Madden NFL 09
Publisher: EA Sports
Platforms: PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS, PSP
Rating: E — Everyone
Game type: Sports
Rating: **** (out of five)

What’s the premise?
It’s time to chuck around the old pixilated pigskin — 20th anniversary style. This milestone edition of one of the bestselling video game franchises in history offers enhanced graphics and gameplay, along with some fun new elements to freshen things up heading into a third decade of action.

This game is most similar to…?
Madden NFL 08.

Is it suitable for younger gamers?
The new My Skill feature, which kicks on as soon as you fire up the game for the first time, takes gamers through a short series of tests to determine just how good you are at Madden and adjusts your gameplay experience accordingly. This means that even if your young friends can’t even hit the broadside of a digitized barn, the game will know and still let them succeed on the gridiron.

One player or more?
Up to four Madden-ites can do battle in person, you can take on foes head-to-head online and join the new online leagues where you and your pals can get it on to see who’s the real champ.

The (not-so) secret to success is…?
Practice makes perfect (or at least better). Take advantage of the Virtual Training Center to work on some of those key plays before your players have to take a pounding on the field. You can also take advantage of the EA Sports Rewind feature that allows you a “do over” when you blow a play — it’s pretty darned handy.

What’s missing?
Not the computer-controlled quarterbacks. As with last year’s version, the AI pivots are just a little too robotically perfect at times, threading the needle to their receivers and putting up completion rates that would have the Manning brothers in awe.

And in the end?
The folks at EA Sports sometimes take a bit of a ripping for not doing enough to shake things up with their highly successful (and profitable) franchises, but Madden NFL 09 does a very solid job of blending what already works with some smart new innovation to create yet another stellar edition.