When it comes to sports games I have to be about as casual as they come. I have the obligatory football, gridiron, ice hockey, golf and snowboarding titles in my games collection mainly for when mates are over and we feel like a bit of friendly competition. This outlook on sports games places me in the very average to decidedly crap section of sports gaming ability. Queue Madden NFL Arcade, following on from 3 on 3 NHL Arcade, a sports title targeting decidedly crap players just like me.
Subject to a similar trimming and simplifying as the NHL title, Madden NFL Arcade is presented as a 5 on 5 first to 30 points game played on a smaller field. Kicking is out, conversions are either an automatic 1 point or 2 points if you want to attempt a touchdown from a single play. Controls are super simple, pick a play push A and hope your AI runner is there. It’s fun and even your Nana could be kicking your arse in no time. Sorry to any hardcore gaming Nanas out there. But this simplistic approach is also the major downfall for Madden NFL Arcade.
As a self confessed casual sports player I find the full versions of Madden a bit overwhelming but with this cut down version I found myself getting annoyed and frustrated at the lack of control I have over my team. This is made even more painful with the addition of ‘Game Changers’, powers handed out at the beginning of each set. These have a variety of game turning functions like bullet passes, bringing on more players or even turning the other team to ice!?! These ‘Game Changers’ can be turned off but that just makes the game a little bit too bland. On field pick-ups (a-la Speedball) would have been a better way to implement these, having to choose between completing your play or picking up a ’Game Changer’ would have been a nice twist.
Visually I was very impressed with Madden NFL Arcade. Actually surprisingly so. For an arcade sports title the detail is great with some awesome touchdown and tackle animations. The sound is also great with the home crowd supporting their team and booing when the visitors are doing well. So much for sportsmanship. Although there is a local co-op and multiplayer the big market is the Xbox Live! crowd especially in the USA. Be warned going online with this hardcore legion of NFL fans can be brutal, both on the scoreboard and on your ears. It seems you need to know every personal detail of the real life players you are controlling to be included in the NFL fraternity.
Closing Comments.
Madden NFL Arcade may have gone too far with simplifying the NFL experience. Many a frustrating moment was had when I was unable to switch players an correct the AI’s stuff ups. But that said this is a game where I did have some great bite-sized gaming sessions, which the full Madden games don’t account for. Also as this uses EA Servers to host games the online life span has to be questioned too. Unfortunately at 1200 MS Points only the hardcore NFL fans will see this as value for money. And as New Zealanders I don’t see this going well at all.
Released 25/11/2009 for 1200 MS Points.
