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The Madden series continues its 16th straight year with Electronic Arts new Madden NFL '06. Every year, EA Sports upgrades the versions so that there's something new worth the $50-60 purchase price. Sadly, the 2006 version is lacking in these improvements. Though still a great football game, and by far better than other football games on the market, the small number of new modes and additions do not differentiate this game from last year's version.

Features

All of the features from Madden 2005 are back in the 2006 version. The create-a-team, create-a-player and franchise modes are back as well as the Online Play, which is hassle-free as ever. The plus is that everything you enjoyed from last year is back, but the negative is that it's not any different. All the same mini-games, features and even glitches are present which is disappointing considering that the Madden fans in all probability already own the 2005 version.

Superstar Mode

The only new feature in Madden 06 is the Superstar Mode. Although the description tells of you getting to manage and live the life of an NFL superstar by starring in movies, giving interviews and choosing an agent, it is all conveyed through the use of text messages and your characters play is not affected within the game itself. This becomes repetitive all too quickly and after trying it once you will never opt for it again.

Gameplay

All of the basic functions and handling are as solid as ever and deliver the experiences you expect from the Madden line. This year, however, the offensive garnered the same attention as the defense did in 2005. The most noticeable addition is the Quarterback Vision passing cone. When activated, a cone of light will shine on the field indicating where your quarterback is looking and what they can see. You can control all of this with the right analog stick. By passing inside this cone crisp, accurate passes will result while passing outside of the cone causes ugly passes with a high interception rate. The difficulty lies in attempting to control this cone while avoiding any blitz that may come your way. On any difficulty setting besides the easiest one, you have no time to find a receiver and complete a pass before being sacked. Also included is precision passing. By moving the left analog stick you can control whether you throw ahead, behind, above or below your target. This lets you get around coverage by forcing your receivers to accelerate to catch longer passes or fake out the corners by making the receiver slow down to come back for the ball. All in all, the gameplay in Madden 06 is as good as ever. The QB vision cones aren't the best or most efficient idea ever, but you can turn them off if you want. Everything else is really solid and a lot of fun.

Music

Perhaps the best part of Madden 2006 is the music. Though the soundtrack is filled with EA Trax similar to previous years, if not identical, there are other songs taken from NFL films that will be familiar to you if you've ever watched the season highlights or any other video from NFL films. Also, you can now use your own songs and mix custom soundtracks in with the EA Trax songs.

Though owners of Madden 2005 would have a difficult time justifying their decision to purchase the 2006 version, new gamers have as good a place to start as any. Madden 06 plays just as good if not better than previous games and is a solid football game all around. Renting this game may be a better option for hardcore fans before deciding to either buy or wait until 2007 comes out, but updated rosters will likely be good enough for most people this year.

Sources - www.about.com, Electronics Gaming Monthly, EA Sports

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