PS2 Game Recommendations | mariteaux

[#] Madden NFL 2003 (Electronic Arts, PlayStation 2, 2002)

John Madden! Football!

Look, I get it. I get it! No one understands the rules of American football. I've been playing these games for weeks and years and only recently learned the difference between a 3-4 formation and a 4-3 formation. Madden NFL 2003 makes learning all those things worth it though. This is not just a nerdy simulation football game—like it is, but it's not. The smoothness of the gameplay, the detail work and jumbotrons in the stadiums, the unlockables, the music, the way it's got arcade flavor when you crave sugar and depth when you're hungry for a steak, it's peak. It's a damn shame most people will never know it because it's just another Madden game.

Madden 2003 introduces the wonderful Mini Camp drills, all focused on a specific element of offense or defense (throwing passes, tackling runners, deflecting passes, kicks and punts), rewarding you with trophies and Madden Cards for your performance. The Madden Cards alone, I could write paragraphs on, as I went nuts trying to collect all these things through Franchise, Mini Camp, the Two Minute Drill mode. You get cards based on players, cheat cards you can play to, uh, cheat, historical teams and players, even crazy unlock teams of mummies, goblins, sheriffs, and sugary cereal-addicted superheroes. (Their custom stadiums, that yes, take place at high noon, pardner, or in a cereal bowl with a milk field, are also unlockable.) There's that flavor PS2 games have where they just let you fuck around endlessly, and it's here and I love it and I wish new games still had it.

For the actual discerning football fan, the simulation is super solid. Physics have aged wonderfully, rosters are fully customizable, and the passing and running games both feel perfectly balanced and manageable regardless of which side of the ball you're playing. My only minor complaints come from your AI teammates being absolutely useless sometimes, not blocking during runs and punt returns or gathering stupid penalties, but nothing's perfect. It dawned on me, halfway through a perfect season with my Ravens, that some of the littlest details here, being able to knock over the chain gang on the sidelines, the halftime show, even decent color commentary, are somehow missing in later Maddens on much more capable hardware. We genuinely had no idea what we had.