Madden 09 All Play Review

It’s been awhile since there has been a WiiBlog review. I’ve put enough time into Madden 09 All Play to provide an informative and unbiased opinion (atleast I think so). So let’s get to it.

Pros - Same fun and addictive gameplay as Madden 07. Glitches and bugs from Madden 08 have been fixed. Solid multiplayer experience. Very intuitive and responsive motion controls. More fluid animations. 5-on-5 can be a fun multiplayer distraction. Call Your Shot is a great addition.

Cons - Still not pushing the Wii from a technical standpoint. Forced integration of mii referees, and celebrations. Very odd in-game presentation choices. Trying to appeal to hardcore and casual Madden players at the same time leaves some holes for both. No improvement on older modes.

For Madden’s 20th year anniversary, the team at Tiburon/EA has put forth one of the most valiant efforts yet. It’s still not a perfect experience by any means, but one I could easily recommend to a good number of people. When Madden 07 was released on the Wii, many were anticipating how the game would play with the Wii Remote and nunchuck. The product turned out to be very fun, and this continues with Madden 09 (let’s just put Madden 08 in the back of our minds **shudders**)

When you first turn on Madden 09 All Play you’ll first notice that not a whole lot has been changed in the menu presentation. The most noticeable feature or lack there of is you can’t use ‘point-and-click’ for menu navigation. It’s a small gripe, but it’s so much easier and faster to point to your selection instead of scrolling through it. To clarify point-and-click controls are still used for calling plays in-game, which is so much better than scrolling through with an analog or d-pad. The menu looks no different than the Wii Maddens of the past, which is definitely something they should look to improve. It needs a little flare.

I know that menu presentation is a minimal part of the game so let’s move onto some of the bigger portions of the game. Most of the modes you’ve seen on Madden are present: Play Now, Franchise Mode, Party Mode, Play Online, Superstar Mode…etc. One of the new additions that you’ll first notice when scrolling around is 5-on-5.

5-on-5 isn’t a mode that you’re going to play for hours on end, but it’s still pretty fun. It reminds me of the backyard football series that give kids a more simple way to throw around the virtual pigskin. This isn’t a mode that you’ll want to play by yourself either, as it’s pretty boring using the CPU for competition. If you have a friend with you, and you don’t want to play a full game and want a light distraction, then 5-on-5 serves its purpose.

5-on-5 Is A Solid Mode For What It Does

Ok, now that we’ve talked about the menus, and the new 5-on-5 mode let’s get to the ‘meat’ portion of the game. If you’ve played Madden 07 then you’ll be right at home with the controls and gameplay of Madden 09. Besides taking out the double juke (I’ll never let it go), all of the controls have been refined and seem more responsive than the previous installments. The largest gameplay addition in Madden 09 All Play is of the same name ‘All Play’. When you first start up a game, the controls will actually default to the All Play controls (minor annoyance to me). This basically is a more simple version of Madden, where the nunchuck isn’t used and all you have to worry about is the motion control parts of the game. For those who are just starting out with Madden, or are looking to move up a difficulty level will find All Play useful.

Once you’ve gotten into an actual game, this is probably where you’ll see more of the changes for Madden 09 taking place. The first obvious presentation change is the integrations of Mii’s as referees. It’s kind of fun for your ‘Mom’ mii to call holding on you but it really doesn’t give a true football experience; although only the most pure Madden enthusiasts will find fault. I just happen to be one. Call Your Shot is probably the best new addition to Madden. Everytime you call a play and get to the line you get the opportunity to have receivers run custom routes. Imagine having the field as a telestrator, only you get to tell the receiver to run any kind of route you want to. If you know how to read defenses it’s a highly powerful weapon; one could say over-powered.

The next in-game presentation gripe I have is how they’ve decided to change the lettering up for down/yard updates. Tiburon thought it would be a good idea to use a huge yellow font that looks like something from a Madden back in the 90’s. I guess they’re making sure grandpa or grandma can know what down it is. Again, it’s not a major complaint, but it keeps it from being a more polished presentation. The final and my guilty pleasure from the game is the celebration mechanic. There’s nothing greater than sacking your friend and then drumming your Wii Remote and nunchuck in his face in celebration. Not only is it fun in real life, you’ll get a ratings boost for the player celebrating. While the addition can be fun, just like the mii referees it takes away from being a valid virtual football experience; it should have just been made an optional choice.

Forced Celebration Animations And Big Yellow Fonts Team Up
(Screenshot Credit: Gamespot)

Once you’ve played some games, you’re more than likely going to try and find different modes to diversify your playing experience. For most Madden vets, you’ll more than likely be shifting towards Superstar or Franchise mode. Both of the modes are pretty ‘meh’, meaning they haven’t been butchered, but at the same time haven’t been improved either. They’re actually close to carbon copies of previous Franchise and Superstar modes, only with new player pictures and a couple of different gameplay options. Next year, Tiburon should look to bring some more additions to these modes or it will go from being ‘meh’ to being “bring me something fresh or I’ll stop buying these games new”. Once you decide to take your skills online against others you’ll find that Tiburon/EA have brought a stable online experience. A word for the wise, buy a LAN adapter for your Wii if you’re having connection problems. I know it’s more money to spend, but if you’re having connection problems it’s likely due to this and not the game.

I tend to save the technical aspects of a game for last. In Madden 09 All Play’s case this is a good thing as it’s not impressive by any means from a graphical standpoint. Playing this game in 16:9 widescreen format on a big screen television is not recommended. I don’t know how Tiburon pulled this off, and I know some won’t believe me but the game looked better on my 20″ SD television than my HDTV. This is unacceptable as there are plenty of other marquee Wii games out there that look just fine on my HDTV. Although the game might not look pretty, it runs smoothly when in motion. Tiburon might not have put time into improving the textures a whole lot, but they’ve added some great animations. All of which give a better football simulation; better gang tackles, tackle breaks, catches etc…

There are some odd graphical glitches to point out as well. Like when when you are switching sides (offense to defense, and vice versa), the players don’t leave the field, they just automatically change. This is a small presentation choice Tiburon might want to look into. And why did they make Jordy Nelson of the Green Bay Packers a darker hue than his real life counter part? Come on guys/gals, pay more attention to the greatest football dynasty ever than that (Finally got in my shameful Packers plug for the review).

The sounds of Madden are no better than the graphic criticisms I’ve mentioned. Whoever added the sound effects for this years Madden needs to get back to the basics. There are too many times, especially during gang tackles that the sound effects just seem off. I believe I referred to a gun being fired in my first impression of the game. One audio cue that I do like was some of the player chatter that’s been added. Specifically the fact that these new audio cues are streamed through the Wii Remote. Like when a lineman gets into the backfield, you’ll have teammates sending you an audio warning through your remote. It’s a pretty cool feature, and has come in handy for a couple of situations.

Madden and Al Michaels are back, so take that for what you will. I should note that I use the ‘On Field’ setting for audio so I don’t even listen to the commentary. In the spirit of good journalism I did play a couple of games with commentary, so Madden’s famous quips are back with only a few new additions that I noticed.

In summary I can highly recommend Madden 09 All Play to just about anyone. It was pretty ambitious of Tiburon/EA to try and bring Madden 09 All Play to a larger more diverse audience. For the most part it’s a solid first effort. They have left some gaps that should be addressed though. First, make all of the crazy new presentation additions optional. Next, they should add more deep modes for the casual fans. I’m sure that people who aren’t hardcore Madden players want more out of their $50 than continually doing ‘Play Now’ or 5-on-5. How about an All Play online mode, or a stripped down All Play Franchise Mode?

If Madden 09 All Play improved more on their older modes I’d probably be giving the game a higher score. With an unchanged Franchise, Superstar, and Online mode it’s hard to say that Madden 09 All Play is a whole lot different than Madden 07. If you think a somewhat more refined control scheme is reason enough, or the addition of Call Your Shot sounds cool then Madden 09 All Play is worth a buy. Or if you have an insatiable need to play online (pretty sure it’s hard to find an online game of Madden 07). If you’re new to Madden then the game has a good offering albeit one where you’ll want to tackle the more complex modes after awhile. So anyway, for those who have to have a numbered rating for a review, here you are…