Madden NFL 2002

THE BAD:
the cpu can get a lot of sacks on you, the kick and punt returns are often tough

SUMMARY:
All in all this is the best Madden game ever. Considering how weak 2001 was {atleast on PC} this comeback was legendary from the man who started it all. The Franchise mode has tons and tons of options. All the secret teams and tricks with madden cards are great, practice options, 2 minute drill practice, situational drills etc are all included. Madden himself actually seems insightful! and the soundtrack is strong as well.
Now the bad, the kick and punt returns are quite hard, receivers drop a few too many passes, and the CPU can get a ton of sacks, but the good news is this almost all can be fixed just by tweaking the AI! if you can find it for less then 40$ buy it withouth question!!!

THE BAD:
commentary, low emotion after a big win [ like super bowl celeabrations, gatorade on a coach, etc.]

SUMMARY:
this game is a game to die for. the graphics are the best i've ever seen in any game, the franchise mode is excellent and the player intros are great. but the commentary is very boring, and since when does a kicker hit a game winning kick in the super bowl and doesn't get carried off the field. they could at least go in the locker room and celebrate or something. they also need things like training camp and they should have halftime shows with chris berman, tom jackson and steve young. but ea let me give you a small amount of advice, don't fix what isn't broke, in other words don't do what you did to live and knockout kings 2002!!!!

THE BAD:
then European teams

SUMMARY:
this game is great for all football fans and shouldn't be missed out on! Almost every team has thier own special attributes. The teams like the Rams, Raiders, Vikings, and Some of the classic teams are great and challenging. Being able to create your own team also adds something to the game! Bottom line is that this game is the greatest football game you can own right now!

THE BAD:
the commentary is not to good

SUMMARY:
try using the training mode before playing the real thing it really does help

THE BAD:
Nothing

SUMMARY:
This game is the best.

THE BAD:
Some of the game.

SUMMARY:
The best parts of the game have all ready been talked about below by other ppl, so let me cut through some hype and tell ya what I feel could be improved upon.

First of all, I don't know if this is common knowledge to Madden players of old, but saving your user profile is a BI-ATCH. Make sure to go to the User Profile menu under Options and save it there. I tried saving it other places (even when it asked me to!) and it did NOT work.

Secondly, there is one reason, and one reason alone why online support was left out of this year's game. Money. Next year, things won't get a whole lot flashier or better for the Madden franchise, and online play is the ONLY thing that would bring in the HUGE sales numbers that 2002 has. In my opinion, they should have included it in with this version instead of wanting the average joe consumer to shell out another 50 next year, but what the hell, that's capitalism.

Lastly, you will find the Summerall/Madden commentary to be VERY bland and VERY sad when compared to the overall presentation of an otherwise splendid title. Now, if you have listened to them do a real game in the past (which I have many times), then at times you will be reminded of how they suck in real life. Otherwise, you'll just be amazed at how much they lack in the game. I can only hear about my qb's lack of touch and cannon for an arm so many times in a contest.

Ok, that's it. I just wanted to let potential buyers know of the problems I had with the game. It is still the best of the PS2 lot for football, just watch out for these pitfalls, ESPECIALLY if you run into the user profile problem like I did. That is enough to make you want to turn the disc into an attractive coaster for your coffee table.

Tecmo, please, re-enter the football fray!

THE BAD:
Bland Commentary, Challenge Option (see below), No Online Play

SUMMARY:
EA has done a pretty good job in listening to complaints about Madden 2001 and have come out with a pretty decent 2nd generation PS2 version of Madden.

The new version of Madden has all the bells and whistles of the old version with the added values of:
1.) Training (Learn How to Play and Earn Tokens)
2.) 2 Minute Drill (Score Points and Earn Tokens)
3.) Draft Class Import (Import Players from a Completed Season of NCAA Football 2002)
4.) Expansion Draft and League Changes (Houston Texans and New NFL Realignment in 2003)

The graphics are amazing and the players look much better. Most noticable are the eyes of the players. Instead of the zombie-like look of Madden 2001, these players have much more appeal. A big complaint of Madden 2001 was all of the one-handed catches when passing. Madden 2002 has a variety of different catches, most of them are two handed.

As for gameplay, Madden 2002 delivers better defensive schemes in answer to complaints that it was too hard to defend the deep pass in Madden 2001. It still won't be easy, but at least your safeties don't get burnt every play.

There atre only 3 areas where Madden 2002 didn't in my opinion. The first is the in-game commentary. If you played Madden 2001, you'll notice right away that most of the commentary is exactly the same. EA needs to focus more on this aspect of the game because it can really improve the excitement factor. The second failure of Madden 2002 is that there is no online play. I realize that the technology maybe expensive currently, but EA and especially a game series like Madden needs to smash the competition by being the only PS2 game to include online play. The last part Madden 2002 that dissapointed me was the Challenge feature. Earning tokens to buy random cards was okay the first time they tried it, but it is old now and frustrating when you are trying to get specific cards.

THE BAD:
Difficult to defend against pass and hard to run in game. Rosters need updating.

SUMMARY:
Overall a good game to play against friends but be careful not to become to addicted.