Madden NFL 09 (PSP)

While not exactly phoning it in, the PSP version has none of the new features in the console game.
8/14/2008 10:28 PM | 0 Comments | Page 2 of 3

You just might like the player indicators that pop up as you try to throw the ball, especially because you're playing on a small screen with small players. Here, the button icons show you who's free from defensive stalkers and who's covered tight like a pickle in a jar. It's a nice touch all around. On defense, there's a camera that's supposed to make you feel like you're a behind-the-line killer after the ball's snapped. The camera rotates 180 degrees. It doesn't add so much to the defensive experience, however, which is much weaker in the Sony handheld than in the console.

One of the things I don't like is that each year, there's less and less of Madden in the game. Some have said this is a good thing, indicating that Madden is too old, even that he's going senile. In my mind, the game isn't complete without the folksy, knowledgeable persona that John Madden has so carefully crafted and honed over the years. (Right, I know. He uses the "F" word in off-camera conversation a lot. But in the game, he's Big Daddy Football and that's how I want it to stay.)

In the console version, there's this time travel thing called BackTrack. On the surface, it's pretty intense. You go back prior to the play to discover, via Cris Collingsworth, what went wrong with your coaching, passing, catching and the like. Then you re-do the play. It's supposed to level the playing field between veteran players and the novices. There's no BackTrack or rewind feature in the PSP version. Part of me is glad about this -- the part of me that's a true football aficionado who knows there are few second chances on the field. But another part of me -- the part that wants a real deal for consumers who have to spend their hard-earned coin -- wants new idea upon new idea.

What you do get with this version are completely challenging, sometimes maddening, Superstar Challenges. You could think of these as mini-games, but that would be demeaning, considering how the term "mini-games" has come to be equated with some of the shovelware that hits the Wii every month. Imagine being put into some of the most heart-pounding, treacherous gameplay moments of the 2007 season. Imagine feeling the tension, the fear, the focus of playing in the game of your life. At its best, that's what Superstar Challenge gives you.

I always struggle to understand other reviewers who say online play is seamless when they review a game. Look, with any online game, you're going to have glitches and frame-rate drops, especially if you play for, say, an hour or longer. The glitches in Madden NFL '09 for the PSP in are minimal. But they will happen when playing over the Web (although I was never kicked off a game due to technical errors). Also online, I did have to wait a few minutes to find someone to play against. And that's the Super Bowl-winning question: Are enough people buying Madden NFL 09on the PSP to make online play an endeavor that's rife with opponents of all shapes and sizes?

Franchise play is the mode that's closest to the depth of the console version. Here, you'll spend weeks climbing the ladder of respectability in your division. It's not that different from last year's game, though you do have the boon of new rosters and stats. One of problems I have with all sports games on a handheld is shrinking down the spectacle, the bigness, the veritable godliness of a coliseum event to a small screen. Sure, the PSP disk will beat the DS cartridge any day. But it's still small. Even if you can attach it to your PlayStation 3 to play on a larger screen, you can't do that on the road. EA does try to ameliorate this with close-ups and cut scenes, along with jarring sounds from the gridiron. But sometimes, the teeny screen gets to me.