I first played Madden in December of 1993 on my new Sega Genesis, just days after having my wisdom teeth removed. My sister and I would play as I recovered, me half-stoned on percocets. She beat me frequently. Her strategy? Just hit the “C” button. If she chose the 49’ers as she usually did it meant the following with each click:
- Choose “Shotgun” formation
- Choose “Hail Mary Pass”
- Hike the ball
- Steve Young throws a perfect ball out to lightning-fast Jerry Rice
The result: touchdown. Almost without fail.
Since those days I’ve become quite a fan of the franchise, switching briefly to 2K when they were able to produce a comparable, maybe even superior, product before EA squeezed them out of the market. I usually buy a copy ever few years to use updated rosters and try out new features. It’s always interesting to see what will be different: will it be easier to pass or run; will there be more interceptions or fumbles; how noisome will the commentary be this season.
Last year was something of a misstep in the series in my opinion. With Madden all but out of the game, you find yourself subjected to inane in-game commentary that simulates a friendly radio broadcast. Worse, NFL Network gets in the mix as Marshall Faulk ticks off all the post-game nonsense. It’s a fine example of content deals suffocating the product. To say I was merely disappointed in the game would understate how much it pained me to play a game I’ve enjoyed for so long.
So when I heard that EA was completely overhauling the game for 2009, I got excited. They got that something was amiss. Like I said, I never buy Madden two years in a row. After playing the demo, I’m pretty sure I’ll be running out to buy it next week. It’s smarter and more interesting than ever and with the promise of EA offering subscriptions, I have faint hope that it may be the last physical copy of the game I’ll ever buy. If you were wavering on this one, be sure to download the demo from Xbox Live and give it a try. You may be surprised.