football

Madden NFL 2002 for Xbox doesn't have a great amount of improvement in terms of graphics from the Playstation 2 version - something I expected to see.

The graphics, are still great, though, and the commentary is much more varied than that in 2001, although Madden still has his annoying qwerks. "Taking penalties is stupid, it just gives the offense yards."

The controls can sometimes be very problematic, and it would be nice to see some more similarities between controlling offense and defense.

It is the most realistic football game on the market, but I am much more of a fan of shorter games with easier playability (NFL Blitz from Midway). This game sometimes forces me to power-cycle my Xbox after putting it in, maybe this is a localized issue, but it can get annoying powercycling a few times to get the game to run - only to run into loading screen after loading screen.

I would have liked to see a system link option - you can your opponent could play on seperate Xbox systems on seperate TV sets, keeping your plays more secretive.

I still agree that Madden 2002 outperforms NFL Fever, but there is plenty of room for improvement for next year's release.

While I have not been a fan of Madden games historically (on playstation & genesis) madden 2002 is the best football game i've ever played. The graphics are stunning & fluid, surpassing the graphics of any sports game I've ever seen. It also gives you great gameplay, very accurate player rankings, & VERY in-depth control of the games. I especially like the free-angent signing & how you have to draft AND sign your draft picks.
Admittedly there are some flaws in the game, but most are evident in every football game: namely poor defensive AI and atrocious & repetitive commentary. Other problems are:
1. trading with the computer is rediculous. After many ill-fated attempts at trading with the computer on franchise mode i decided to see what I could get for trading marshall faulk... a 3rd round draft pick?!
2. No customizable playbooks or play creator
3. John Madden
still it is the closest to perfect anyone has gotten for a football game.

Great graphics and some very realistic features but I am furious over the number of holding plays I keep getting especially when I use a superior team over another i.e. the all madden team vs. a regular team. The regular team rarely gets called for holding while I get called nearly a third of the time and on running downs. THAT IS BULL PLOP.

The commentary also needs a lot of work on better coordinating and adding many more so we don't hear the same thing over and over.

Also there are waaaay to many receivers dropping the ball on well thrown passes.