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 3 of 3

And having Brett Favre on the cover in his no-longer-valid Green Bay Packer uniform does make the game seem somehow dated even on its first day of launch. Favre, after all, is now a New York Jet. (You can download a new cover, but who wants to take the time to do that? And then what do you do? Scotch tape the Jet's Gang Green goods over the Green Bay uniform? I still wonder why EA didn't choose New York Giant and Super Bowl winner Eli Manning for their cover athlete. Favre is the past, albeit an amazing Super Bowl winner, but Manning is the future, not to mention the game's demographic.) If you can forget about the cover, inside the box is a game that'll keep your jones going on the road, but it just doesn't have the extra-feature oomph to make it an immediate buy.

Finally, someone needs to add a proper football primer to the game, one that clearly explains the plays in layman's English. For instance, when exactly should I play the Nickel, the Dime or the Dollar defense and what are the pros and cons of each? A good designer or writer could strip each play down to a clear, focused sentence or two. In the PSP version, these tips could simply be text on a colored background so they wouldn't take up too much space on the disk. So why isn't it there now?

Madden NFL 09 for the PSP is a worthy game, but it needs more to make it a no-brainer addition to your collection on this, the 20th anniversary of the most important sports game ever made. Remember, these are troubled economic times. If you're not a stat and trade junkie or if you don't have those extra 40 simoleans in a time of recession, last year's Madden on the PSP will serve you just fine.