
You'll notice a few rough spots once you get your feet wet, but nothing too serious.

The running game lets you sprint, spin, juke, and dive simply by pressing a button or sliding the stylus. Once the ball is in play, you'll run and pass the ball on offense, or you'll take control of the nearest defender and try to tackle the carrier and deflect passes. Alternatively, you can use the stylus to position the ball marker exactly where you want the pass to go. On offense, you can pass to specific receivers by pressing the indicated buttons or by tapping the receiver's icon. After the snap, you can change the play on the fly by calling an audible. Before the snap, you can change or draw a hot route for your receivers, or, if you're on defense, you can put on defensive line shifts and drag icons onto your defenders to set their role in the upcoming play. You can select from multiple playbooks and pick from dozens of plays just by flipping the page and pressing a button. Every action can be controlled using the system's buttons or the touch screen. On the field, Madden NFL 08 offers an insanely rich simulation of the gridiron. As was the case last year, they repeat themselves frequently, but their comments are usually in line with what's happening on the screen. During a game, you'll hear the roar of the crowd, the sounds of the players grunting and smacking into one another, and the occasional comment from Al Michaels or John Madden. The lower screen shows a 3D view, while the upper screen shows an Xs-and-Os view. That's OK, though, because the constant flourish of hard hits, camera changes, replays, and player celebrations provides more than enough visual excitement. Each stadium's key architectural details are evident, although there's not all that much to see since the spectators don't move and the majority of scoreboards don't update. Stadium features, such as the field and uprights, are clearly visible regardless of the camera angle and zoom level. When too many players are visible, the action will occasionally slow down or the polygons that make up the players' body parts will flicker, but not so often or excessively that you'll lose track of what's going on. The players shown in the 3D view on the lower screen are larger, you can actually make out their uniform details and insignias now, and their movements, for the most part, are fluid and lifelike. Obviously online play is a huge boon, but even the smaller changes made to this year's game combine with its many great features to create a substantial game of football.Ĭompared to last year's game, the graphics in Madden NFL 08 are a little cleaner and a little flashier.

For Madden NFL 08, those improvements come in the form of minor graphical and gameplay enhancements, along with the inclusion of online play.
Madden nfl 08 for ds portable#
And every year, it makes a few improvements that entice football fans into dishing out another 30 dollars for the most up-to-date portable football fix. Up to seven players can compete in the game's local wireless mode, or two friends can challenge each other from across the country via Wi-Fi Connection.Every year, EA Sports releases a new Madden NFL football game for the Nintendo DS. The biggest addition to the DS version is a "paper football" mini-game that uses the touch-screen controls to flick a paper ball across a table. All 32 NFL teams are included with updated rosters, ratings, and statistics.Ĭontrols have also been reworked after some complaints with Madden NFL 07, so players can expect a more intuitive kicking interface as well as an option to quickly select specific players simply by tapping them with the stylus. The graphics, for example, have been enhanced with updated player models, additional animations, and new menu screens. Rather than add a significant number of new features, the developers focused instead on refining and polishing existing elements. Madden's fourth appearance on Nintendo's dual-screened handheld once again includes a touch-screen interface, 3D graphics, and wireless multiplayer support.
