Even for those of us who could care less about football real or simulated, this one shows obvious strengths. The graphics are excellent, though not really much better than NFL 2000 on the Dreamcast. Control is accessible even for newbies, passing fluidly to the active on-screen character. You have access to 200 “old school” players and their teams as well as actual NFL coaches and their playbooks. The rendering engine tries to add emotion to the players' faces, but the result is that most of the faces look like ventriloquist dummies. Their eyes move a lot. John Madden's commentary is excruciatingly banal, often reiterating great mysteries of the game such as, “moving the ball up the field is essential to winning.”
The visual presentation is quite good, though slowdown does occur in busy scenes. The rub with this port of the PC title is that you have to love deathmatch play. The solo mode just pits you against AI-controlled bots and a requisite number of kills as a goal. The levels are excellent, which makes reading terrain and opponents a central part of the gameplay, as it should be. Control is not as great. A mouse really is in order here. The designers tried to make the two analog sticks perform quick turns, but we found it harder to use than the other FPS for the PS2, Time Splitters.
This attractive Mario Golf wannabe has all its tech in place. A convincing 3D engine lets you zoom in, out and around every hole, and follow a ball's flight path. The mechanics are familiar to any PC golfer. Multiple clicks on the gamepad activate swing strength and accuracy. It's solid and unremarkable, mainly because the golfer characters who are supposed to be quirky are just plain irritating stereotypes. A story mode lets you progress through a pro tour, in which new courses, characters and caddies are unlocked as you go. The caddies, too, have various characters to fit different play styles. With up to four players supported through the multi-tap add-on, this is more of a fun party game than a sim. Tiger Woods for the PS2 is coming soon, however.