[clarkerots]

Quote: Originally Posted by SonicZulu25

This is an excellent thread and makes me want to add my 2 cents. I will spare all of the nostalgia of the titles before 2005, simply because that was in my mind the greatest year for football titles....Madden 05 and ESPN 2K5. I think it is unfortunate that we have such a sour taste in our mouths about madden now that we always go back to 2K5. I agree it was a great game and arguably still is. However, I always felt that Madden 05 was the better title because it simulated the gameplay quite a bit better than 2K5. I remember reading all of the reviews that stressed the presentation of 2K5 and the polished gameplay of Madden 05. The critics all loved 2k5 because they didn't understand the longevity aspect of the game the the madden fans demanded. But this was ok as 2k5 was still a good game...especially for the price. Madden 05 was a polished version of previous games that had success such as 03 and 04. The glitches were gone (for the most part), the accelerated clock and sliders were present, the franchise mode was sound and very playable 10-15 years in. There was very little that they added to the game with the exception of the very well put together Defensive playmaker. To me Madden 05 will always be my benchmark for authenticity and 2K5 will be the expectation for presentation in this next gen era. However, I waited 4 years to finally get my next gen madden thinking very wrongly that it would be the year. I too was fooled.

I stuck with Madden 05 myself but I would hardly call it the end all be all of gameplay. I choose it initially over 2K5 because it had accelerated clock which made possession time more realistic and I enjoyed the franchise options such as relocation and firing/hiring coaches. However I get a little antsy when people speak of 05's superior gameplay. First of all, 05 needed a user fix (The Manefesto) to make it playable. Without it, you ran into the defense "first against the run. last against the pass" glitch because every CPU opponent would use an 80% pass to 20% run ratio. Secondly, the over-exagerated speed and leaps by DB's and LB's in a passing situation were basically born out of 05. Lastly, and this killed me the most, 05 lacked major portions of basic football...mainly the limited options on coach's challenges and pass interference (it still baffles me how pass interference can be eliminated from a game.)

Believe me, I thought 05 was a great Madden and definitely a great step in the right direction. I feel that without competition the ball was dropped and instead of 05 being built upon to make a truly awesome football game we ended up with the joke that is the Madden franchise. Truth is that if I had a backwards compatible PS3 and could get updated rosters for 05 I'd still choose to play it over 2K5, but I feel that when people refer to how awesome 05 was I can give them the same things that a lot of "ballers" say about 2K5 dealing with fond memories making a game better than it really was.