Customer Rating:  
Summary: Fun game, a few glitches
Comment: This is a fun game that has been well adapted to the PSP. I am a first time PSP user and the experience so far is very positive. The graphics are exceptional, game-play is fun, controls easy to learn. I miss some of the control that is in the franchise mode on the console version and for some reason can not play a multi-player game against a PSP with Madden NFL 09 from the UK. Other than that, it continues to be a great game!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Crashes constantly
Comment: I have yet to complete a full game. I am so frustrated with this product.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Awful - Full of bugs that EA has not sorted
Comment: Despite keeping all software up to date, the bugs inherent with the software are a deal killer on this. The few things that I got to play were entertaining, otherwise, it froze up so fast I couldn't advance.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Alas, Poor Madden, I Knew Him Well...
Comment: I have been playing Madden on PSP since I bought my PSP. That is why I bought a PSP, so I could play football any where I go. I have been playing football since the good old days of Techmo Bowl on plain old vanilla Ninentendo. This years Madden is just not that great.
Why do I say this? Well, for one, the graphics aren't really that good. The new default angle is from such a far away vantage point that you can see the whole field, but, it also makes everything looked horribly pixelated. There is a lot some full screen anti-aliasing could do for this picture, especially when you consider how small the screen and therefore the resolution must be already. You can change this somewhat with the "zoom" camera mode, but this mode makes it kind of difficult to see where your receivers are since, it drops the angle of view down to almost horizontal. The other views either make the graphics look awful, or don't help with gameplay.
The other thing, which is similar to the NCAA 09 "freshman mode" is the oversimplification of this game in order to widen their market. It was not too bad an idea with NCAA 09, but I doubt it would widen the appeal of Madden fans with a 'basic' set of controls, since it is the competitive spirit which makes you try to learn the controls and get better. If you like to quit when you can't "get" a game, then you don't have the kind of competitve drive needed to be a Madden addict, and you will probably get bored with the game quickly.
Almost all other aspects of the game are the same as last year, with the exception of not turning the angle of the camera around when playing defense. People like me have been used to your team staring off at the bottom of the screen no matter offense or defense for so long that this is just plain annoying. I mean, it totally changes the thumb motion on the d-pad to the less natural down motion, and it makes it more difficult to judge your players position in space by having him up at the top of the screen where he the field is narrower and he is smaller.
I could understand this if the game no longer paused every time you made an interception, but it still does! So, how does changing the angle get you more "immersed" into the game? It doesn't! It makes it more difficult, and now the game pauses a moment when you make an interception, which is lame, and it doesn't have that awe inspiring rotation of the screen, which makes things more dramatic!
Things are still clearly not immersive in the fact that you pause when you make an interception. Rarely, in live games that I have seen do they pause the live action when that happens, therefore, this is very non immersive. But, if they could pause the live game and rotate the screen like they do in Madden, it would be very appealing to fans watching the game.
This isn't a bad game. The controls are different, the graphics are awful, and it lacks some of the things that made playing Madden more fun, and it is now accessible to idiots. Sounds like something a loyal fan would just eat up, right? Well, the sound track is better, and I like the new rosters, and the stadium graphics have improved. Overall, this is an ok game. They took a few small steps forward, and a few more noticble steps backward.
The only reason I am not giving it 2 stars, is the fact that I don't want to sound like one of those whiners who complain every year. I have been quite faithful up to now, because I could see some improvement. Now, this is getting ridiculous.
Play it at your own risk.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Pass on this game if you have Madden 08
Comment: Firstly, Madden 08 is a much better version for the PSP than this one. If you already have Madden 08 but curious about this version, do yourself a favor, rent it and try it out first before paying for what amounts to roster updates. The gameplay is sterile, repetitive, and robotic.
There were other reviews giving this thing five stars and I really could not in good conscience allow the rating to be that skewed. It really is that bad and this is my very first review.
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