"Wow" was the first word out of my mouth when I put the game in. "Oh my" followed as I began to watch the demo with its enticing dance, and a feeling of total bliss as I began to play. The game is that good. I needed an experience like this to once and for all reassure myself that I purchased the right system for me. I had just recently traded in my beloved Dreamcast system along with NFL 2K2 and had been drowning in a deep sea of post football depression. The irony is that Madden for the Gamecube puts a whoopin on NFL 2K2, and that isn't easy to do.

Graphically Madden is somewhat of a mixed bag I find myself a little disappointed at one moment, but then swimming in a sea of joy the next. The menu screens are clean and crisp with the player animations flawless. The game play screen is where the disparity becomes very evident. The players look good but they could look better player numbers are easily seen but the players name is unreadable for me.

The stadiums are nicely detailed but the fans look horrible, I'm not even sure why they are there. The auto replays are where the graphical power of the system is truly highlighted. The zoom is wonderful and the facial features are great also. The QB might wince and slap his hands together in disgust, or the DE might look down and pat the QB on the back as a sign of victory. That is how lifelike it is on this game. The colors are bright and vivarant almost cartoonish in a way. The weather effects are very cool rain causes patches of mad and grass on the field and snow gusts in patches on the field looks really neat.

Sound has never been my number one feature in a game. As a matter of fact its down low at the bottom for me. I generally have a CD playing on my stereo, and rarely hear what is actually happening on the game. For the sake of the review I actually listened to the game and I was pleasantly surprised. The ever present rap soundtrack that has become a staple of Madden Games, needs to go. Or at least change once in a while. All things considered though it still sounds good. The crowd volume level changes depending on the situation and the chants of Defense or Offense resonate through the autumn air. Sounds of hits are equally impressive I tried to take off Tiki Barbers head and I almost neck hurt for an hour it sounded that real and wonderful.

Gameplay is the pinnacle of what is good about this game. Player movements and animations are smooth and fast. Actually players seem a lot faster to me then in previous versions of the Madden franchise especially on Madden 64. The Madden Cards are back and look great. These cards are used to unlock stadiums, Historic players, and cheats. The AI is totally customizable all the way down to the accuracy of a kicker during a game, that is how much control one has over player's abilities. The create a team and create a player options are there, and unlike NFL 2K2 you can use either in franchise mode which is very nice indeed.