Definitive Football Game

[Herschie]

Regarding NFL 2k5 another thing that bugs me to this day is I was an avid EGM reader and they ranked Madden 05 higher than NFL2k5.

Did EGM get fat revenues from EA? How could they possibly all rate Madden 05 higher? I couldn't find all the reviews but I did find one from EGM 1up that went a little more in depth about why Madden was better.

http://www.1up.com/reviews/espn-nfl-2k5_2

Most people to this day rank 2k5 as best ever so why didn't anyone at EGM think so? I'm thinking $$$ had something to do with that.

I recall that I actually liked Madden 05 better than ESPN 2K5. 2K5 got old after awhile, but to this day I still play Madden 05. Madden, while not as flashy with the graphics and presentation, ended up being better in the long run. I even remember playing 2K5, and wondering how Madden was going to top it. Well, at least in my opinion, it did.

Of course, 2K5 is way better than some more recent iterations of Madden.

[Herschie]

Even on here the games were rated similarly, with ESPN 2K5 getting an A on the PS2, while Madden 05 got an A- on the PS2. So it's easy to see how different opinions might rank Madden higher.

[jon]

I think Tecmo Super Bowl is an iconic football game. That and NFL2k5 I'd probably say are up there. But I still think that, and Herschie made a good point, I don't know if there are any that are definitive. On consoles. Because that's what was so good about also playing computer games, at least back in the early 90s. They picked up for each other if one had a weak genre. Consoles didn't have realistic Indy Car Simulators, and computers didn't have Super Mario Bros. And if there wasn't a definitive football game on consoles there was the Front Page Sports Football Pro series. I remember at Computer City or CompUsa I can't remember, they had a booth where you could get in and play FPSFP '95. I think that the era from around '89-'94 was just impeccable. It would be awesome to see some of those games somehow get reviewed.

[MoarRipter]

For me, ESPN NFL 2K5 on the Xbox is the best football video game ever. Everything about it, the gameplay, the options, the little touches in the presentation that make it seem like an actual broadcast, the excellent halftime and postgame shows, being able to use your own tunes for events like sacks and touchdowns for example, it was just an all around excellent football game and I haven't played a football game since that can come close to it. Friends and I still play 2K5 as we all agree it is still the best of the best, even a decade later.

[jon]

To claim otherwise is just EA nut hugging. Nothing EA ever did, at least that I played, ever touched the franchise modes from NFL 2k5 and College Hoops 2k8. I used to be the biggest EA fan around. I actually remember the very first Madden game, for the computer, played the hell out of it. And they were on fire for a while with the PGA series, Madden on the Genesis, the NHL series, including of course '94, FIFA, and NBA LIve. The Bill Walsh series was good too. But in the late 90's they starting becoming inconsistent. And they don't have anything close to the credibility they used to. They were up there in my opinion with developers like Accolade and Sierra. Now, it will take a lot for them to get my attention.

[Herschie]

I'll never forget that legendary halftime show that 2K5 had.

[Gentlegamer]

Tecmo Super Bowl is the empirical definitive football game.

Get a flash cart, and download roster updates from tecmobowl.org to play modern teams.

[Rookie1]

I have never been in to sports games but I played the check out of some Joe Montana Football on the gamegear as a kid.

[Retro STrife]

Jon: To me, there is no debate here... Tecmo Super Bowl for the NES. Since you didn't mention it in your original post, I'm assuming you haven't played it. Get on that ASAP.

As for NFL 2K5, great game, way ahead of its time. A couple years ago, I played through about 2 full seasons of it, and I can attest that it still holds up as a very good game. But it is starting to show its age. Yes, it was 10 years ahead of its time, but those 10 years have passed now. Tecmo Super Bowl, on the other hand, never gets old.

[jon]

Yes I have played Tecmo Super Bowl. I'd recommend playing more than a couple seasons of NFL2k5. It's strength lies in its dynasty mode, 10-20 seasons is more like it.