Best PS2 era Madden?

[hyacinth1]

Quote: Originally Posted by PGaither84

This post is probably just for me to get my thoughts off my chest, but if you read and enjoyed it, please let me know. I bought a refurbished and sofmodded classic Xbox back in August 2021 along with an HDMI adapter. I have a lot of games installed, but first and foremost, it is my "SportsBox". Madden 02-09, NCAA 04-08, NFL 2k2-2k5, NBA & NCAA Basketball games, NASCAR, and so forth. I high recommend this to anyone looking to play generation 6 sports games, rather than simply asking which Madden was the best - you can play them all. I would like to split this reply into two points of view: 1. What my experience was like at the time. 2. My reflections and suggestions from a more modern point of view as 2022 comes to a close (29 December 2022). Madden 02 1. Even at the time, this was not the best football game you could be playing. I was 17 at the time, and while this was a huge upgrade from playing Madden 2000 on my Nintendo 64, it was overshadowed by the far superior NFL 2k2 my neighbor across the street and good friend had for his Dreamcast. I got Madden 02 for the GameCube as a refurbished bargain bin used rental copy with the disc resurfaced and played many hours on it. the nostalgia is strong, but even then it had a multitude of issues which cannot even be ignored with rose colored glasses. 2. There is no saving grace outside of nostalgia for this game. looking at the rosters and player ratings is the only fun thing to do with madden 02 in the modern day. That, and i guess simply playing it to make comparisons to how far the game has improved. Positive note: At least we can hear the voice of the late great Pat Summerall for the last time before being replaced by Al Michaels. Don't play this game. Madden '03 1. Was this worth full price to upgrade from madden 02? Yes. It addressed a lot of valid criticisms of 02 and was more than just a roster update. In 02, the game would just show you all of the details of the rookie draft class, shown here: '03 finally hid this information behind combine numbers for 40 times, cone drills, shuttle drills, bench press reps and so forth. You could not see the OVR rating and so forth. The draft in '03 became what we know from the remainder of the 6th generation games. Furthermore, the AI and game play significantly improved.I cannot over stress ow something as "small" as the inclusion of gang tackling animations improved the experience over Madden 02. In 02, many situations would arise when 2+ defenders converge on a ball carrier and only one could initiate a tackle animation while the other(s) would initiate a useless diving shoulder roll animation which had zero impact on the result of the tackle. this could and would often result in broken tackle and ball carrier running away fro ma pile of bodies on the ground. in Madden 03, you would instead see a double team gang tackle that drove ball carriers backwards, and broken tackles against a gang tackle felt epic and deserved. Even against a pack of defenders and a broken tackle, you could then transition into a gang tackle. People forget that 03 was the version of Madden which introduced our favorite mini camp training features because it was 04 which brought this into franchise mode as a way to improve your players before the preseason. 2. While 03 is archaic compared to the innovations of 04-08, it feels like the first playable 6th generation Madden title and the first to challenge NFL 2k3. I will always be a fan of Madden's off-the-field advantage: playbooks and customization of players, roster, depth chart, etc. The game play of 03 has the hint of flavor of the Madden games we look back on. I still cannot recommend it today for you to start up a franchise, but you will at least enjoy getting some games in if you have a copy. While you are able to import roster files from NCAA 03 into Madden 03, I cannot find an active roster file for NCAA 03 in 2021 or 2022. It appear to be lost to time. Madden 04 1. This was it. You just knew, even at the midnight release, that you were going to get something special with Madden 04. You just knew that you were going to unwrap and play a game people would talk about for decades and it remains true. Like 10 yard fight, Tecmo Bowl, and Madden 96, Madden 04 deserves induction into the sports game hall of fame. Not for being better than 05-08 (It isn't), but for everything it was more than what it isn't. Yes, we can talk about Michael Vick in this game, but more than that, we saw play-maker controls to flip runs at the LoS and to hot route your primary WR at the LoS with a flick of the right thumb stick. This game further tuned and improved game play from 03, added core features to the game on offense, was tight and fast and fun to play. The only glaring weakness at the time was how badly the game needed the same love and attention on the defensive side of the ball. Many people will tell you, and rightfully so, that NFL 2k4 and 2k5 are not significantly different from one another, but it was the price tag, presentation, sharpening of game play, and ultimately the NFL exclusive license which gave 2k5 its legendary status. Why do I mention that here? Because 2k4 was a monster of a game that was overshadowed by the greatness of Madden 04. While NFL 2k4 had slight improvements over 2k3, madden 04 was leaps and bounds better for the second year in a row. I think Madden 04 forced 2k to respond with the effort they put into 2k5. 2. Where Madden 03 was the first enjoyable/playable 6th generation Madden title, and 08 is seen as the "last great Madden" (according to SoftDrinkTV), 04 is the "first great Madden". You cannot go wrong by playing 04, but it also isn't the best Madden. Unfortunately, for some reason, the Xbox has always had a unique problem - that was never fixed to my knowledge - where imported roster files were unreadable. It works on the PS2 and Game Cube, but not the Xbox. This problem is fixed for NCAA 05-08. In the end, you are not missing much. NCAA 04 plays a lot like Madden 03 and is the inferior game. Madden 05 1. EA outdid themselves again with another masterful title. Unfortunately this game also lives under the specter of ESPN NFL 2k5 and the exclusive licensing agreement. You cannot talk about one game without talking about the other. I played this game, but I would be lying if I said I didn't spend far more time playing the competition. I have nothing bad to say about this title. Simply that both had their strengths and weaknesses. Madden's strength has been off-the-field features. 2k5's strength is presentation and game play on the field. If I want to build a team over multiple seasons, give me Madden. If I want to play football, give me 2k5. 2. Madden 05 is rightfully sen as the best by some members of the community. While I prefer 07 and 08, I respect those who prefer 05. I find myself playing all of them anyway. You can't go wrong here. Furthermore, if you are on Xbox, you can finally import NCAA 05 draft classes to have the complete experience. Madden 06 1. This title left a sour taste in the mouth of many players, especially with the Xbox 360 Sizzle trailer later in the year. Some people love and some people hate the vision cone. We also did not see the same degree of effort in making 06 as we saw with leaps from 02 into 03, 03 into 04, and from 04 into 05. We all know why, and no, it wasn't just the exclusive deal, but also because EA was investing fully into the 7th console generation. 2. This is another great title you will enjoy. Some people think NCAA 06 is the best NCAA title. I disagree, as I feel it has some HORRIBLE problems on defense with concrete shoes by linebackers and safeties that we last saw in Madden 02. Regardless of how you feel, you cannot go wrong with the experience of NCAA 06 and then importing draft classes into Madden 06. Madden 07 1. I still had yet to buy an Xbox 360 or PS3, and would not until April 2008. Madden 07 may or may not be the best madden for the 6th generation of consoles, but is my personal favorite with 08 as a close second place. The improvements to franchise mode that Josh Looman was making in Madden 04-06 and his experience with making NFL Head Coach and a green light from producer Phil Frazer allowed 07 to be the most complete franchise mode of the generation. 08 actually took steps back as EA no longer had the license to use the various newspapers they had in 07 and the Tony Bruno Show was its best performance yet. 2. 07 was great then. It is great now. Play it. Love it. Madden 08 The last PC version of the generation that continues to see support from the community to this day. that being said, I enjoy the console experience more with an Xbox controller. Too bad we cannot import mods to the Xbox version. I really enjoy NCAA 07 and 08. So long as you never use the sprint button in NCAA 07 and 08, you can get a fantastic game play experience. With the sprint button, the pursuit angles on defense are exposed to be problematic. As a 49ers fan, something I love about the Madden 08 roster is having rookies Patrick Willis & Joe Staley + Larry Allen in his final season, a young Frank Gore, and DT/DE Bryant Young. Joe Staley was a TE in college and is the fastest offensive lineman in the game. Put him at RG instead of LT and call plays with a pulling guard, such as counter trap plays and watch him FLY down the field to lead lock for you. You could also ask him to play second or third string TE while Jonas Jennings remains your starting LT. While not a fast TE, Joe is a fantastic weak side blocker for you in ACE formations, can still catch short passes like those to the flats and check down curls. meanwhile, take future all-pro Delanie Walker at start him at FB, or even better at second WR. His 85 or 86 speed or whatever it was isn't super special at WR, but he pancakes defensive backs in the run game and breaks tackles when you toss him a hook, or quick out vs soft coverage. At FB, he is a beast as well, as no linebacker is going to cover him on a Texas angle route or to the flats. This is also the game of the 2007 Patriots. That means Brady + Randy Moss + Dante Stallworth + Wes Welker. FINAL NOTE: I always suggest custom sliders when playing any Madden game, including the 6th console generation games. I strongly suggest playing on All-Pro but increasing the CPU AI defense to 100% awareness and interceptions and knockdowns. User and CPU pass blocking should be dropped to about 20-30%, but run blocking increased to 75%-100%. One thing that is frustrating from Madden 02-08 and the NCAA games is watching your 95+ strength offensive linemen getting pushed backwards by 74 strength defensive ends and linebackers. I always play with a high run blocking slider, but high block shedding and awareness by the AI as well. Let them sniff out the run and shed my blocks, but don't shove 99 Strength Larry Allen backwards into the lap of my HB with your 82 strength DT. I also like ot increase the catching slider as well, but decrease the accuracy slider. I see far too many drops above the NFL average on the default setting. Incomplete passes in the NFL come from off target throws and knockdowns far more than drops.

This was a great write up.

I'm doing some retro gaming and just got Madden 2004. It is freaking amazing.

I am also going to get Madden 2005 and i remember back in the day I liked it, but I was playing NFL 2K5 like 99 percent of the time so M05 was a bit neglected. I remember the gameplay was excellent but it had super linebackers.

I don't think I ever played 06 on ps2 but on xbox 360. The rest of the maddens I had were all on the 360 gen.

---

the only thing that kills me for Madden 04 and will probably for madden 05 is the defensive buttons. Both games on offense used X for sprint, but on defense it was O for sprint.

I am so not use to that defensive button scheme because since Madden 06 on PS2, on defense they changed it up where X is the sprint button. Is there any way to change the button scheme in 04 and 05 where I can make it where X is sprint and changing the defender is O?

[PGaither84]

Quote: Originally Posted by hyacinth1

This was a great write up. I'm doing some retro gaming and just got Madden 2004. It is freaking amazing. I am also going to get Madden 2005 and i remember back in the day I liked it, but I was playing NFL 2K5 like 99 percent of the time so M05 was a bit neglected. I remember the gameplay was excellent but it had super linebackers. I don't think I ever played 06 on ps2 but on xbox 360. The rest of the maddens I had were all on the 360 gen. --- the only thing that kills me for Madden 04 and will probably for madden 05 is the defensive buttons. Both games on offense used X for sprint, but on defense it was O for sprint. I am so not use to that defensive button scheme because since Madden 06 on PS2, on defense they changed it up where X is the sprint button. Is there any way to change the button scheme in 04 and 05 where I can make it where X is sprint and changing the defender is O?

I went back and updated my post. Especially Madden 02-06 with a link to an article for 06. I updated some typos and spelling and ordered my ideas better.


Regarding your question:
In 02-04, you can change the controller configuration. In 02 and 03, you want configuration 2. In 04, you want configuration 3. you have to save your profile after making the change and I think you have to make the change every time you turn on 02.



I think in 05 EA locked out controller configurations and we are just stuck with that problem you mentioned. In 06-08, it isn't a problem obviously.


=======================================


Some things I didn't address in my previous post that I don't think fit a review: Sliders and customizing the user experience. I have attached the madden manifesto that might have otherwise vanished from the internet. The old OS links don't work, madden mania doesn't exist anymore, and the Wayback Machine didn't capture the manifesto.


In terms of sliders, it is easy to suffer from what has lovingly been called "slider-itis". this is where you constantly fight and tune sliders and never find a setting that makes you happy. Everyone has their own preferences, but here are mine:


The running game is important to me. The game was tuned to be played on All-Pro vs the computer and All-Madden vs your friends on the couch. That being said, there is still a need to adjust sliders for your own experience. While some people suggest dropping human run blocking to 0/20, I find myself using 15/20 and sometimes higher. However, i also use 20/20 block shedding on defense. Something that infuriates me to no end is having an offensive lineman with 94+ strength and 90+ run blocking facing off against a defensive end with 74 strength and getting shoved backwards into the lap of my running back. 0/20 run blocking will certainly make you work your tail off to get yards and is challenging, but it is disgusting to watch the horrible blocking and makes the ratings of your linemen worthless.


That's why I use no less than 15/20 run blocking for the human and the CPU. At that rating, even WRs who have decent run blocking ratings will actually get involved in the run game. This is balanced out by the 18/20 to 20/20 block shedding slider on defense. you will get your blocks, and you will get pancakes and good animations, but the Ai will also shed blocks and pursue you. if you are a patient runner, lay off the sprint button so that you can use your full agility for change of direction, and read your blocks, you can get some really satisfying runs.


I also set tackling to 15/20 and HB Ability to 15/20. I do this for Human and CPU settings equally and adjust depending on the version of madden i am playing and if I am getting consistently absurd results in one direction or the other.


Obviously tune to your tastes, but I prefer to have my players ratings matter. Watching my linemen get shoved backwards despite having 20+ strength advantage is not fun. Similarly, WRs need to be able to block. In Madden 04, the Steelers and then the Broncos have the best block WR duo in the NFL. Hines Ward rightfully has 58RBK, the highest in the game and Plaxico Burress with 46RBk, the third highest with Keyshawn Johnson between them at 49RBK. the Broncos have the 4th best with Ed McCaffery (CMC's dad) with 45RBK and the 6th best in Rod Smith with 43 RBK. With the default settings, the best thing to do is to go twins to one side and run away from your WRs. With my settings, you can trust Hines Ward and others to actually run block for you. That matters to me. I would rather tune other areas to help the CPU play run defense (block shedding, awareness, tackle) before lowering the run blocking slider.

[thinwhiteduke]

I disagree with what someone said above about 2002 Madden.

Yes,it's not great and it's limited.

Still more fun than th last few years.

[PGaither84]

This guy knew what he was doing when taking this picture. When you see it, you lose. Madden NFL 2002.

[thinwhiteduke]

Quote: Originally Posted by PGaither84

This guy knew what he was doing when taking this picture. When you see it, you lose. Madden NFL 2002.

Ok, I'm dumb.
What is it?