Madden NFL 2005

The dominating football franchise makes a touchdown on the DS.

EA is smart to bring its Madden NFL franchise on to the DS. The name alone should make any football fan scream with glee, but beyond the big name, this pigskin sports the right moves for a good time on the DS.

The usual Madden setup is entirely here. From the get-go, you'll notice the visuals have been spruced up from past Madden GBA games--they're closer in appearance to an old PlayStation game. Portraits of players pop-up after each play, and character models look decently good on this handheld. There is, though, one major component missing: the energetic commentary. Instead, the sounds consist of, at most, three lines from Madden's mouth coupled with lots of stadium cheers.

The use of the touch screen seems a bit out of place for Madden. Fundamentally, it makes sense to use the lower screen to select plays and to quickly call audibles. On the flip side, however, you can still do those things on a single screen as you have in the past. And to have the ability to see all 22 players on the field at one time as well as have the kick meter on the lower screen is more of a novelty than a practicality.

Still, with a wide selection of offensive and defensive plays available, several game modes, and the option to play wireless with someone else should appeal to any football fan craving a portable play action.

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