Except for the practically dead Sega Dreamcast, it appears that there's no platform EA won't develop for, and whether that's a good or bad thing is up for debate, but many consumers buy the publisher's games, chief among them, Madden football. The number one selling pigskin title has appeared on multiple systems including Nintendo's DS. A launch game, Madden NFL 2005's features are razor thin, but it's still worth picking up if you're a grid iron fan in need of a portable football title.

While Madden's fun to play (and I'll get to why in a bit), there are two things that seriously hold it back, that being its graphics and its lack of features. Visually, although it's a portable 3D game, it's by no means a pretty one. Stadiums look all right because they're always in the background, but the players look terrible. Resembling something dragged from the PSOne vault, the character models are pixilated and walk around like they have sticks up their...well...you know. Basically globs of polygons that vaguely resemble human beings, it looks like EA hand painted each one, so what you see looks like some hellish clay sculpture put together by a seven year old. The field doesn't look much better, and the sidelines are these green voids that don't look like a part of the game at all. To make the game's presentation worse, the sound is equally horrid. The crowd noise is a jumbled mess and the commentary, what there is of it, isn't well done. Al Michaels occasionally says stuff, but John Madden's one-liners repeat too often.

As for the game's features, there isn't much to do aside from just playing football. You can still collect Madden cards, play out a season, practice, and partake in two-minute drills, but you can't create players or play a franchise mode. What's here is basic football, plain and simple.

So now that we've got the worst aspects of this game out of the way, let's take a look at what Madden does right. Surprisingly, the gameplay is rock solid, especially since EA's given us the basics. All of the NFL teams are present, and you can still sign and trade players as well as check out a bunch of stats. It really is a good football game that, while not necessarily addictive, is a lot of fun to play, made so because of how you use the DS's touch screen. Using the stylus (or your finger), you can access and call plays on the fly, as well as call time outs and shift your line men. It's so convenient that going back to the old way on the PS2/Xbox/Gamecube is very uncomfortable.

On the field, you're still able to juke, dive, straight arm opponents, and spin around them, so what we've got here is a pint-sized version of one of the greatest football games ever made that plays a lot better than it looks. Wireless play is easy to set up and is very enjoyable, but both you and your opponent will need a copy of the game.

It's not pretty, but Madden NFL 2005 is an enjoyable football game that's great to take on the go. The ability to call plays on the fly with the touch screen really keeps things flowing at an even pace, and the wireless multiplayer mode is a welcome addition. Although there aren't many DS sports games (Madden was in fact the only sports title that launched with the system), rest assured that it's a good one.