Madden game.

Online:

This section is going to be short. Madden 09, like last year’s Madden, online sucks. (no better word for it) It took me four try’s before I was able to connect to a player, then the match only lasted 10 min then it got cut off.

Pros and Cons:

Pros:

  • Madden 09 is finally running in 480p, player’s movements seem more polished and fluid.
  • New All play controls seem to work for non-Madden players. Kevin almost pulled off an upset when we played.
  • Game does not seem to freeze as much as Madden 08. Madden 08 froze on me about 30 percent of the time. Madden 09 has not froze on me yet.
  • The mini-games are fun: Yak attack, Madden IQ, 5-5.

Cons:

  • Online downright sucks, simple as that.
  • All Play being set as the default setting. Why do they assume that people who buy Madden on the Wii are not hardcore players, and they would rather play with the All play controls?
  • Poor grass textures

Summary:

EA is getting better with each Madden they release on the Wii. Madden 09 is a decent game, if it was not for the sucky online. I let this go last year being it was their first try, but come on EA you had a whole year to work on it. I also really think EA can push the Wii a little harder graphically, but at least on Madden 09 they are trying. I give Madden 09 a score of 3.5 or of 5.

All picture all taken off screen during a few of my games. Also thanks to Kevin for his input.