OVERALL RATING		4.0
Presentation		4.0
Control		4.0
Gameplay		4.5
Fun factor		4.5
User Rating		4.0

Madden NFL 09 picks up where the 08 version left off in terms of continuing to improve the football experience on mobile.  You’d expect that from such an important franchise but what EA has done here is go well beyond a light mobile version of the game and introduced a new control scheme that makes it quite in-depth.

Now, before I get started on this, I should inform you the norm of the game having real teams, real players and real plays.  Management capabilities are still in place with the Front Office feature, like being able to substitute and trade players, as well as checking out your team roster including individual player strengths.  (Sorry, there’s no videotaping of opposing teams for those who truly wanted an authentic feel.)

Last year’s main mechanic implementation was in the Passing portion of the game where EA introduced Field Vision Passing.  This is still included and continues to work like a charm.  Essentially, after choosing a passing play and starting the action, hitting the OK button slows time down slightly and highlights all receivers on the field with an arrow.  To select a specific receiver to pass to, all you need to do is choose the direction of the arrow that is positioned above the desired receiver.  This was quite effective in allowing an efficient passing game and now, something similar has been injected into the running and defensive parts of the game.

Labeled as Instant Impact Plays, during Runs as the ball carrier fights to gain yards on the ground, players can now call up a menu that gives them access to several action choices.  When the ball is in the runner’s hand, whether it was a running play or after the pass has been caught, pressing the OK button pauses the game and allows the player to cycle through actions such as Spin, Hurdle, Speed Burst and even Showboat, to name a few.  Choosing any of these executes that move.

When playing Defense, the player has access to three players that can be commanded to perform certain actions like Bull Rush, Pass Deflecting, or Interception, again, just to name a few.  What commands are available depends on what is currently going on in the play.

What these new Instant Impact Plays do is add an even greater command of the action on the field but it does take a little bit of getting used to.  I don’t like how the action fully pauses while you’re making the selection but I’ll take it any day because of the greater controls it provides.

Madden NFL 09 still includes Quick Game, Exhibition, and Season modes as well as the ability to skin the theme of the game to your favorite team’s colors.  Al Michaels and John Madden also make the play calling.  Normally I’d say that if you had last year’s version you’d be OK skipping this new one, but that’s not the case this time around.  If you really want to experience mobile football at it’s highest level, this is the game you want to have.