My name is Aaron, and I have a serious addiction. Football. I cant get enough of it. I dont work on Sunday, I use picture-in-picture to watch two games at once, and I watch for about 12 hours straight on every holy day of the National Football League. NFL is king, college is second, but in the off-season Ive been known to watch the World League, Arena, Arena II, you name it, Ill give it a look. I take solace in knowing that I am not alone in my affliction. This crippling addiction affects millions of male Americans, young and old alike, nobody is safe from the clutches of a good game of pigskin.

Over the years Madden has had to face an onslaught of challengers, some good, some horrible, but it rarely falters. Recently, Visual Concepts has been the series biggest competitor, and last year it surpassed the great Madden in the eyes of many. Dont think for an instant that the #1 for a reason on the back of this years box isnt directed towards a rival developer. It looks like NFL2K1 provided a much needed kick in the pants and EA has gotten it in gear and released more than a roster update for Madden 2002.

Its easy to be critical of Electronics Arts for not taking any chances with their sports franchises. Each year it seems as if they update the rosters, add some more celebrations, a few more cinematic camera angles, add one more year to the title, and ship it. While the casual pigskin fan might not be able to notice all of the subtle changes, the improvements that have been made have placed Madden 2002 firmly atop the throne as king of the gridiron.

Madden 2002s visual presentation has improved in a number of ways, most of them minor, but they add up to create a much more refined looking game. No longer do the players walk around wide-eyed and unblinking, theyll look around, and even blink. A big complaint last year was the pervasiveness of short, stocky players, this year there is clearly a greater variety of player models, so its no longer an issue.

Other visual tweaks include revamped coaches that look much more like their real life counterparts. EA even added a spare tire that jiggles to some of the more portly guys patrolling the sidelines. Speaking of sidelines, there are a greater number of people on the sides this year to make things a bit more realistic, this includes cheerleaders. Even the sound guy that holds up the big clear dish is there picking up the sounds of the game. Pittsburgh and Denvers new stadiums have been added, though I cant vouch for their accuracy, the fact that they are there is impressive.

The rest of the graphical additions primarily consist of player and referee animations. There are several new tackles and hits with which to pummel your opponent. One of them is the satisfying ability to knock the ballcarriers helmet clean off. Even the sideline judges get into the mix when players come crashing out of bounds. Theyll scurry like mice when the play heads in their direction, dropping the down marker and indicator as they flee. When your team marches downfield and scores a touchdown, there are several unique end zone celebrations that are randomly performed as well as a bullet-point (matrix-style) replays when you dive into the end zone.

Overall, Madden sounds good, but its got a lot of room for improvement. The background music has been totally reworked this year; theres more variety in the songs, and they are of a higher quality as well. The Frustration, Aggravation song where the guys voice cracks when he says frustration is great, but all of the other songs more than hold their own. A nice way of utilizing this wide array of songs is exemplified in the franchise draft, where each round features a different song. Sure they repeat after a few rounds, but not having to listen to the same song is a nice touch, especially after having to do it in NFL2K2. While there is a large number of songs, they are all rap, which isnt necessarily bad, but a little variety would be nice for the group of people that either dont like rap or have wider musical interests.

When it comes to the sounds of the game, Madden more than holds its own against the competition. The quarterbacks bark out the cadence, and even scream audibles at the line of scrimmage. Once the play starts, the players grunt, and the sounds of helmets and pads colliding permeates from the trenches. Occasionally, a horribly agonizing aaarrrrrgghhhhhh!!!! will emanate throughout the stadium, and theres no doubt that your running backs legs fell off, but he just hops up and goes back to the huddle. It would seem that this particular effect would have only been used when an injury occurs, but its not, and its good for a laugh.

The Achilles heel of the Madden franchise, at least for the last couple of years, has been its broadcasting team. Back in the heyday of the SEGA Genesis a statement such as this would have been borderline sacrilegious, but just as Madden and Summerals real life broadcasting has gone downhill, so has their videogame performance. Once upon a time comments like Boom, Whered that truck come from and Hes sacked sufficed as videogame football commentary. This is no longer the case now that the 2K, and even the Gameday series to a lesser extent, have raised the bar for what we expect to hear during a game.

John and Pat drone on and on with unenthusiastic repetitive commentary that is far more aggravating than it is insightful. What do you know about little Warrick Dunn? resonates through my head in my sleep Ive heard it so many times. Maddens incessant comments about throwing too short on third down are unbearable after a few games and add in the touchdown call that Summeral occasionally blurts out even when theres no touchdown, and its painfully obvious that something needs to be done. Of course the fact that one of the announcers names is in the title makes it difficult to change, and Madden is such a huge brand name, its a difficult problem to resolve. The obvious thing would be to coax better performances from the un-dynamic duo, but if it hasnt happened thus far, its never going to happen. The good news is that Summeral is retiring this year and hopefully Johns new partner next year will bring some life into the broadcast booth.

Like the graphics, the gameplay received a number of small improvements, but remains largely unchanged. There are a wide variety of plays and formations to choose from, and the intelligent AI means that it is necessary to mix up your play calling or the defense will adjust and stifle the offense. Its also important to put men in motion to create mismatches, flood one side of the field, or just bring an extra blocker in on running plays. The hot route feature allows you to customize the responsibilities of every offensive player and exploit any weakness in the defense that can be found. Specifically, if you see that a linebacker is lined up to cover your slot receiver on a crossing route, you can select that receiver and make him run a streak or a post pattern, since he will likely be able to get open downfield against a slower linebacker.

The same realistic physics engine that takes momentum into account so heavily is back for another go, and it feels exactly the same as last years. This means that its important to juke in advance to get around someone, and stopping and cutting on a dime is near impossible. This takes a while to adjust to, but once you are accustomed to thinking like a real player, it becomes second nature. Player controls are generally responsive with two main exceptions, the first being that sometimes when a spin or juke button is pressed the move never happens, and the second involves switching defensive players. If a pass is completed and your cornerback finds himself out of the play, pressing the X button changes to the next nearest player, while hitting it a second time changes it back to the original guy. Sometimes its painfully obvious that neither of these guys is going to catch the receiver, so the safety furthest down field, the last line of defense is the best hope. Unfortunately its impossible to switch to him because hes so far downfield. The result: a long touchdown and a thrown controller every time. Punt coverage is somewhat suspect, and unless a lineman is pulled back within ten yards of the returner, you can expect a pancake and a possible fumbleon every return.

Other tweaks include the reduction of one-handed grabs that were as common as a two-handed catches last year, and improved pass defense. While there is a noticeable difference in the competence of your computer-controlled defensive players as opposed to last year, there is a striking lack of interceptions and the frequency of computer third-down conversions can be maddening at times. EA has included sliding controls, which allow total control of a huge array of gameplay variables. The frequency of interceptions, fumbles, and injuries can be adjusted, as well as how well the computer runs, passes, plays defense, and a host of other options. This allows each user to customize their gameplay experience almost exactly how they want it, an innovation that will hopefully find its way into all sports games soon.

In addition to exhibition, season, playoff, and franchise modes, an all new two-minute drill in which players try to earn points for Madden cards is included. Theres also a situational mode where its possible to place any team in almost any game situation you can think of, allowing you to practice a goal line stand, a hail mary, or a 99-yard drive. Theres also an extremely deep training mode where John Madden himself walks you through the Xs and Os of each formation and play until youve completed it successfully a few times. This is a great tool to learn why receivers run certain places, what responsibilities the blockers have, and when to use a particular play.

Madden 2002 offers a staggering amount of replay value that is lessened only by the absence of online play. Theres a create-a-team feature that allows the user to draft a team, create their uniforms, name the team, and even create their own stadium. Madden cards are back this year with a few new additions, but the same basic concept. Accomplishing certain tasks like breaking a 20-yard run, intercepting a pass, or sacking the quarterback, gives you a certain amount of points that can then be used to purchase Madden cards. These cards will increase the attributes of the player on the card, unlock new stadiums, or one of a large number of cheats. This years version has cheerleader cards, which other than being nice to look at, arent too exciting.

The crown jewel of Madden 2002 is its unparalleled franchise mode. The franchise mode allows you to take the reigns of any team including next years expansion team, the Texans. After picking a team, the search for a coach begins, and then its on to the draft. After managing the salary cap, adjusting the depth chart, and signing free agents its time to take to the field and control your team, or if youd like you can simulate all games. During the season, you can re-sign players, cut-players, change coaches, track all stats, check out weekly and yearly awards, and trade players or draft picks. The computer is a bit finicky when it comes to what trades it will and wont accept, but its a minor issue when viewed in the overall scheme of things. When the season is over, players will retire, free agents switch teams, and its even possible to import a saved draft class from EAs NCAA 2002 and even include the real rookies if youve found a save file on the internet with the Dex-Drive. The franchise mode can accommodate one human user for every team, and can run for 30 years if one chooses to do so. No other games franchise mode even approaches the depth and flexibility that Maddens allows, its near perfect as far as replay is concerned.

Its becoming more and more difficult to chastise EA for releasing little more than a roster update year after year, but theres becoming less and less for them to tweak as the years pass. Most of my gripes about last years game have been addressed, and outside of the third-down miracles that seem to happen all to frequently, the game plays like a dream. Improving the commentary to the level of the other football series is going to require a major overhaul, but its a change that EA really needs to make. Whether youve got just a passing interest in videogame football, or you are in need of a twelve-step program to wean yourself, Madden 2002 will satisfy your pigskin needs.