Madden NFL 09 All-Play

For the win!

Posted 4 years ago By - Jay Acevedo

This year, EA has introduced the brand new All-Play on the Wii for all their sports games in order to bring casual gamers and newcomers a new and original way to experience sports games on Nintendo’s console. After witnessing NCAA Football 09’s sub-par presentation via All-Play, my high hopes for this years’ version of Madden were at stake. I had to hold my breath. Thank God, EA Tiburon managed to present a much better experience and deliver the best NFL Wii experience yet. Here’s our review for Madden NFL 09 All-Play.


Gameplay

Like NCAA Football 09, this years’ version of Madden features the new All-Play control scheme, which gives the player all he needs to play the game without any hassles or complex button combinations. These All-Play controls are based on easy shakes of the Wii Remote. Moving the Wii Remote at the correct time performs all of your main actions, like snapping the ball, tackling, evading defenders, kicking and of course passing. If you played the past two Madden Wii titles, you will see a simplified and more accurate control scheme. And of course, if EA goes ahead with the new MotionPlus technology from Nintendo, the next Madden could be even better in terms of controls. Of course, if you’re Madden Wii experienced player, the advanced controls scheme that is offered in the game would be your way to go, just in case the All-Play control scheme isn’t your type. But I can hardly see even the most experienced Madden Wii player not getting a kick out of the All-Play controls.

Madden 08 players upgrading to this new version will be pleased to see some new additions and interesting tweaks to the game. The first one is this fun mode called “Call your Shots”, which gives you the option to create your own plays on the fly. By pressing the A button before snapping the ball, the game takes you to custom play menu where using Wii Remote, you set route markers for your receivers. When completed, snap the ball and execute your play. Pure sweetness! Of course, the game isn’t about “calling your shots” all the time but also using some of the pre-made plays straight from the NFL playbook, which brings me to “Playcalling”, a simplified version of what we were used to seeing. Three playbooks, ranging from Easy to Advanced, are available and while they’ve been shortened, it still has a good number of plays to choose from. And of course, the good old Madden Pick is making a comeback if you can’t find the proper play to execute. That option has also been shortened to one play and has a brief description explaining why you should run this play.


Celebrating a touchdown is always cool and Madden NFL 09 lets you be closer to the experience. After a touchdown, you can celebrate by moving the Wii Remote and Nunchuk at the same time. If you pumped the crowd during your celebration, you’ll receive a rating boost to your player. Lastly, the game features an all-new 5 vs 5 mode that takes place in a cartoon-like field where the players have enlarged heads. Kids and newcomers will find it cool to experiment with it while more seasoned gamers will pass their turn. No need to explain that this mode is complementary to the “Party Mode” also presented in the game. Party Mode features a selection of mini-games and a trivia, focused once again solely on having fun, nothing else.

Other modes likes Franchise, Superstar and Online Play are making a comeback without showing any signs of change. Except maybe the online portion of the game which lags less than prior versions…but nothing really stands out in these modes.

Graphics & Sounds

Well, if the graphics made you cry on past Wii versions of Madden, rest assured that Madden 09 does look better that its predecessors. One thing is sure; we can definitely see that the development team has done their homework this year and we can thank them for it. But even if everything on Madden 09 looks sharper and cleaner, I personally believe that there’s still more room for visual improvements and tweaks. Crowds don’t look as nice as they could and the overall view on the field is a bit tedious. On the other side, player animations do look better and most of the fastidious glitches and frame-rate drops from last year aren’t as persistent this time around. Even if I would like more enhanced graphics, I have this feeling that nothing else can be done, knowing how limited the Wii architecture is. Still, I’m crossing my fingers…

As for sounds, the game does feature some cool music and nice environmental effects. However there’s nothing worth mentioning except maybe the fact that some of the game sound effects come from the Wii Remote, like in-game chatter for example which is really cool. But what I’ve noticed the most in the audio department was the commentary team of John Madden and Al Michaels was weak. Very repetitive like previous Madden titles but it’s not as complete and stellar as the commentary found on the PS3 and Xbox360 versions, which was still repetitive but has more depth. But I’m sure that gamers out there will agree with me when I say that as long as the gameplay mechanics are great, we can deal with a less prestigious sound build, especially on the Wii.


Value

If you’re one of the few people to have all three major consoles at home and you’re looking for a good game on the Wii, even if you already bought Madden for the Xbox360 or PS3, you can’t pass up Madden 09 All-Play; at least trying it out. Now, if you’re a football fan and only have a Wii at home but still hesitating before picking it up because Madden 07 and 08 left you “unsatisfied”, you will be pleased with this years’ version.

Conclusion

Madden NFL 09 All-Play is a far more complete gaming experience than its little brother NCAA 09 and I can easily say that it’s an improvement over last years’ version. The All-Play controls are definitely a good thing and graphics have been improved but sadly, nothing else really shines after that.

Verdict: Veteran Madden players should really experience the All-Play controls but I can’t recommend them to buy the Wii version since the real deal is on the Xbox 360 or PS3. If you don’t have a football game and you only have a Wii, then yes, you should definitely pick this one up.

1 year ago :: Rhythm Heaven Fever
1 year ago :: (WiiWare) Zombii Attack
1 year ago :: Fortune Street
1 year ago :: Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, The
1 year ago :: Rayman Origins
1 year ago :: The Adventures of Tintin: The Game
1 year ago :: Disney Universe
1 year ago :: The Black Eyed Peas Experience
2 years ago :: The Conduit 2
2 years ago :: Mario Sports Mix