November 28th, 2009 
Eric Meister With the iPhone and iPod touch gaining popularity by the day and the football season upon us, we thought it would be appropriate to review some NFL video games. As we put together this iPhone Football game roundup, we found three that could just be some of the best apps out there. Let’s take a look at EA’s Madden 10, Gameloft’s NFL2010, and Chillingo’s Super Shock Football.
For the past 20 years, Madden has been the king of football games. It is now available in the App Store by game production house EA. iPhone and iPod touch gamers now face a dilemma as to choose between Madden 10 and the earlier released NFL2010 by Gameloft.
From a visual standpoint, Madden delivers, but not exactly with the precision we had hoped for. Everything looks a bit old-school like the graphics of consoles of days gone by. Yet, for the iPhone they look standard. You’ll quickly recognize that the original John Madden comments and helmet-to-helmet crash audio effects are all included in this iPhone version of the game. If you don’t like the included music tracks, you can play your own selection from your iPod library. All the controls in Madden 10 work great and a variety of options are available on demand.
Hopefully, we the game will obtain multiplayer and roster updates as the title gets successive updates in the App Store. Where it stands today, Madden 10 offers tons of replay ability. Don’t forget, this is a Madden football title. Gamers will be playing this feverously until the next Madden title is unleashed. Comparing it to NFL2010, it’s a close draw as both offer a slightly different experience. If you like, you may choose to buy both and determine which options you like the best. Madden appears in the App Store at a $9.99 price point. We believe it will remain there for the rest of the season. We give Madden 10 a 4-Star rating that puts it neck and neck with NFL2010.
NFL 2010, the first full-featured football game specifically for the iPhone and iPod Touch, was released earlier than expected by Gameloft. With a graphic style similar to Madden, it is hard not to compare NFL 2010 to the king of all that is football. Fortunately for mobile gamers, NFL 2010 holds up quite well.
Graphically, the game looks gorgeous. This is the closest thing to Madden that we’ve seen. Sounds are good, with all of the expected football sound effects. Controls work well and are responsive. It just seems that it is lacking some of the functionality necessary to make us feel as if we have control over the plays. Often, it feels like we are simply watching them unfold as we’ve set them up. In fact, the plays where we felt like we had the most control were kicking plays, which utilize two gauges, one for aiming and one for power. This scheme works especially well.
Gameloft really impresses with NFL2010, their first effort at iPhone football gaming. This will be on our most-played list for some time to come. The $7.99 price is a bit steep, but it is lower than Madden 10 and it’s a huge savings when compared to console games. We have to give NFL2010 a 4-Star rating as well.
Super Shock Football, Chillingo’s new sports game based on the classic electric football game, has been released in the app store. Combining the random exhilaration of vibrating players with some exciting new additions, Super Shock Football won’t replace Madden or NFL2010, but it creates a whole new experience unto itself that many may find just as satisfying.
Super Shock Football is a visual masterpiece – we loved the 2D players all zigzagging around the 3D environment. The game presents a top-down view when setting up your players but then it rotates to an on-field angle for play watching. Audio effects are very enjoyable as you can hear the little men humming as they vibrate around the field. Crowd noise and whistling add to the entire effect of being in a virtual stadium. Every game control mechanism can be accomplished with a single finger. At the bottom of the screen you’ll see the usual stats like scores, time remaining, etc. These are a tad difficult to read, but they are not distracting from the game itself. A few options can be set like length of the quarter, and the number of players on each team.
Nostalgia and humorous gameplay put Super Shock Football in a league of it’s own against more traditional football games in the App Store. You’ll have a blast if you don’t take the game too seriously. No two games will ever turn out the same as the outcomes are so random. This leads to high replay ability. At a price of $1.99 Chillingo gives Super Shock Football a huge advantage over its competition. In fact, we give it a 5-Star rating that will make its more mature rivals jealous.
In just over a year, iPhone and iPod touch gaming has soared to new levels. As we planned these NFL video games for review, we had no idea they would all perform so well. Madden 10, NFL2010, and Super Shock Football all bring exceptional aspects to the table with the result being a major winner for mobile gamers the world over. These truly are some of the best apps we’ve come across.
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