Madden NFL 06 Updated Hands-On

Legions of football fans across the country are already enjoying Madden NFL 06 on their home consoles and PCs, but Madden fanatics are still waiting for their PSP fixes. We recently had a chance to get hands-on with the latest build of Madden 06 for the PSP at a recent Electronic Arts press event.

The game has come a long way graphically from the build that was shown at E3. Stadiums offer more detail, and the animation seems smoother and more visually appealing. The tackling and collision animations, in particular, offer a great amount of variety, as there's nothing quite so satisfying as seeing one of your linemen pancake a blitzing linebacker. The names and icons that pop up next to the receivers on passing plays are also nice and legible, which is particularly important since the game is played on a small screen.

As far as the core gameplay goes, Madden NFL 06 for PSP will include many of the same features as its brethren on home consoles. You'll be able to place the ball on specific sides of the receiver with precision passing (there's no vision cone in this edition of Madden), as well as sprint with the quarterback without bringing down the passing icons. You'll also be able to slide your pass protection, have your receivers execute smart routes for the first-down marker, and direct defensive backs to double- or man-cover out of a zone. Obviously, without a right analog stick, features like playmaker are a little different, or they don't exist at all. But for the most part, our play time with Madden for the PSP was satisfying, and it promises a good experience for portable football fans who demand few compromises.

18 minigames will ship with Madden 06, including eight taken from the console version and 10 that are exclusive to the PSP. These include punting inside the 20, a wide receiver route-running drill, and a pass-swatting drill for defensive backs. We tried the latter two at the press event. The WR drill has you take control of a receiver going up against a corner and a safety. You must try to get open and then call for a pass from your quarterback, earning points for catches, yards, and touchdowns. The pass-swatting drill has you controlling a single defensive back sent to cover three different stationary dummies on the field. A robot passer selects one of the "receivers" to shoot a ball at, and you must try to swat or pick off the ball before it hits the dummy.

Madden 06 for the PSP will also include a full franchise mode, letting you make roster and general manager decisions as you try to lead your team to multiple Super Bowls. What's arguably more exciting than the built-in franchise mode, however, is the ability to link your existing franchise on the PlayStation 2 to Madden 06 on the PSP. This is done via the EA locker, which is 8MB's worth of online space for you to transfer roster files and profiles between your PS2 and PSP. From the PS2 version of Madden 06, you can also use the spawn-game feature to upload an unplayed game file to your locker. Connect to the locker from your PSP, then download the game. You can play out that game, then save a results file back to your locker, which can then be accessed by your PS2. Once the results file is input into your PS2, the game is updated in your PS2's franchise mode.

The "franchise on the go" feature lets you continue playing your franchise during your commute or on your breaks at school or work. Unfortunately, if you have visions of playing out weeks and weeks of your existing PS2 franchise while you take an extended vacation, you won't be able to do so. There's currently no way to simulate the non-player-controlled games of a PS2 franchise on the PSP, to be uploaded back to the PS2. You can only spawn single games and play them out on the PSP. This restricts you only to league action within a single week of play.

Multiplayer action supports both ad hoc and network play, so whether your friend is across the room or across the country, you'll be able to connect and play against each other. Madden NFL 06 for the PSP is currently slated to ship in September, so stay tuned to GameSpot for more information as it becomes available.