Madden NFL 2005
| Developer: EA | Publisher: EA |
| Release Date: August 9, 2004 | Also On: None |
I have never really been a big sports fan, but I do like games that involve more strategy than force. I’ve never been a baseball fan, considering that it barely ever involved any strategy (and because all the wealthy team owners buy all the good players and leave the other teams with nothing). Never been much of golf fan either. I have been a fan of football, however. That game involves strategy, luck, speed, and brute force all together. Sadly, I have yet to find a decent football game for the GBA. With Madden 2005 hitting GBA’s everywhere, how does this game play? Like all Madden games, the latest is always the best. However, with the GBA handicapping specs, is this game really worth the purchase?
This game plays like Madden 2004 with a couple more additions, with each addition being good. If you’ve played any Madden game for the GBA, then you’ll know how to play this game. There are a good amount of modes in this game, such as the season mode, the exhibition mode, the practice mode, the 2-minute drill mode, and the situation mode. The season mode is where you take a team of your choice, and play through a whole season. During the season, you get to make trades and sign on players. The season mode is probably the most fulfilling mode in this game, while the situation mode comes in a close second. In the 2-minute drill mode, you have two minutes to verse another team that results into a very close game. The situation mode is where you have to verse an opposing team under unique situations. Every mode was fun in this game, but EA decided to get rid of the create-a-player mode that was in Madden 2004. It’s sad, but the other modes were still just as fun.
The AI is also drastically improved. Remembering how Madden 2004 played, I love how the AI reacts to what you do. On the harder difficulties, the AI can be really tough. For newcomers to Madden on the GBA, the easier difficulties would be right. For the veterans to the series, the harder difficulties are suggested.
As far as graphics go, EA did a pretty good job. The camera angles are never bothersome, and I never encountered an instance where there was a slowdown. It really reminds me the old Madden games for the Sega Genesis, except its better. The audio, however, is not as good. It is more along the lines of being decent. Sound effects were nice, but the a little more effort would have been nice.
There is a lot to do in this game. Whether it is the season mode, or the situation mode, nearly everything is fun in this game. The multiplayer is also well done. While it didn’t increase the score for the game, I did have fun playing it. From my opinion, this game could give a normal gamer 10 hours of gameplay. A football addict could even get 20 hours of gameplay. A fantasy football gamer, however, can get about 7-8 hours of gameplay from this game or until Madden 2006 comes out (which ever comes first).
What every reader must know is that the final score shows how much this game is worth compared to the other games in the market. While Madden 2005 for the GBA is better than the previous Madden games on the system, this game is just the watered down version of its next generation counterparts. There is simply no reason to buy this game when you can buy the next-gen games. Unless EA decides to be a little more creative and try to deliver something in the handheld version that the console version can’t, the handheld version will always be yards away from a touchdown.
| Graphics: | 8 |
| Sound: | 7 |
| Gameplay: | 8 |
| Creativity: | 6 |
| Replay Value/Game Length: | 8 |
| Final: | 7.4 |
| Written by Simon | Review Guide |
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