Not Bad, Way Outdated

Author's Rating:

Pros: Good graphics, gameplay

Cons: First Madden on Xbox 360, so bugs, etc not perfect

The Bottom Line: 
Good game, but get the Madden 2010 coming out soon.

Author's Review
Madden 06 for Xbox 360 is a football video game released on August 8th 2005 by EA Sports. This game is the 16th installment of the Madden series, which is one of the most popular football video game series of all time. Madden 2006 was the first Madden game to ever be released for Xbox 360 and Playstation Portable Systems (PSP). The game was made popular due to long time football announcer John Madden, who endorses the product.


The game was released on Playstation 2, GameCube, Xbox, Xbox 360, Windows PC, Windows Mobile Cell Phone, Playstation Portable (PSP), GameBoy Advance, Nintendo DS Portable Gaming system, and for mobile phones (non Windows Mobile phones). I personally own the game for the Xbox 360 system, so this is the version that I will be reviewing.

One of the many new features in this year's Madden 06 game include what is called "Superstar Mode" where the player can create and control of a NFL player all the way until he decides to retire. This mode is similar to Madden's popular Franchise Mode, where you play through the season with a team, except you are looking through this in the eyes of the particular player.

Another new feature of this year's Madden game includes what is called QB vision, or Quarterback Vision Control. This allows the user to see where the Quarterbacks field of vision is, allowing for more precision in their passes. This can also hurt the user, if the QB vision is not pointed on the intended receiver; the throw is likely to not be very accurate. Depending on who the quarterback is, and their current "awareness rating" their size of their QB vision field may be very small to the point where it covers the entire playing field.

A third new feature in this game is the Precision Passing feature, which is similar to the QB Vision Control feature. This allows the player to control exactly where the ball goes, choosing whether the ball goes over the receivers head, to their left or right, or at their knees height level.

A final feature that is new in this year's Madden 06 is the Truck Stick, which is similar to the hit stick from previous years. This allows the user to push up on the control stick, in order to run over defenders, which could potentially increase the risk of fumbling the ball of course.

There were some problems with the Xbox 360 version, with a few different problems being reported by users and experts. Some of the problems include that during Franchise mode, users are not able to hire or fire their coaches, switch  to a new team, or re-create or build a new stadium for their favorite team. Two other problems in this game include that you are unable to create your own player, and you cannot edit a player's appearance or performance skills.

The game overall received very good reviews, although the main complaints were listed above. Another major complaint is one that is common for the Madden series, as well as many other sports games, that there is a lack of new features between different years of the games.
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I have played the Madden 06 for Xbox 360, and I think the game is very good. In general EA sports does a great job in their sports games, which is very impressive considering that this game was rushed to be released in time for the Xbox 360. The graphics for the game are very impressive, and the roster updates are available online via Xbox Live. If you are looking for a very good football game, and are looking to save some money by buying the game used from a few years ago, this may be the game for you. This game can be found at EBGames or GameStop as of April 2009 for $2.99, so this is a steal compared to the $60 you'd spend for the newest version of the game. I would recommend buying an older copy of the game, if you are not too concerned with the rosters updates. Madden 06 is definitely a good buy, especially with that really low price. I would recommend this game for anyone who is a casual football game player, and is not concerned with having the latest rosters, as that's really the main differences between this game and the newest version.