Madden NFL Football Review: Beautiful, But Shallow

The first Madden on the 3DS is ultimately like a date with a beautiful woman- who repeats herself throughout dinner. And even though she eventually takes you home, the bedroom escapades, just like the conversation, lack any real fun and ingenuity.

It’s surely an experience, but not the one you expected the first time you laid eyes on it.

Although it’s easily the best looking football game to be released on a Nintendo handheld, the lack of gameplay options hurt its shelf life. Thin and vanilla on the inside, Madden NFL Football on the 3DS is missing a personality.

While you can make trades and play through a season, those are the only real bells and whistles or options the game has. Sad considering how those things, like dual-side airbags and anti-lock brakes on a car, should come standard. Although there is an option to play five on five as well as traditional 11 on 11 action, it’s nothing to write home about. A lack of in- game stat announcements during gameplay hurt the overall package as well. It makes the presentation, which was already sub par, seem more plain and empty. The user-interface is also a joke. The only way to check your player stats is at the end of the game. For number junkies, Madden NFL Football is void of any real connectivity.

The actual gameplay is solid, even though it feels like NFL Gameday 99 on the old PsOne, which it also looks a bit like. More fast-paced arcade action than anything else, this is not a game for true pigskin fans. Those looking for a good time killer on the bus and train will dig it, but only because it merely does what it’s supposed to do. It never challenges you. After a few games, you’ll get used to the flaccid and predictable AI and run and throw wherever and whenever you want, regardless of the defense.

Sure, Madden NFL Football shows off the graphical capabilities of the 3DS, but it’s ultimately just a quick ploy for cash from Electronic Arts. They should know better.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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