Aww, the Madden series, known as the best football game series there is. Starting back in '92, EA Sports made the first installment in this terrific football game series, Madden NFL '92. Starting way back then on the Sega Genesis, the series spanned many consoles during its time. The Genesis and the Super Nintendo had the series up until Madden '98. The Sega Game Gear got Madden '95. And the Game Boy Color, Madden '95 through '02. The Playstation had got installments '97 through '02, with Madden 2002 being the last Madden game to be made on the system. Last year, Madden 2001 was made for the Playstation 2, and got much acclaim, critics were calling it the best football game ever, and it was indeed. But alas, there were some problems with the game, like players' faces looking like zombies. Everyone thought that and only few other problems would be fixed in the next installment of the game, boy were we wrong...

Madden fanatics should be happy to know that '02 still has the same good ol' control scheme since '92! So there's nothing really to explain about it except to state that A) Madden veterans can pick up the controller and start playing right away and B) newcomers to the series will pick it up in no time at all! You can actually dodge defenders with jukes and spins, unlike in '01 where using a juke meant "ultimate death." Kicking/punting has been redone in '02 over the way too easy kicking in '01. You can still set up where you want to kick it but once the kicking meter starts you have to press X right before the bar reaches the top for power and then the bar goes back down for accuracy. It's more challenging since the bar goes really fast and it's hard to determine where the ball is going to end up due to how well you get the accuracy. Scrolling through menus can be confusing at times because there are so many and you have to load and save franchises, create-a-players, ect. at certain places in menus. Aside from that, the menus look like those in '01 still and have players from different teams running around to the side of menus.

Playing an actual game is the best part of the game (of course) with its true-to-life TV style presentation and very realistic gameplay. Although you play the game exactly the same as in other Madden titles, playbooks have, once again, been revised and the AI has been greatly enhanced. Offensive AI now mixes up its plays to confuse you instead of "bombing" the football every single down. Defensive AI is better than ever by double covering your top receivers, anticipating the run, mixing up blitzes, and even does swim moves and spins around offensive lineman to get to the QB! A nice addition to the gameplay is being able to knock the helmets off your opponents after big hits, which is just so satisfying to see. You can now challenge any play you want unlike in '01 where the computer did it for you! This is great and all, but you can only challenge the spot of the ball instead of whether or not the ball was caught or fumbled. Hopefully in '03... Madden cards have made a return to the game with even more than last season and the inclusion of cheerleader cards that enhances the spirit of your team during games! Some of the new modes in the game are Training Mode, where you pick a play and John Madden will break it down for you and then you try it out yourself. It's great for learning how formations and plays are designed to work. Another new mode is Situation Mode, which was actually a mode brought back from '00 where you try and get as many points as you can in a certain amount of time, it's great for practicing hurry-up offenses in the real game. Two of the best new modes in the game are Create-A-Team where you can choose a logo, make a name and location, customize your team's stadium, and customize your own home and away uniforms. And then there's Create-A-League where you can make your own football league of teams and play them against each other! Another fine addition to the game is the fact that you can take players from your NCAA 2002 saved game files and transfer them to the free agent list in Madden '02 and sign them to your favorite team!