Don't know. I have had a couple of NBA 2K's on PS2. None on this gen. I have owned NFL 2K5 and have played the original NFL 2K at a friends house and those are night and day. 2K5 and 2K8, which I also own, are very similar though.
I have owned Madden since 92 so I have a much bigger frame of reference from which to speak, but that isn't even my point. Aside from the graphics and some new wrinkles God of War III plays very much like the first two yet I still liked it. Many sequels are extremely similar to their precedents.
I'm not saying that Madden is alone in this, or even that it isn't understandable. What I am saying is:
1- I've been playing Madden for longer than I have been playing any other game so the fact that it is BASICALLY the same, is more painfully obvious and
2- People have argued with me many times that they are not the same, when it should be obvious that they are.
People have no problem saying that Tekken 5 and Tekken 6 are extremely similar, but those same people get up in arms when I say that Madden has not changed a whole hell of a lot over the years. All I was doing is calling a spade a spade