Starting with the graphics department in this year’s edition of John Madden football, it is safe to say that this year’s Madden is easily the best looking version so far. While Tiburon didn’t make any drastic changes to Madden’s graphics engine this year, they did touch up the models making them look far more realistic than last year. One of the most noticeable changes they made to their models was the size of their heads; last year models almost had that bobblehead doll look to them, this year the size of the helmets and heads in relation to the models’ bodies are dead on. One of the most impressive improvements in this season’s Madden football is the amount of new animations that were added. New stiff-arm animations, breaking tackles animations, catching animations, tackling animations, and of course celebration animations are just some of the few that were crammed into Madden this year. The stadiums in Madden look fantastic, and even the crowds look better than they have in other incarnations of John Madden football. This year Turbine has even nailed the general atmosphere of a football game in the NFL (No Fun League), which unfortunately isn’t quite as exciting as a game in the college ranks. They have emulated the crowd extremely well; during the franchise mode how well you do reflects how many people show up to your games, and this reflects how loud the crowd is, and how many people actually show up for your games. The overall presentation has improved, now replays will go on while you are selecting your plays; and the stadiums look like their real life counterparts. Furthermore, the announcer team of John Madden and Al Michaels are pretty good. While John Madden is still quite generic and bland, Al Michaels has a very diverse array of dialog that he can spit out during the season. Still, wait for the day that Tiburon gives Madden the prompter screen marker and let him draw his squiggly lines all over the place, while telling a story about a turkey with six legs; now that would be a realistic simulation of John Madden.

For John Madden veterans this year’s version of John Madden will feel as comfortable as an old pair of basketball shoes; this is because it plays pretty much the same as last year. For people that have never played Madden, or have not played it in some time, learning how to play John Madden football should be a snap. The very basic controls of John Madden football have not changed at all in this year’s version. Still when you hike the ball the passing icons pop up and the icons represent the buttons on your controller. These icons then float over different receivers, and all you have to do is press the button that is floating over the receiver and your QB will throw the ball to him. Also, when throwing you can add “touch” to your passes by holding down the button for a bullet and tapping the button for a lob pass. While running is done strictly with the left analog stick or the d-pad, with options to spin, juke, hurdle, and dive to help you gain yards on the ground. One new feature they did add to this season’s Madden is the playmaker control™. What the playmaker control™ allows you to do is change your play during the heat of the battle. Runningbacks can guide their blockers to important positions on the field, also on offense it allows you to call out for a receiver while scrambling for your life; and on the defensive side of the ball, the playmaker control™ gives you the freedom to cheat your defensive backs to the more dangerous receiver or cheat your defense in for a running play. However, the true changes to this year’s Madden don’t have anything to do with controls. What makes this year’s Madden so much different than last year’s Madden, gameplay wise, is the AI in Madden 2004. This year Madden 2004 is smarter than it has ever been, and isn’t quite as “cheap” as it has been in past versions. No more rolling out with your quarterback and having all of the defense’s covermen drop coverage because they think you are running, while you bomb it for a 50 yard TD. This year DB stay until you cross the line of scrimmage, linebackers stay in their zone, and for the most part defenses do what they are suppose to do instead of breaking down at the slightest sign of a quarterback scramble.

Some of the biggest differences in this season’s Madden come in its franchise mode. This time Madden not only gives you the ability to coach the team, make personnel decisions, but it gives you the option to be an NFL owner. Madden’s owner mode™ now takes you deep into the front office of a NFL team. Almost every aspect is under your control, ticket prices, the price of your stadium’s concessions, parking prices, and advertising, of course all of this is to make money on the stiff competition of the NFL. Not only will you be able to set the price of popcorn for your team’s home games, but you will also have to hire and fire real NFL head coaches and coordinators; sick of Mike Holmgren’s promises of a playoff appearance? Fire him and give someone else a chance to lead your team to glory; all of the coaches have stats for helping players develop, which can make a huge difference in what stats increase during preseason and the regular season.

However, with a very deep and robust franchise mode in this season’s Madden there is one thing that was completely inexcusable! If you are a big time football fan, like me, you were prepared to run the EA gauntlet. With NCAA 2004 and Madden 2004, you can build a college dynasty in NCAA 2004 and import your college superstars into Madden’s draft at the end of each season. However in the Xbox version, EA seriously fumbled the ball on their 2 yard line. You cannot import your players from NCAA 2004 to Madden 2004 because of a huge bug that somehow slipped through EA’s QA team. But there is still hope, if you own the Xbox version of Madden and contact your friendly EA support team via email, they will give you instructions on how to get an updated version of the game after Labor Day.

All in all it will take a miracle game to surpass Madden this year. With airtight controls, improved defensive and offensive AI, more animations, a deep and rewarding franchise that allows you to actually own a team this season, John Madden football looks to big in a great position to continue their reign as the undisputed champs of video football. A great game for beginners and veterans alike; because, the learning curve in Madden is very little, but the AI can give even the most self-proclaimed Madden superstars fits. If you like professional football, then you will like this year’s installment of John Madden football.