Pros: madden
Cons: the camera views

This isn't the first instance of Madden on
the Game Boy – there have been two
incarnations of the football franchise on the
handheld in the past, but only in
black-and-white. This year marks the first
time the popular gridiron series hits the
Game Boy system in full color – and for
what it is, Madden 2000 is a damn good
version of portable football, despite some
odd quirks.

Features

Single-player game
Four play modes
Complete statistics for all teams and
players
Injuries
Password system to save progress
For Game Boy and Game Boy
Color

Don't expect the same game that the big
guys (read: PlayStation, N64, and PC
systems) got a couple months ago – Game
Boy developer Tiertex had a lot of
restrictions to work with to get all 22
players on the field at the same time (11 on
a team). Not only this, but the team also
had to convert the semi-complex controls
of the Genesis original onto the more
restrictive two button configuration of the
Game Boy system. But with all the
shoe-horning that went on in this
conversion, the game came out really well.

The Game Boy game also marks the return
of the passing windows you may
remember from the Genesis days – when
you want to pass, you bring up a series of
three windows showing your available
receivers. As you maneuver your
quarterback behind the line of scrimmage,
you cycle through the windows by tapping
that same button. Find the open receiver
and let it launch. This interface is a bit
clunky at first, but after a few games you'll
get the hang of it. You can also set up two
plays at the beginning of the game to be
your audible plays – a nice addition to the
interface, especially when you want to
psych out the opposition.

You'll have to put up with the extremely tiny character graphics – there's
no real detail in the animation, so it's difficult to see when you actually
catch the ball. It's obvious the game could have flowed a lot smoother if it
was programmed with the Game Boy Color specifically in mind. But
instead, the game was made to be backward compatible with the older
Game Boys, so you'll have to put up with slightly choppy scrolling of the
field tiles.

The AI is the big deal in any football game, and yes, you can still find the
perfect play and use it over and over and over again – I haven't found a
football videogame yet that I couldn't do this.

The huge downside is the lack of multiplayer. This is only a single player
game. It's understandable why the developers couldn't do it (too many
character positions to send through the somewhat slow link-cable) – but
it's still a bit disappointing that you won't be able to hook up with a friend
and go at it on the road.

As far as portable football titles go, I'm really surprised how well
Madden 2000 came out. It controls well, doesn't look terrible, and it's
a fun diversion. I've been spoiled by NFL Blitz (not the Game Boy
Color game, the arcade and console versions), so I'm used to quicker
playing games. But you folks out there who can't get enough of the
real thing will like having a decent version for the road.