Nintendo DS - Madden NFL 2005

Format
Nintendo DS
Publisher
Electronic Arts
Developer
Electronic Arts
Country of origin
US
Genre
Sports

Madden NFL 2005

By David Rasmussen
15th Jan 06

It’s almost as if you can’t turn around without tripping over the rather large John Madden.
Madden here, Madden there, Madden everywhere… almost. Recently Disney did the Primetime shuffle and bumped the once staple Monday Night Football off of ABC’s lineup and shuffled it over to their ESPN network for the 2006 season… yeah, and since I figure ESPN might have their own announcers maybe it means not so good tidings for Mr. Madden and his Monday Night Football gig… but then again who knows, he might not get replaced next season. Who knows. Anyway it’s not like Madden doesn’t have things to do what with his yearly Madden franchise on all video game platforms to rule over, which is more important now than ever now that Madden is the only game in town (next to the unauthorized Blitz the League franchise from Midway and the people behind ESPN’s early to bed early to TV grave thanks to the NFL series Playmakers).

But now that Madden is the only game in town for NFL football? You know what that means… yeah… it means the rest of you can appreciate futbol (soccer) just that much more since they’re not as stuck up as the NFL and you can find more than one type of futbol (soccer) to play… though for your money you‘ll still be happy with only the Winning Eleven franchise. Oh, and it also means that if Madden sucks you’ll have no alternatives to fall back on, especially since Midway didn‘t micronize their Blitz game for portables!
Let’s hope this older Madden for the Nintendo DS doesn’t suck, since you’ll have no alternative these days -- then again you didn’t have alternatives to begin with since I don’t remember any other football games for the portables to begin with!

We’ve been down this road before. Last time out I reviewed this exact same game for the GBA, but now it’s the Nintendo DS version… has this changed anyway between versions? Let’s see.
Not much, except for the fact that this game has a new fresher (prettier) coat of gameplay. It’s basically the same game, pumped up and improved graphically and content wise for the DS of course. If you read my GBA review of Madden NFL 2005 you got the gist of what this game has, just that this game has more of it and it looks better and plays better. And, heck, while the players still are not the most controlable at least they feel slightly more responsive than their GBA counterparts… not by much but at least here I can hit more passes than I did in the GBA version, and I can run better here as well which is an improvement.

Now this doesn’t mean that the DS version is the best. The PSP still rules when it comes to sports related titles, nothing can change that since the PSP seems so geared for sports and action games, but who cares since the DS has the really fun games and you don’t have to drop 300 large for a DS and this game! The extra 150 or so dollars (give or take depending on the DS you buy, bundle or not) will feel just that much better in your pocket than in Sony’s pockets. P.S. - Shame on you Shoujo Beat! Recommending the PSP and their sports games to jocks! Any jock (male or female) that drops 300+ on a portable and a few sports games should be regarded as a, yes, dumb jock since that is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard of!
Be smart, buy a DS and Madden NFL 2005. It’ll save you money and you’ll have a NFL game for the road.

What? Why not Madden NFL 2006? I heard the game makes you throw with the use of the stylus, and that sucks. The stylus is not the best tool for throwing with, which you’ll find out if you ever have a chance to play that version and see how off that option is! While, yes, using the stylus to kick a fieldgoal works just perfectly, using it to toss the pigskin in the heat of a game just doesn’t work. Trust me.
That and Madden NFL 2005 can be found for a lower price (even preplayed at a cheaper price) than the new Madden and if you just want a taste of NFL for your portable you can’t go wrong with that taste.
It’s not the best taste, but at least it’s affordable, anyway you should get big NFL football for your consoles since that’ll be the NFL you’ll want the best. This is just to feed your need until your back home again to play your big console football… or you have friends you can challenge on the road (which also makes it worth owning since you can wirelessly link to a friend’s DS and challenge him to NFL, though I am not the most certain whether or not said friend needs a copy of this game or you can download it for quick play).

Anyway as you probably know by now I am not the biggest fan of the NFL. At best I only watch the Super Bowl because it, like Harry Potter movies or badly done Disney tripe, comes but once a year. So, in that regard, I would rather you spend your money on an easy on your pocket affordable game, playable on an easy on your pocket affordable system (which packs games I also recommend) than wasting hard earned money on a system you probably won’t like (and has more useless and pointless movies than good video games). Sure, one day the PSP will be worth recommending… when Sony drops the price, and stops treating it like an expensive status symbol yuppy toy for people who don’t have enough time to go to the movies by jamming the thing with more movie DVDs than solid games worth owning and playing!
But we’re talking DS, not PSP, and we’re talking Madden so… breakdown time!

Madden NFL 2005 Breakdown (DS Version)
What’s Hot?
The DS is not exactly bleeding with hot sports titles, in fact I can’t remember any past this and Mario Kart DS (which is recommended), but finding a few good sports games for this (even if they’re only somewhat passable) is better than wasting money on an overblown expensive yuppy toy like the PSP just so you can play sports games while you’re away from your major console! Your pocketbook (if nothing else) will be happier with this game since it’ll save you money, and it’s not like the DS isn’t swimming in hot games worth playing (which it is) so you’ll still have a system with games worth playing (and not a system that seems more interested in porting 10001 DVDs to UMD (or whatever) format than making solid games.

What’s Not?
Yeah, this isn’t the best portable NFL game you can own… but at least it’s not going to cost you 300 or so dollars to own a PSP and a sports game! If you already own a PSP then you better own sports games since they look the best on the PSP, but if you don’t there no need to drop the money on it. This isn’t the best, but it’ll hold you tight until you get back home to your big console and the better NFL game you have there.

Moments to Remember?
The gaming, I suppose, and that’s it.

What to Ignore?
While the still images of player’s heads are real, the players and their bulky cookie cutter giant mutant ‘roid rage clone player bulky body types are not. Ignore it, it’s not important.

Overall?
Sports games are not one of the priorities of the DS it seems, and that’s OK by me. While the DS could use a good golf game, or a good soccer (futbol) game this is passable as a NFL game. It’ll hold you if you simply must have an NFL fix until you get home, and can play your better NFL game at home.
It’s not the best, but it’s better than nothing. And it’ll give those newly out of work NFL coaches something to do while they send out resumes for their next coaching gig. You know who you are if you are one of those coaches, hailing from…
The Green Bay Packers (home of the cheeseheads).
The Houston Texans (…say, wasn’t Houston’s team the Oilers before they went off to become the Tennessee Titans…? I can’t remember what they became when they stopped being Oilers).
Kansas City Chiefs (bye)
Minnesota Vikings (Can you say Media Circus Sex Cruise? The former coach of the Vikings wish you wouldn’t!)
New Orleans Saints (Aren’t they supposed to be America’s Team this year? So much for team spirit.)
And finally the St. Louis Rams, formerly the Los Angeles Rams who moved to the city that used to have the St. Louis Cardinals who moved last I heard to Arizona and became the Arizona Cardnials or something like that… I think.
Too bad guys! But you’ll always have Madden in your pocket in portable video game form, if not in real life which might have gone towards you not being unemployed right now… too bad, so sad… don’t care. Get over it. (Nuff said).

-- David Rasmussen 15th Jan 06

Nintendo DS Madden NFL 2005 Images