One of the highest profile launch titles for the PS2 is EA Sport's Madden 2001. Ever since NFL2K1 helped propel the Dreamcast to a successful launch it's become accepted that you must launch with a football game, and for good reason, Madden 2001 is the top selling Playstation2 game to date. As you most likely know just because a game is selling well doesn't mean it's any good, so read on to find out what yours truly thinks about this game.

To start off with, this game is loaded with options. Exhibition, Season, Franchise, and Practice modes are all available for your gaming pleasure. If you are playing a Season or Franchise, you have access to full stat-tracking, player of the week awards, General Manager duties, and a create-a-player mode. One of the coolest things about the create-a-player was that if the name you give your player is in the database, Madden and Summerall will actually say it during the game. This is something small, but it was cool to hear "Thomas drops back to pass" when I was leading my Bears to victory. It's attention to the little things that has kept Madden on top for as long as they have been.

The Franchise mode is the most in-depth that Madden has ever offered. Building a championship caliber team is difficult, but the true challenge lies in building a winner and keeping them on top for as long as possible. After spending like the Cowboys on Free Agents I found myself having to manage my salary cap, and even cutting the high priced athletes when they were not performing to my expectations. While Franchise mode is deep, it may be a little too involved for the casual fan, but it is a welcome addition in my book.

The gameplay found in Madden 2001 is typical of every title released on the Psx. There's something comforting about knowing the basic button scheme before opening the instruction book, or as most people do, just throw the game in without reading the instructions. I thought the offensive balance in the game was very good. It was fairly easy to pass, and if you remained committed to running the ball, you could be successful just pounding the ball up the middle. There was also a noticeable difference in the abilities of the players, making it necessary to play towards your team's strengths and away from its weaknesses.

Everything was not all rosy on the defensive front however, especially in the passing game. I had little success rushing the quarterback, even with multiple players blitzing, and facing minimal pass protection from the offense. This snowballed into me being totally unable to stop my opponents passing attack. I would compensate for my lack of a pass rush by putting in more players in the defensive backfield, figuring that I would just double cover the receivers all the time. This didn't work because they would catch just about everything thrown their way even if they were double covered. This unbalanced defense may have made the scores close, but I felt like I was just a spectator most of the time on defense, not really having any impact on what was going on down on the field.

Madden cards are back this year, and they play a larger role in the game this year since there are more cards than ever before. The Madden Challenge is a unique way to add replay value to an already deep game. During a game you are challenged to do certain things, such as complete a long pass, sack the quarterback, make five tackles with one player, and many other things. When you complete one of these challenges you are awarded tokens to go towards purchasing a pack of Madden cards. When you have enough tokens, you can buy a pack of cards and place them in your album. In the pack you will find player's cards, which if you play a specific players card during a game their attributes will be boosted, All-Time Teams cards, which unlocks new teams, and even cards that unlock new venues. This was the first time I had played a game with Madden cards, and I really enjoyed them. It kept me focused on the game even when I was up by 50 points in the fourth quarter, which is no easy feat.

The graphics in Madden 2001 are probably the most hyped feature in the game, yet I was not overly impressed. Sure the players have shiny helmets, and you can see their faces, but there is absolutely nothing groundbreaking done here. In my opinion NFL2K1 is the best looking football game on the market, it may be close but that's what I feel. Madden has a few oddball things about it graphically that kept it a close second. First off the players all look like they are about 5'8 and 250 pounds, they all look a little too short for the amount of weight they are carrying. The second thing I didn't like was their eyes, they were just creepy. If you've played the game you know exactly what I am talking about here. All in all, it's a nice looking game to be sure, but I was a little letdown by the problems that it had.

The audio found here is pretty much the same thing you've heard in a Madden title for the last few years. Summerall drivels on like he's 80 years old, oh wait, he is 80 years old, and Madden throws in a grand total of about 15 different mind-numbing insights. I can't tell you how pitiful this game's commentary is, even compared to Gameday of the psx it falls short. Maybe they were just trying to be authentic, because it is just as painful to listen to these two dimwits in the game as it is to listen to them actually broadcasting on FOX. The rest of the game's audio is well done, and there are some nice chants that the home crowds do while trying to cheer their team to victory. Overall the audio is slightly above average, but the commentary really brings the score down.

I've tried to avoid making this an NFL2K1 vs. Madden review, but I've got to do it here. Before Madden 2001 came out, NFL2K1 was the undisputed champion of videogame football. Now that Madden has arrived, the lead is now smaller, but I feel that 2K1 is the better game, and that's not throwing online play into the mix. For those of you without a Dreamcast, let there be no doubts about it, Madden is a solid game and a good purchase for anyone that is even remotely interested in football. It's going to be interesting to watch these two franchises duke it out for supremacy for the next few years.