Tech Olive

I’ve always liked the Madden NFL series. I first played them on the PS2 and then merged over to the PC, but now I don’t have a console and the Madden series is discontinued for the PC, so where am I left? EA Sports recently came out with Madden NFL 2010 for the iPhone and I was eager to try it out to see just how good mobile gaming was on the iPhone. It was nothing spectacular, but I must say it was better than I thought.

I have to mention this right off the bat — the graphics are nothing close to fantastic. They’re probably PS1 graphics at best. This isn’t at all a surprise due to the lack of processing power of the iPhone/iPod Touch. Overall, for being an iPhone game, the graphics are respected.

The controls are actually pretty decent. During gameplay, you have a “joystick” on the lower right-hand side of the screen and you have your “buttons” on the lower right-hand side, just like you would find on a normal gamepad. For kickoffs and field goals, you have the traditional power and accuracy meter that you just slide your finger across to produce the kick. To pass to a receiver, simply touch the receiver that you’d like to throw to.

One of the biggest features I like about this game is the slow-motion button. You can push this button at anytime to slow down the action on the field to give you ample time to think about your next move. Thing is though, in order to juke, jump or do any other special move, you have to activate slow-motion. One other feature I really like is the removal of the play clock. If you don’t know your football, the play clock is the short amount of time that you have to pick a play and hike the ball. If you fail at doing that, you receive a penalty. Without the play clock, you have all the time in the world to choose a play, no pressure whatsoever.

Overall, Madden NFL 2010 for the iPhone is quite a good game if you’re traveling and/or bored without your console. It provides tons of fun that most free games you’d find in the App Store don’t provide.

Score: 8 Olives