If you’d rather focus on spinning away from tackles, stiff-arming incoming opponents and powering your way through by drumming the remote, you can. It’s an excellent way to learn the ropes, gradually taking more and more control until you’re calling the shots, drawing receiver routes before the snap and even tweaking your plays with audibles. You can even choose your throwing style – either point to a receiver to pass it in that direction, or hold the appropriate direction on the remote’s d-pad and flick the remote forward to release the football.  In defense, players can be selected with either the remote pointer or d-pad, guide them towards an opponent by holding down the A-button while traditionalists can move with the control stick. It’s all remarkably intuitive, down to the simple gestures which rarely seem to fail – flick the remote up to raise your arms to catch or intercept the ball, flick down to swat a pass out of the sky, shake to hit your opponent with a crunching tackle, or to power past a player with his hands around your waist. There aren’t any MotionPlus enhancements but the game doesn’t really need them. And if you still feel things are a bit too technical, then the arcade-style five-on-five mode strips things down even further. Here you have three downs to make it to the endzone before turning over the ball – no punts, no field goals, just pure and simple running and passing.

Perhaps the best new addition to this year’s game, however, is the Madden Showdown mode, a multiplayer-centric offering for up to four players. It’s essentially a round-robin tournament of sorts featuring short matches (one single period of up to ten minutes) where those not playing a game can get involved by betting on the outcome. There’s also  an additional bonus prediction on another random element – the number of two-point conversions, or the first touchdown for example – with points bonuses on offer at the end of each round for both the players and the predictors.

All pretty straightforward, but it’s when you introduce Game Changers that things get a lot more entertaining. Tug of War gives players just one turn to advance the ball as far as possible before switching to defense, while you can restrict the playbook to All Passing or All Running Plays. It’s the other options, though, which make this one of the most unexpectedly hilarious multiplayer modes in years. Turbo mode is about twice as fast as the name suggests – a ridiculously-paced game which sees you having to make snap decisions in nanoseconds, while Fumblitis is a farce in the best possible sense, as players drop the ball if an opponent so much as brushes past them. Meanwhile, It’s Alive sees possession change hands regularly, as the ball isn’t considered dead after an incomplete pass. And Invisibility mode can result in your quarterback being sacked by an opponent you couldn’t see, or conversely you’ll run in a touchdown with the ball seemingly floating into the endzone of its own accord.

The remaining modes are geared more towards party play than solo gamers, too. Road to the Super Bowl sees players earn points through throwing, running, passing and tackling well – fail to make the necessary yardage, get your QB sacked, or just turn over possession cheaply, and you can expect to be benched. The other players can then spend some of their own hard-earned points to buy you back a spot in the team, or leave you to stew while they get on with winning the game. If every player is benched, then the game is lost. It’s an inventive idea, but it’s quite long-winded, and unless you’re likely to have at least one partner on a regular basis, you’re best sticking with Showdown for multiplayer fun. Alternatively, there’s Huddle-Up, which is vaguely reminiscent of Super Mario Galaxy’s Co-Star mode – one player controls the game as usual, while the second uses their pointer to knock over opponents, clearing the way for a touchdown or allowing defenders to put the opposing quarterback under pressure. The screen shudder and booming sound effects make flooring CPU rivals highly entertaining, but it’s a fleeting pleasure, and feels like little more than a way of giving gaming widows something to do while their partners hog the telly. Good for families, perhaps.

Ultimately, Madden NFL 10 is a curious beast in the sense that it tries to offer something for everyone, but at the same time it’s difficult to see who’s going to buy it. Most serious gridiron fans will opt for the HD versions, while any one of Wii’s fairly sizeable library of multiplayer games is likely to get picked over this at any get-togethers. That it might fall into a dangerously small niche is no criticism, however. Madden NFL 10 might not improve EA’s financials any, but it’s a remarkably polished and full-featured package that certainly deserves the attention of Wii-owning sports fans.

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