iPhone Review: Madden NFL 10
by Dave Pitchforth
Publisher/Developer: Electronic Arts
Genre: Sports
Price: $9.99
Verdict: Best iPhone American Football game available, bar none
Pros: Good controls, full season mode, ability to draw hot routes with your finger
Cons: Defending can be a little fiddly at times, no multiplayer
Madden is one of those game series that seems to have been around forever, and with good reason. Originally released in 1989 on the Apple II computers, the series is probably older than a good proportion of people who are reading this review. The series has been around so long that it’s appeared on virtually every popular gaming system since it made its debut 20 years ago, and with the ever-increasing popularity of the iPhone as a gaming platform, it was perhaps inevitable that we’d see the release of Madden there as well. The question of course is exactly how well Madden translates to a device that has no traditional d-pad or thumbstick to control the often intricate action. The answer is that it translates exceptionally well, culminating in an iPhone version of Madden that is worthy of the name, and easily grabbing the title of best American Football game on the platform.
When it comes to sports games on the iPhone, one thing that has to get nailed pretty much perfectly is the controls, and much credit has to go to EA here for coming up with an excellent control scheme. The now standard virtual thumbstick in the bottom left corner of the screen is used for player movement, and it’s large enough so that my big hands don’t suffer from any real issues from it, and responsive enough that the players go where I tell them to. To compliment this, several buttons will appear in the bottom right of the game screen, each differing depending on what player you’re controlling. If you’re in control of the ball carrier you’ll have buttons to juke or spin, options to toss the ball away as a QB, and buttons to attempt to swat a pass or dive for a tackle as a defender. Perhaps the most important of them all is the Action Control button. Tapping this slows the game down, giving you time to spot holes in the defensive line to run through, pick out the perfect pass, or crush the ball carrier. This is an unbelievably useful feature because as responsive as the controls are, they’re never going to match a real controller, so having the ability to just slow things down for a few seconds to give you time to make your play is a godsend. The feature is entirely optional and as you play the game more you’ll find yourself using it less, but in those pressure situations when it’s 4th and long with 30 seconds left and you need a touchdown to win the game, you’ll be thankful that it’s there.
To help you in those situations you also have a pretty extensive playbook to pick from. You can sort your plays by type or formation, and moving through your playbook just takes a flick of your finger. In addition to your offensive plays, you have the ability to create hot routes pre-snap. This is done by pressing the relevant button before the QB takes the hike, tapping the receiver, then dragging and drawing his new route with your finger. This gives you near limitless options on offence, though it’s a shame there’s no option to save your routes when you’ve made them.
When you’ve drawn your routes or just picked a standard passing play, it’s then time to throw the ball to your receivers. When playing on the consoles each receiver is assigned a different button on your controller which makes picking a pass very easy. This is obviously not a control method that can be used on the iPhone, so EA have come up with another simple design for picking a pass. After the ball is snapped each receiver is highlighted by a target reticule in one of three colours – red, yellow or green. Red means your receiver is completely covered, yellow means he’s partially covered, and green means he’s open. When you’re ready to toss the pigskin to one of your receivers, just tap his reticule and the QB will launch the pass. Having your receiver in an open position doesn’t automatically mean he’ll catch the pass, just like having him covered doesn’t automatically mean the pass will fail, but it’s a pretty good indication of whether your pass will make it or not, and it works really really well.
When it comes to defense, things are a little easier to control. Just move your defender to within touching distance of the ball carrier and you’ll tackle him automatically. You have the option to dive at the runner should you feel the need, and if the ball is in the air you’ll be able to try to swat the ball away. My only gripe here is that defending just seems that little bit harder than attacking, as reacting to direction changes from the opposition seems a little slow at times. That being said, I often have the same problem when I play on the console games so it could easily just be that I suck at defending. It certainly doesn’t spoil the game, it just means you have to be a bit more vigilant to make sure you don’t make mistakes which give your opponents easy scores.
Should you come to a kicking situation, either for a field goal, punt or kick off, you’ll find the controls just as tight there. An arrow will appear on screen which will let you direct your kick, and a power bar will appear on the right of the screen. To carry out the kick, simply drag your finger down and then back up the power bar. The accuracy of your kick is determined by the straightness of your finger flick, so making sure you perform a nice fluid straight motion becomes essential when trying to score the game winning field goal.
Now that you know how well the game controls, I’m sure you’re curious as to how well the game actually plays. Thankfully the gameplay is as good as the controls, with smart AI making sure you stay on your toes. You can’t use the same play over and over again to get easy yards as the AI will learn and adapt if you try to abuse the same play, and they’ll press hard for points if they’re losing near the end of the game. There’s no better way to describe the AI than to say it’s exactly what you’d expect from a football game. There are no easy points, no cheap plays that always work, and if you let your guard down or make a mistake, you’ll get punished for it.
The game gives you two ways to play the game, with a single game and a full season mode available to you. The season mode performs as you’d expect it to, allowing you to experience a complete NFL season, including the post season and Superbowl should you manage to get there. There are plenty of stats to track during the season, and the game allows you to sign free agents, perform trades and re-order your roster as you see fit. Importantly, should you receive a phone call or just have to switch the game off quickly, it’ll remember exactly what you were up to when you go back to the game, allowing you to pick up from the point you left off. Mobile gaming at its finest.
From a graphical and presentational point of view, Madden looks very nice indeed. The player models are quite nice and there’s a bit of variety in shape and size there, instead of the cookie cutter characters I was expecting. They generally animate nicely though there are some irregularities, such as tackles sending players 10 feet through the air, even from seemingly weak challenges. The menu presentation is excellent though, and includes a very handy tutorial which takes you through all the controls I’ve mentioned above. The game also includes the option to listen to your own music while playing, which is always a nice feature. There is play-by-play commentary however from John Madden himself, though the in-game music is pretty generic and you may well be glad you can listen to your own tunes.
When I first heard Madden was making its way to the iPhone, I was both excited and nervous. I loved the idea of playing one of my favourite franchises on my phone no matter where I was, but I was worried about how well the game would translate to the device. In the end I needn’t have worried. EA have done a great job of turning an excellent console game into an excellent mobile game. Sure, it’s not perfect, there’s no multiplayer at all and I wish you could save your favourite plays and custom hot routes, but as far as first attempts go this is pretty much as good I could have hoped for. I’m sure this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship between the Madden series and the iPhone, one which I’m sure will blossom over the years. Even though $9.99 is a lot of money compared to the majority of games available in the App Store, if you’re a fan of American Football at all then you owe it to yourself to check Madden out, as it’s simply the best game of its type available on the iPhone today.
