Celebrating the tenth anniversary of the dawn of the Madden video game era, EA Sports is here with Madden 2000. Enjoying the fruits of being the most popular sports title on the PlayStation, EA Sports might be expected to be happy with the status quo. Truth is, EA pretty much is. There haven’t been drastic changes in the game since it came to the PlayStation in 1997. Sure, there was the obligatory move to polygons and some little tweaks to playcontrol, both of which were likely fueled by additions to Madden’s main competitor, GameDay.

In the last couple of years, Madden’s features have expanded off the field with the refinement of the Season mode and the addition of the extremely popular Franchise mode. These two features, in themselves, are ahead of the competition and are some of the reasons that this game is on top. A new feature that is sure to please some Madden fanatics is called the Madden Challenge. This mode works in conjunction with the user record, keeping track of personal records and awarding points after milestones are met. One task may require playing a complete game with six minute quarters. Another may ask a player to score 21 points in a quarter. No problem with the Vikes. Completed tasks will be rewarded with secret codes for extra teams and stadiums (among other things).

Graphically, Madden doesn’t have the polished and buffed player models of GameDay, but the addition of the lineman gut and other proportional attributes are welcome. Equally welcome are some small animations, such as place-kickers readying for a PAT or the QBs throwing off balance.

Madden 2000 does offer a few new controls on the field. Ball carriers can now juke to both the right and the left. There is also a new Passing mode which lets the user audible routes at the line of scrimmage. Leading the receiver before he cuts is also new to the 2000 version of Madden.

Like its counterpart from 989 Sports, Madden 2000 isn’t filled with huge changes from last year. However, the game does give fans just enough to warrant a new look.