Portable Football Fun

After playing this title on other platforms, I had little hope for a challenging experience on a portable platform. I was wrong. With updated stats that reflect the NFL teams for 2006, including a strong Saints team, Madden NFL 2007 DS is a game that draws you in with the need to keep playing.

The game controls move over seamlessly from the console environment. After three games I was ready for franchise mode. I have changed game length from 5 minutes to 15 minutes and traded several players on my Saints team.

Graphics:
While the graphics are not the best, they definitely do the job. You must remember that you are pushing the boundaries of portable hardware with so many individual AI players. Replay mode is feature rich with forward,reverse, camera angle and more. I have played over a dozen DS games in the past two years. Madden 07 does have small clips (a ghost of the 3D image) on some of the players and their uniforms. However, the game play is very smooth. I have not seen any slow down or reduced frame rate in any game playing situation. For comparison, Final Fantasy III for DS experiences a slight slow down during battle mode. The screen on the DS is not the best for this game. I would strongly recommend getting a "DS Lite" to play this game so you can get better lighting and sharper game play. The game statistics are a little hard to read, but I am playing on the DS.

I enjoy the cards feature because it gives you the ability to apply as many cards as you want for the next game. With cards giving you more crowd noise and a 5 yard first down, you can cheat your way to a win for the next game... if you want to.

I played an entire season in Franchise Mode, this update is a way to share my experiences with the game. AI mode was set to All Madden. Since NFL 2006 rosters are available,
I was able to use the New Orleans Saints and find some good plays for Reggie Bush. Reggie is not a starter
by default. You must use the setup menu and choose Offense substitutions for the particular play you want
to use. Remember, I am discussing my tactics for playing with the Saints. Your play could differ for another
team.


Offense:
I Formation 3 WR is my play of choice. I had hoped that the AI would develop a game plan against this, but that
never happened. I primarily pass to the TE (Tight End). A fast player is needed for this type of passing.
The player can get 5 yards beyond the line of
scrimmage quickly and the pass can then be completed without the quarterback being sacked. Stanima plays
a large role in offense production. If your quarterback has less than 50%, he will throw bad passes more often.
S. Mire is a great substitution late in the game for Reggie Bush. He can break tackles has decent speed.


Defense:
3-4 Exchange Formation is my play of choice.
The advantage of this formation in Madden 07 is that the outside blitz seems to develop quickly
hurrying the quarterback, namely the OLB position. I routinely get at least six sacks a game. The sacks tire out the quarterback
causing his throwing accuracy to drop. I sometimes use 3-4 Man Under Formation on 3rd down. The formation provides
a little more pass coverage, at the sacrifice of the blitz that Exchange offers. I did get twelve sacks in one
game on the QB (All Madden AI), however the QB was not injured.

Update:
The game has no "Coach's Challenge" or "Booth Review" feature. I would enjoy seeing this feature in a future release of the series on the DS.