Best football game of this generation?

[seanmac]

Quote: Originally Posted by rudyjuly2

I agree with a lot of what you said. I think 2K4 was the best (at the time) and I played the heck out of it. 2K5 had way too many bugs/problems for me. I also am loving NCAA 2006 and am torn as to which of those two I would rank higher. Because I'm playing NCAA 2006 right now I am tempted to swap those two. As for Madden 2005 in third place, I don't have Madden 2006 to compare it to but it doesn't hold up for me. The presentation was so bad and the def/off line interaction still bothered me and kept me from enjoying it that much. Both 2005 titles fell short of my expectations (2K and Madden). Maybe the 2K series hurt my expectations but I got the most time out of Madden 2003 which I thought was the best of the Madden series on the PS2 (at the time). 2003 was a very balanced (2002 run game skewed heavily to the outside runs) and fun game for me which is why I would give Madden 2003 third place here. 1. NCAA 2006 2. NFL 2K4 3. Madden 2003 (Just reposted since it got deleted elsewhere. Never played NCAA 2004 so can't compare).

Madden 2003 was a very fun, very fluid game, and certainly worthy of mention. As I recall it was also the first EA attempt to provide customized defensive playbooks, so it gets points for that as well. But I think that '05 did a much better job with its defensive AI, and I've never been bothered by the sparse presentation (if anything, I prefer games with minimal presentation that allow me to focus on the game itself).

[Rocky]

I'm one of the few that think 2K5 is so much better than NFL2K4 in every phase of the game it's not even funny.

Many of 2K5's problems were in 2K4 but they were just covered up by big flaws that 2K4 had. For instance, the CPU AI was just as bad in 2K4. But, the CPU never passed enough no matter what playbook edit or slider change you made(a problem within the game itself) because the running game was so overpowerful(another problem with 2K4).

There were no transition animations in 2K4 which made things easier but alot crappier looking and unrealistic.

etc., etc....

[rudyjuly2]

Quote: Originally Posted by Rocky

I'm one of the few that think 2K5 is so much better than NFL2K4 in every phase of the game it's not even funny. Many of 2K5's problems were in 2K4 but they were just covered up by big flaws that 2K4 had. For instance, the CPU AI was just as bad in 2K4. But, the CPU never passed enough no matter what playbook edit or slider change you made(a problem within the game itself) because the running game was so overpowerful(another problem with 2K4). There were no transition animations in 2K4 which made things easier but alot crappier looking and unrealistic. etc., etc....

I know you feel that way. We have disagreed on this before. I didn't have a problem with stopping the CPU rush attack in 2K4 which was much better than 2K5's. I don't feel the passing game was masked either because I could force the CPU to pass and the problem with 2K4 was they only passed short but they could be effective. I didn't see 5 or 6 INTs thrown consistently.

Many people like myself have maximized the CPU offense in 2K5 and minimized defense and still can't get the CPU QB to play better than A.J. Feeley. The run game for the CPU isn't powerful enough. I don't believe the problems were masked in 2K4 and I do believe a lot of AI was rewritten. You said 2K5 was better in every way: what about stamina being great in 2K4 and terrible in 2K5? WRs used to drag feet to stay in bounds and that was poorly done in 2K5. DB play was far worse. The counters and screens are poorly done (I know you feel screens were too easy in 2K4). I don't remember OL catching DBs on INT returns in 2K4 but a speed cheat happens in 2K5. The biggest killer is how bad the CPU QBs were in 2K5 which became a gamekiller for me and no roster edits or sliders could fix that for me and I tried a ton of stuff. I spent countless hours updating the draft rosters only to find I didn't enjoy playing it anymore.

[DW Rutledge]

i really enjoyed madden 2002.

the ability to add an expansion team made it a lot of fun. my old roomate and i played like 10 seasons of our expansion team.

[videobastard]

NFL 2k4

[jmood88]

NFL 2k5

[bassiladelph]

Quote: Originally Posted by DW Rutledge

i really enjoyed madden 2002. the ability to add an expansion team made it a lot of fun. my old roomate and i played like 10 seasons of our expansion team.

I agree. TO me, that was the best Madden - if it had the Play Editor, it would've been my pick for best football game of me. But my list is

1) NFL 2K5 - Even with its problems, what it did right (especially on Xbox) should be the standard by which all video football games should be measured.

2) NCAA 2004 - A blast to play, for me anyway. Sometimes adding new features can take away from the fun factor, and while they fixed the HFA, I liked the simpler way of playing NCAA 2004. And besides, I've always had a soft spot in my heart for the three man group, before it started getting boring.

3) Madden 2002. Already mentioned, but I think that was the best Madden ever for this generation. For me, 2003, while better in a lot of people's hearts, didn't hit me with the excitement and pure fun that 2002 did.

Honorable mention - Mutant League Football. If Madden had that as a hidden game, I'd pick up Madden for $60-$70 easily and not complain. For those who don't know, Mutant League Football was basically Madden 93 (The best Madden game ever, regardless of generation), but replaced with monsters instead of people, and had hazards on the field (like mines, voids into space, pits, and the like), and it had plays like Bribe the Ref and one that put metal shields over your pass screens, rendering you blind for a minute. Absolutely dug that game like no other. now I just need to find it...

[ADW]

I know the thread is concerning current generation consoles, but I wanted to chime in with favorites regardless of the console generation. My top video football games.

1. Tecmo Bowl the original-Need I say more?

2. NFL Gameday (The Original)-This is the game that caused me to go out and plunk down my hard earned money for a new PS1. The first time I saw this game my jaw dropped. The look and feel along with the great gameplay made this game a must have. My buddies and I used to play this game every chance we got.

3. John Madden Football (Sega Genesis)-This was the game to have back in 1991. This game is really what peaked my interest in learning about the nuances of the x's and o's. I was a freshman at San Diego State and instead of taking notes in class, I was drawing out pass plays from Madden that I was going to use later in the day, lol. I literally played this game non-stop the first day I bought it.

4. NFL 94 Starring Joe Montana-First game to introduce real authentic NFL playbooks and terminology. The run & shoot play 81X Choice is an all time favorite of mine. That game was truly advanced from an x's and o's standpoint. Along with having real playbooks and terminology it had formation shifting (which I think is a better system than what Madden uses), and the ability to put the quarterback in the shotgun in every formation except for the I formation sets.


Others I enjoyed included College Football's National Championship I and II. Basically the same game engine as the NFL 94 Starring Joe Montana.

ESPN 2K5-The presentation along with the other bells and whistles of that game set the bar extremely high in this regard.