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"Madden NFL 09"

1 of 2

photo contributed

Madden 09

photo contributed

Beijing 2008

Platforms: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, PS2, Xbox, PSP, DS

Genre: Sports

Publisher: EA Sports

ESRB Rating: E, for Everyone

Grade: 4 stars (out of 5)

Surely EA can't be thrilled about millions of gamers heading off to buy "Madden NFL 09" this week and thinking they're buying the wrong edition, since Brett Favre, in a Packers uniform, graces this year's cover. But if gamers can get past that, they will get to play an improved "Madden" game that has some nice enhancements -- though doesn't achieve true greatness.

Let us begin with the gameplay itself. It's classic "Madden" football, which means it's a lot of fun. The stadiums and fields look amazingly detailed this year, and the weather is a much larger factor in playing conditions. However, tackles are missed constantly on defense and slant routes are impossible to stop.

The game modes could have used some upgrades, but they were left almost untouched. The franchise mode and superstar mode play nearly identical to last year's edition, and while they were great, it's common courtesy to reward gamers with new features. You will find none here. There are online leagues in the "09" edition, but they are not fully fleshed out and so many may find them limiting in customization.

But enough nitpicking. Excellent improvements do exist here. The addition of Cris Collinsworth as the color commentator cannot be lauded enough. His insights are timely and eerily (at times) accurate to the play on the field. Also new is the "Backtrack" feature, which allows you to both learn from mistakes on a given play and also rewind and redo the play to make it right. That second part takes a lot of the fun out, so I would suggest ignoring it or else you will start begging for this feature in real life.

Although the true game modes have not changed, some of the in-game enhancements and always-improving visuals make "Madden NFL 09" once again a darling to sports gamers and is an easy call for a must-own game.

"Beijing 2008"

Platforms: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC

Genre: Sports

Publisher: Sega

ESRB Rating: E, for Everyone

Grade: 0.5 star

Common sense takes an enormous back seat in "Beijing 2008." Actually, "enormous" is not a large enough description for how off this game is in terms of bringing an appropriate sports experience to gamers of any age or skill level.

Gargantuan? Vast? Massive? Garganvastmoussive? Sure, I just made that up, but it actually sounds pretty good and at least consolidates all those into a one-word stink pile to describe this game.

It fails because of its control scheme and how each of the 36 events is played by you, the gamer. This is supposed to be a game, right? You'd almost think a pharma company selling arthritis medication developed this game. Where is the fun? Every event involves either intense button mashing or maddening repetitive motions with the analog sticks, and nothing is all that responsive, so the pain in your joints will be for naught anyhow.

There is nary an event whose controls mirror the actual experience, nor do any of them even make a lick of sense. Not even sure this is worth complimenting the game on, but at least the athletes look detailed and some of the other visuals are nice. But you'd be a fool to think this game is worth it just for some good character animations. Furthermore, you'd be a garganvastmoussive fool for plunking down money for this.