Madden 2001: A Game That Never Got As Old As Madden

The Day That It All Changed
It was Late November 2001. On this gloomy, rainy night, my life would change forever. (This can't just be about a video game, can it?) This night marked my last trip to Chucky Cheese's. If Chucky Cheese's is the place where a kid can be a kid, than the last trip to Chucky Cheese's must be where a boy becomes a man. After basking in the pizza, the soft drinks, and the ball pit, it was all over. But the night didn't end there. Across the street from the pizza place that I had came to know and love was a Circuit City. I recall running across the street, stepping in puddles, and getting drenched by the rain that was coming down mercilessly. Nothing could stop me. I would make it to Circuit City, I would buy a video game, and I would live to play the game. The game that I bought on that night, in that pathetic excuse for weather, was Madden 2001. I had already owned every Madden since the 1997 edition for SNES. And while the streak still does continue because of Madden 2002 for gamecube, this was the charm of the set. This is the game that I played, relentlessly, for the most hours of any video game I ever owned. Just for that, it deserves my prestigious 10th review. So why am I even writing this review? It won't earn me any money, and it's on a game that's almost 2 years old. Answer: There are no new gamecube games out, and my hands need a break from playing SSBM. So sit back in your computer chair, enjoy the read, and don't strain your eyes.

What Can You Do With Madden 2001? (Think Klondike Song)
Overall, the modes and options in the game are pretty deep. There's really nothing new that you haven't yet seen from Madden, but anything that you've ever seen from him is here. The game modes include:

Exhibition: Play a regular game of Nfl football without all the other crap. Pick your teams, and play against either one of your friends, or a computer opponent.

Practice: New to the madden series? Pick a play, any play, and run it over and over again. You can be any team, and you can run any play. I don't really think many people will use this mode for too long, but I personally enjoy practicing Kick/Punt returns.

Situation: There's only 3 seconds to go in the 4th quarter. You have the ball on your opponent's 20, and you're down by a field goal. Will you kick it, or go for it all? This is a mode that will test your wits. Put yourself in basically any situation you want. Pick how much time is left, how many timeout's you have, where the ball will be placed, and what down it is.

Tournament: Play in a football tournament by yourself or with others. Set up the teams that will play, how many teams there will be, and whether you will play single or double elimination. Who is the master of madden. Well, me of course. But if I'm not playing, than find out in this mode.

Two Minute Drill: You have two minutes to score as many points as you can, while gaining as many yards as you can. Start from your own 20-yard line and storm the field. If you score, you will get the ball back. If you fail, than you will perish. Well, not exactly, but the whole point of this mode is to rack up points, and with 1-8 teams involved, you'll want to score early and often.

Franchise: The mode I spent countless hours on. Pick your favorite team, get a coach, and get ready for some football. You'll play season after season as the head coach. At the end of each year re-sign your own player, sign free agents, trade players, and draft rookies. You can do this for 40 years, which makes it a huge mode. Even create players and sign them to your team. You can even test your skills as the head coach and see if you can make the lions a winning team.

Graphics: Real Deal, Or Good Imitation?
All and all, the graphics in this game are pretty impressive. Each NFL team has their own jersey's and stadiums,(I would hope so) and each player is detailed slightly different. The backgrounds in the game are very nice, with a crowd and all. My favorite part of the graphics is the different forms of weather that you endure. Of course since I battled the rain to get this game, I love playing in the floods. If you want snow, you'll get snow. If you want fog, there it will be. If you want to beat "The Pav", you better practice. Because no one can beat me!(A poor rhyme, but why not?) Also the game moves smoothly without skipping and such, which is always a big plus.

Sound: Die Madden, Die!
The sound in this game is a flat out embarrassment. For the main menu screen, there is one track with now words. But that's not half the battle. When you get into the game, it gets worse. The sound effects and the crowd noise are actually pretty good, but Madden is the killer. He only has about a dozen different sayings and you'll find yourself reciting: "You want to lead the receiver so that he can catch and run, but you don't want to lead him that much!" at the exact same time that madden is saying it. Plus, this isn't Madden at all. If you watch the Nfl on Fox, you'll notice that Madden often times makes absolutely no sense at all. He'll say something like "the ball was going that way, but the player was going that way. I think it was the ball that shouldn't have been going that way." He's way too crisp and witty in this game to be the real Madden. But either way, after playing for about 2 hours, you'll wish that madden would act his age, and just perish. In case you were wondering, this is why there is a mute button on your TV.

Control: The Games Best Aspect
The controls were really what make the game play as fun as it is. You can use either the analog stick, or the D-Pad,(I'm and old schooler, so I spent much time using the D-pad.) and with whichever you use, you'll feel like a part of the game. You can use the C-buttons to spin around, jump over, or stiff-arm the defense to the ground. The R, L, and Z button are used to cause the opponent to re-arrange his jock strap. The B button is used to dive, and the A button is used to speed up.(Those are the controls for running the ball.) When passing, just press the A button twice(to snap, and then bring up the passing screen.) and then just click the button that correspond with the receiver you want to throw it to. The controls sound a lot more confusing here than they really are(what was I thinking?) and it will only take you a couple of hours to master them completely.

Memory Card: You'll Have Nothing And Like It!
Before reading this, I urge you to remember one thing. It's not the game's fault that it takes up blocks and blocks or memory, it's Nintendo's fault for making such a small card. Memory is really a problem with this game. Save a franchise mode, and your card is spent. I hated choosing between my profile and my franchise, because I couldn't have both. If you're going to buy this game, I would recommend also buying a 4x memory card. I didn't, and I paid the price.

Choices, Choices/Other features
This game is so great, and so deep because of the many ways to customize each game you play. For example, when playing an exhibition you can choose the team you are going to be, the stadium you will play in, the weather conditions(Rain, Rain!) and the difficulty level. Choose between Rookie, Pro, All-Pro, and All-Madden. If you get really good at the game,(Me) they all are pretty easy. I actually found All-pro to be easier than pro, but that's just my opinion. Also, you can choose how long you want the game to be. You can make the quarters anywhere between 1 minute each and 15 minutes each.

You can also assemble a profile(If your memory card can take it) and rack up some madden cards. There are Over 100 cards to pick up! In the course of the game, you rack up tokens by doing certain things. If you run for 100 yards with a player, you get tokens. If you sack the Qb 3 times, you get tokens, and so on. You will get more points for when playing on the harder skill levels, than the easier ones, which makes a lot of sense. And once you rack up 40 points,(I've got over 500 in a 5 minute quarter game) you can buy a pack of cards. Inside the pack there are current player cards, historic player cards, cheat cards, team cards, and stadium cards. Player cards will make that player a "super player" by increasing their skills for a game. Cheat cards will change the game completely.(more fumbles, higher jumping, and no sacking the Qb.) Historic player cards, team cards, and stadium cards will unlock things for you. And to make this part of the review even more confusing, there are bronze, silver, and gold cards. Gold is more powerful than silver, and silver is more powerful than bronze. Again, these things aren't as confusing as I make them sound, give them a try, and you'll get the hang of it fast.

This Section Makes The Bottom Line Worthless!
Overall, the game is all you could ask from a football game on the Nintendo 64. Good graphics, all the options, and a huge replay value. Of course, you could ask for a better sound, but I said on the Nintendo 64. You will get addicted to this game, and you will play it for hours. I've played for well over 100 hours already, and eventually, I will come back for more. Lastly, if you think you're good at this game, and live in Mid-Michigan, come over to my place sometime so I can humble you, Madden style. No, I’m not just making it sound like I’m good at this game, I am good at this game. It’s been a long time since I’ve been beat, mostly in part to practice and experience. And no, I’m not compensating for something either.