Madden NFL Arcade

Presentation

Small teams, big action

Madden NFL Arcade is all about accessibility and its clean and simple menus mean the field is never more than a couple of presses of the X button away. You can choose to play as any of the 30 NFL teams with licensed strips and your five-man team will be made up of recognisable American football stars.

On the field, players are caricatures of themselves and their positions, so wide receivers are tall and lanky, while running backs are stocky, fast and bull-like with the ball. Big plays come thick and fast, thanks to the smaller teams and simplified rules, and hits are suitably massive.

To make the game accessible to those less familiar with the sport, playcalling has been simplified to allow quick gameplay while still giving you strategic options. When your team has the ball, you can choose between run and short, medium and deep pass plays. On the other side of the ball, you can go for short, medium or deep coverage, or go for a blitz if you feel the need for a big sack.

There are also two control schemes available - Arcade and Standard. Arcade controls are simpler and reduce most actions to a simple press of one of the action buttons. Standard controls will be more familiar to fans of the full Madden games, with the option of using the right stick to perform feints and big tackles. Don't worry though - in multiplayer, neither control scheme offers any distinct advantage.

Gameplay

Hitting the big time

The rules of American football have been simplified in Madden NFL Arcade to make it more accessible and generate fast, hard-hitting matches. Two teams of five players duke it out on a 60-yard pitch, and you have four attempts, or downs, to score a touchdown. In a standard match, the winner is the first to reach 30 points, and you can adjust this to your preferences.

Game Changers are often the difference between celebrating in the end zone and looking up at the soles of your opponent's feet. Randomly assigned before each play, Game Changers are power-ups that are triggered by pressing the L1 button. They can slow down or speed up the action, freeze an opponent in their tracks and even flip the scores for the ultimate reversal of fortunes. They can also be used strategically - savvy players will consider which Game Changers they and their opponent have in hand when choosing their play.

Multiplayer

Maintaining records

Up to four people can pad up in local multiplayer and you can test yourself against another player in ranked and unranked online multiplayer matches. The game keeps a track of your record, including the number of wins, losses and your streak - the number of online matches won in succession. This is vital if you want to bag Madden NFL Arcade's toughest trophy, Like a Boss, for winning five games in a row.

There's also a lobby, where you can see who's online and hand-pick your opponents, as well as a leaderboard where you can see how your record stacks up against the rest of the PlayStation community.