EA has certainly been successful in permeating the entire compliment of new and relatively new consoles with versions of its flagship football franchise. In this instance we have a port derived from the PS2 version of Madden 2002, dolled-up for Nintendo's GameCube system.
Jumping right into the gameplay aspects of the title, I found making the transition to the GC controller a bit of challenge. Here's why. Flipping plays at the play call screen, or at the line of scrimmage, requires some dexterity--as the player must make use of both the Z-trigger and R buttons to flip plays. What's worse is that this was improperly communicated in the game's manual, which has a big 'boo-boo' typo that will cause many who don't pay attention to the load screens to scream in fits of sheer anger. The load screens have the button assignments properly marked.
Getting past that faux pas, the manner in which the PS2 control scheme transferred over to the GC controller is logical, only to a point. Since the GC does not have a second pair of shoulder buttons, tasks normally assigned to those buttons have been paced on the second "C" analog stick. Regardless of the learning curve, you can do just about anything in this version as you can in the others, it just would have been nice to have two sets of those buttery GC shoulder buttons-on what is certainly a very ergonomically sound input device. This would have aided the game's transitional ease as well. Moreover, despite this one niggling complaint the game plays rather well. There are some instances; however, when the notches on the rim of the GC analog stick seem to thwart one's progress. With the stick jammed all the way in one direction, it can seem to jam (for lack of a better term) when trying to swing player around on a smooth arc away from defenders or toward potential targets. Perhaps a sound third-party device can address this. Nevertheless, other attributes of the parent title have made the jump well.
This version is also based on a momentum physics design. So don't expect to find a game that doesn't feel very much like "Madden" which can be a blessing or a curse to some. For a more in-depth explanation of how the momentum physics and other aspects of the game work, see our Madden 2002 review for the Sony PlayStation 2.
In terms of modes and features, it's all there. All the depth and splendor of EA's production values has come across to the newer platform unscathed--from the Franchise Mode to the snappy Fantasy Draft right on to those nifty Madden Cards. You can Create a Team, Create a Coach, design Custom Leagues and Uniforms. The same A.I. tweaks and roster management features are present, as well as some nice flexibility in setting and managing audibles on both defense and offense. One particularly notable feature of the GameCube version is the inclusion of support for HDTV progressive scans. Exponentially sharper resolution and full widescreen support can mean the ability to see all of your receivers while at the line of scrimmage, with a great degree of clarity. And clarity abounds in this came as well.
The graphical aspects of this game have seen some notable enhancements. Anti-aliasing is in full stride and makes the game achieve an even higher degree of visual polish. Field, jersey and other textures have all been improved. Conversely, the crowd graphics and animations are supposed to be an improvement but seem disjointed, as if they were thrown in from another game altogether. And in some ways they were. Apparently, in their attempt to capitalize on the systems graphical prowess, EA went a bit overboard in trying to add new visual treats to this release. The crowd graphics often times look like they come right out of an old sprite-based game. But if you spend your time playing the game, in lieu of looking at it, the rest is really sweet. From the misty looking vapor that emanates from the player's artificial respiratory systems to the new distance blur effects and rock solid frame-rate, Madden 2002 on GameCube is a nice glimpse at what the future holds for the franchise in its next iteration on all consoles.
The GameCube player models are substantially the same. So if you are looking for smaller heads, bigger bodies and new animations, you will be looking hard and long. Other than some newly implemented helmet scarring and a much crisper-looking overall appearance, that represents the bulk of what's been done with the visuals of the game during the porting process. Though I will add that there is something about the overall execution of the game, in terms of the gameplay and graphics engine, that seems a bit slower than the PS2 version. Smooth, solid, playable are all words that describe this GameCube version of Madden. But I would have to add 'slow' to that as well. And with so many football pundits already feeling that Madden's pacing is a bit truncated, this could really be a turn off for Nintendo football fans.
I still have the same gripe with the commentary in this game. We need new lines, new emotion and new life in the game calling by Madden and Sumerall. In fact, just for good measure we could use a whole new set of samples and sound bites just to give the guys in the audio division some job security! Also, EA should be flogged for having the game suck up all 59 blocks of the Nintendo memory card to save a Franchise. But hey, what are you gonna do?
All right. Now that I have given you the gist of what gives with this version, understand that your need for more detail in this review can been quickly satiated by jumping over to our recently posted PS2 review of the same title. That said, GameCube has successfully come out of the gate in full sprint in the football department. All consoles in America require a strong football title at launch. Madden was an easy decision and in short order EA was able to craft something for the GameCube that has a few of its own subtle nuances without alienating the PS2 crowd in the process. This simply means that if you have the PS2 version of the game, it may not be money well spent trying to gain some visual improvements at the cost of some game speed and a more convoluted control scheme. However, if you are just making your jump to a true Next-Gen system and the Nintendo's system is your flava, Madden 2002 will certainly make a fine addition to your GameCube library.
