What makes Madden so
great? Is it the graphics? The commentary? The new music tracks? Those
things are great, and as enjoyable as it was to hear new music from Blink 182
and the up-and-coming band Yellowcard, the extras have had little to do with
Madden’s success. The gameplay is the reason football lovers come back to it
time and time again. How do the developers do it? How do they continue to
develop a game that is always better than the previous one?
It’s all about tweaking.
The developers couldn’t possibly create the perfect football game in one run.
They’d make mistakes even if they had 10 years to do it. But if they had
10 years to make 10 Madden games, they’d get a lot closer to perfection. That’s
what they’ve done and that’s what they’ll continue to do.
Has that same
high-quality development been applied to the Game Boy Advance version? Yes, but
not without flaw. The flaw is on the GBA’s side of things, since the system is
limited in polygon power. (GBA can handle polygons, but it couldn’t power a
game that had 10+ polygonal athletes running around the screen.) This forced
the developers to use the same 2D graphic engine that they used last year. This
also means that the gameplay can’t go too far beyond the standards of Madden
2003. Still, it would be foolish to make that the focus of the review.
Football enthusiasts can
rest easy knowing that the gameplay is still good in 2D. EA attempts to add
more dimension to the experience by having a camera that pans and zooms. It’s
not the most spectacular effect, but it is pretty cool, and makes it easier to
see and control all of the players.
The controls are much
more intuitive than I expected. Switching between players and maneuvering them
around the field is easy. It’s also a lot less clunky than most GBA sports
titles. Receiving players are highlighted with the A, B, L and R button icons,
letting you know that attempting to pass is as easy as pressing the button of
the player you want to receive it.
While attempting to pass
is easy, completing a pass is a whole other story. The AI is relatively smart,
so if you’re new to the game it’ll take some time before you learn how to time
passes and avoid interceptions. Opponents (I like to call them "enemies") will
surround the players that they suspect are most-likely to receive the ball.
Want a variety of game
modes? You won’t find the endless list that’s featured in the console versions,
but you do get most of the important ones: season, playoffs, exhibition, link
play (for head-to-head gaming), and create-a-player.
Madden 2004’s sound is
pretty lacking. Whereas the console versions had an incredible soundtrack, this
version only features one song ("Action" by Blink 182). As great as the song
is, it’s not all hear! In typical GBA fashion, they loop the first half of the
song. The average instrumental music doesn’t help the situation. Neither do
the sound effects, which sound like they belong on a 16-bit console. (GBA is a
32-bit system, remember?)
When the last goal has
been scored or when the battery on your GBA SP runs out (whichever comes first),
you’ll be left with a game that will pull you back in whenever you’re on the
go. It’s not the kind of Madden game that’ll turn groups of gamers into couch
potatoes (that’s what the console versions are for), but it is entertaining
enough to be your sports game of choice whenever an unexpected car ride arises.
That might suggest that this version is more suited for children. That’s not
exactly the case, but since more kids bought a GBA than anyone else, and since
kids are more likely to desire a fun time-killer, Madden 2004 is a good choice
for them. Diehard Madden fans of all ages will like it a lot. GameCube owners
can use the GBA cable to connect with the console version of Madden 2004 and
unlock special Madden cards. This gives them an excuse to at least rent the
game. However, I think most PS2 players will wait for EA to bring the series to
Sony’s portable game console, the highly-anticipated PSP. All things likely,
that will be the polygon-powered version we’ve all been waiting for.
Gameplay: 7
When you’re on
the go, there’s only one sports game you’ll think about playing: Madden 2004.
You can’t stuff that big ol’ Xbox into your pocket, but you can travel anywhere
with a GBA and its version of the game. The gameplay is dated, but is not at
all bad. You’ll have fun and have the chance to increase your game-playing
skills while going through the season mode. Exhibition is a great mode for
on-the-go gaming, and when boredom begins to creep up on you, try out the
create-a-player mode.
Graphics: 6
For a 2D game
Madden 2004 looks decent. The characters aren’t what I’d call detailed, and the
backgrounds are rather plain. However, the zoom-in camera effect is somewhat
cool, and the animation is fairly solid.
Sound: 6.5
The sound is
stale, except for the one and only song featured in the game: "Action" by Blink
182. This song is a little different for Blink and corresponds with their
mission to "experiment" and create an album that you’ll either love, or throw in
the trash (says Mark Hoppus, who spoke to MTV News earlier this year). So far
it looks like they’re on the right track. Look for it land on store shelves
(and hopefully not dumpsters) on November 18th.
Difficulty: Easy/Medium
There’s a little
bit of challenge here. It’s nothing major, but you’ll definitely have to whip
out a few of your pigskin skills if you want to complete a full season.
Concept: 6
Not much new
here. Just Madden in the second dimension. Good, but we’ve experienced it
before.
Multiplayer: 6
The multiplayer
mode isn’t bad, but it isn’t nearly as exciting as the one featured in the
console versions.
Overall: 7
Madden 2004 isn’t
one for the record books, but it’ll keep sports fans entertained during those
dull and boring moments in life (such as waiting in line for a PSP next fall).
The brighter colors means that, even if you weren’t lucky or financially stable
enough to pick up a GBA SP, you’ll still be able to see the game pretty
clearly. At thirty-five smackers, it’s not a game to rush out and buy
(especially when there are other must-have GBA releases to purchase). But if
you’re a diehard football fan and you don’t have a portable version of Madden,
you won’t find a better football game to get than Madden 2004.
