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Imagine the meeting, deep in the bowels of EA Tiburon, at the heart of the Madden braintrust, where the developers were first introduced to Nintendo’s plans for how their new console was going to be controlled.

Designer #1 - “We can pull it back to hike the ball and use an overhand motion for throwing.”

Team – “Yeah!”

Designer #2 – “We can push the controller forward for a strong tackle, or lift both arms in the air to make a catch!”

Team – “Yeah!”

Intern – “We can wave both controllers over our heads to signal ‘fair catch’ on a punt return!”

Team “…@#%$ YEAH!!!”

The sheer amount of football related actions in Madden 07 for the Nintendo Wii assigned to physical movements of the Wii controllers is somewhat astounding. The developers went nuts with the “FreeMotion Controls” scheme (as they dub it), assigning everything from stiff arms to jukes to kicking to swatting to stripping to… well, probably some other moves I haven’t even yet discovered yet. And the amazing part is that it’s all done really really well, with fairly low failure rates, and even those were usually the fault of this overexcited reviewer trying to pull a double juke followed by a stiff arm at the 5 yard line.

No wait, that’s not the amazing part. The amazing part is, Madden 07 on the Wii does not follow the formula of the next-gen Madden versions appearing on the PS3 and Xbox 360. Madden for the Wii is actually stocked with features, including fun minigames and our favorite, the minicamp drills, so unfairly excised from the next generation Maddens. It even includes some new four-player multiplayer minigame modes that almost justify a purchase completely on their own. They are:

2 on 2 – Just your basic quarter back and receiver vs. two defenders, one of which can rush (after a couple requisite “mississippis,” of course) or you can both cover the receiver. It’s like sandlot football, and the inclusion of the defensive moves like swat and power tackle make it even more interesting. Teams can also boost their sprint speed if both players pump the controllers up and down quickly.

Yards After Catch – One person plays as the QB, while the other three are defenders trying to stop his AI controlled receivers. Again, you take turns as QB and try to outscore everyone else.

Kicking Combine – Players take turns trying to kick field goals by moving the Wii in a sweeping motion up and to the left or right depending on what kind of English they want to put on it. Once it’s in the air, the other players and the kicker can control the wind by violently shaking their controllers, adding a secondary game to the action.

In short, the multiplayer stuff is a total blast, and should have even your most diehard football fan buddies hollering and pumping their wiimotes while laughing their asses off. Beer will definitely be spilled on your couch.

But that doesn’t mean the single player isn’t great too. A lot of thought was put into the control schemes, both in concept and execution. Choosing which receiver to pass through is a little difficult on the tiny square d-pad of the wiimote, but you can change your primary receiver before the snap, then simply pass – quickly for a bullet, slowly for a lob. It’s all very intuitive and a real pleasure to play.

Because the game is essentially built off of the old generation Madden, it doesn’t look as good as the PS3 and 360 versions of course. But it looks darn good for a Wii game. Like the aforementioned minigames, some other older features stuck around for the Wii. Like the most basic – keeping John Madden and Al Michaels as the announcers. I could never figure out what EA was thinking taking them out of the booth for the next generation titles and replacing them with a radio-style announcer. Who the hell listens to football on the radio anymore? The Amish? Other features making their return include the much missed (by this reviewer anyway) defensive playcalling, where you can change the assignments of individual defenders. It’s even easier now since you simply point to the player and a menu pops up asking you what to do.

Strangely Madden on the Wii is far superior to the next generation versions on the PS3 and Xbox 360? Why? Because the last time we checked, gameplay is what makes games fun to play, not individual beads of sweat dripping off the nose of a offensive lineman who’s being viewed from 20 yards away anyway. Get back on the ball EA Sports; whatever group of developers put together this gem of a game obviously get it.

Article by: Tom Price
Video produced by: Tom Price