 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Madden NFL 09
- Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, PSP
- Price: $59.99
- Genre: Sports
Common Sense Media says
An excellent Madden game for players of all ages.
Parents say
Kids say
QUALITY
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that there's no inappropriate content in this video game – unless you consider professional football too violent a sport. While some sports games have a soundtrack with off-color lyrics, this game doesn't. Parents will welcome the new adaptive features that help set the skill level at an appropriate level so that all players can have a positive experience.
What's it about?
Are you ready for some football? Twenty years and 70 million units later, EA Sports' popular Madden NFL series is now celebrating a milestone anniversary. Available for multiple platforms, MADDEN NFL 09's slick production values are what jumps out at you when booting up the game for the first time – namely, the high-definition graphics, adrenaline-pumping soundtrack, and a wealth of options available from the animated main menu.
But before you tackle any of the solo or multiplayer modes, you might want to try out the new features that help set your skill level, to ensure a gratifying game-play experience. This includes Madden Test, a collection of holographic drills and minigames that determine your "Madden IQ" in four key areas (rushing, passing, rush defense, and pass defense) and My Skill, a custom skill setting you can select prior to each game instead of general difficulty options such as "rookie" or "all-pro."
Is it any good?
In the Xbox 360 version, the game feels as good as it looks with tight and responsive buttons. As with the previous year's version, the "weapons" system is back, special skills assigned to elite players in the league to reinforce what makes them great. For example, when activated, Ladainian Tomlinson becomes a truck who plows through defenders, whereas a Smart QB, like Peyton Manning, can read the field and expose players who simply stick to their money plays. If you make a mistake on the field, though, you can pull a mulligan by "rewinding" the play like a DVR and trying again (or turn off this feature altogether). On a related note, along with the broadcast-like presentation with play-by-play and color commentary by Cris Collinsworth and Tom Hammond, Collinsworth can also tell you where a bad move went wrong and how to "tackle" the action the next time around.
When it comes to game-play, number of modes (including the ability to create online leagues with up to 32 teams), and presentation quality, Madden NFL 09 is arguably the finest football game in the franchise's 20-year history.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about whether an annual sports video game -- such as 20 Madden games in as many years -- should be purchased every year. Are the few improvements offered every year worth the purchase or are publishers taking advantage of consumers?
- Show:
- All members
- Parents
- Teens & kids
AGE
FFFFFUUUUUUNNNNNN
i LOVE this Game for the WII its SO MUCH FUN if you like sports games!!!!
Was this review useful?
|
|
AGE
Decent and replayable.
First, this is a review for the WII version, NOT any other consoles. The first thing is that there is a great feature called "call your shots" that allows you to draw your reciever's routes on a passing play. You are probably supposed to use it when you don't like the defense, but it is great anytime. Commentary is good, but the computer AI is ridiculous. Even the 3-13 Rams got off a 70 yard passing play on their first play of my game against them. There are too many big plays, wwaayy too many sacks, and too many touchdowns.
When you get a touchdown you are supposed to get up and move the wiimote and nunchuck to celebrate. When you are on multiplayer its fun, but when you are playing the CPU, it is completely ridiculous and pointless. There is a way to turn it off, but then you cannot celebrate.
There is a good collection of mini-games on this disk. They are supposed to help your skills at this game, but they are so fun that you may not return to the regular game for a very long time. There is even a backyard football game on this, called 5 on 5. Each touchdown is one point and playcalling is made unbelievably simple. The players have big heads, for reasons beyond me.
They have franchise and superstar. Franchise is good but the more you play it, the more likely you are to get bored. Superstar is quite fun, as long as you aren't a QB. If you are a QB, the camera angle constantly switches from seeing one side of the field to the other, and sometimes the camera is so bad that you cannot see the reciever that you passed to.
The main game will frustrate you with its bad AI, but EA made the other features good enough to make it fun. It's a game worth buying.
Was this review useful?
|
|
AGE
Best Madden yet
This is the best madden yet. You have the franchise mode, create a player, create a team, and many other modes (all of which are a lot of fun). They also have a new skill level called Madden IQ, it puts you through a series of tests that will set the games skill level to your skill level; it will also update your skill as you play. Overall this is a better Madden than the one we all have came to know and love. 5 out of 5
Was this review useful?
|
|
AGE
dabestmaddenEVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Was this review useful?
|
|
AGE
one of the best football games to hit the market
This game is possibly one of the best football games to come out for game systems such as ps3, xbox, and wii. It's very fun to play for all ages, and it will also teach you a lot about the game of football itself. While I say this game is good for all ages, be aware that there may be somewhat violent aspects to this game, such as tackling and stuff like that, however that's a big part of football as a sport. Also, there is a fair amount of product advertising. Soda, candy bars, and even cell phone networks are built into this game, almost as if you’re watching a real game on TV. Overall, a great game, very realistic, and competitive.
Was this review useful?
|
|
AGE
anyone can play
it's football. And on wii its real fun. I cantwait for madden 10 tomarrow!!!!!!!
Was this review useful?
|
|
AGE
A great game for every Madden Lover
This game, as most people say, is the best Madden game yet. Most of the stuff in this game are pretty age appropiate, you can enjoy most of the stuff old versions of Madden have and more! If you have the version for the PSP, you could play Madden in two ways, the old fashioned way that every game of Madden has, or the new EA Sports Rookie Mode, that you could do every single move you would do in the normal way with just pressing x. If you really love Madden, then this game is for you.
Was this review useful?
|
|
Kid, 11 years old
June 6, 2009
AGE
step into fun
alot of kids injoy madden 09 well packer fans on the game packers always win.
Was this review useful?
|
|
| Topics: | sports and martial arts |
| Platforms: | Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, PSP |
| Available online? | Available online |
| Genre: | Sports |
| Developer: | EA Sports |
| Release date: | August 12, 2008 |
| Price: | $59.99 |
| ESRB rating: | E for Everyone (N/A) |
Contact us to give us more feedback on our learning ratings.
Review It
Tell us what you think about our new Learning Ratings. We value your feedback.
Great alternatives handpicked by our editors
Already played it? What do you think?
More from Common Sense Media
Top advice and articles
