Madden 13 for Vita strikes a good balance between a portable game and football action.
The game is fully customizable regarding rules and options. If you want to play without any penalties or make your team have a killer edge, you can. If you want to make it as challenging as possible, you can do that too. You can throw the bomb into the endzone with familiar control schemes similar to full consoles or call the play for a solid rush.
The graphics are excellent for the players on screen and some of the helmets even have the glitter graphics, as an example. The spectators are all low res, but it's a fair trade off to get facial recognition in your favourite NFL stars.
The play calling is standard for any Madden type game with the options for audibles on the field. The game makes good use of the touch screen (for once in a Vita game) by allowing you to select your defender by a touch or you can make custom routes for receivers by tracing on the screen. You can also disable the back touch panel features in the menus and you don't need to use any of the touch features either. They're optional.
Some of the frame rate issues do pop up between the scenes while the camera is switching perspectives, common to the Madden series, but I have yet to have it cause problems during the game play. It can at times seem a little frustrating when you're trying to get back in the action and the camera is switching, but it's easy to forgive, because the frustration comes from the fact that it's a good game to play.
I agree that the commentary does get repetitive at times, but it doesn't detract from the overall experience.
If you want a Madden game on-the-go, then you shouldn't be disappointed. This is a good game to pick up, start a season or franchise and see yourself at the Superbowl in no time. If stats are your thing then you might be let down. I recommend this game for any NFL fan who isn't obsessive about stats and team rosters, because the game play is very good.