Gameloft scores a licensing deal with the NFL and NFLPA to compete with the Madden Franchise.

NFL 2010 ($4.99)

Gameloft fulfills their claim to be the first one to come out with a football simulation for the iPhone. With completely licensed teams and characters, does Gameloft have enough going for them so we can say T-O-U-C-H-D-O-W-N?

My Take

You know, I’m not much of one to dig into all the legal matters surrounding games that are connected to popular sport.  Through the 90′s and all of last decade, I know that EA Sports have sought and bought out licenses for all major American (globally I’m sure) sports.  Kinda of in a way, EA just about cornered the market and letting no one have any cake outside of a few juggernauts when dealing with real teams, real player stats, likelihood, logos, etc.

But after a few years, somehow, somewhere, a mobile publisher is granted access to the holy shrine of NFL EA9 football. As a gamer, I grew up watching football with my dad, I learned to hate the Giants, Redskins and Eagles to name a few.  I play fantasy football as well.  I’m not as hardcore as some few I know.  But I love to watch a good, grinding game of football, high school, college or pro.

With EA snatching up all the licenses to publish, the competition started to dwindle with a exception of a few solid franchises.  The one that stands out the most and gets a lot of publicity is the Madden Series. Madden 10 is set to be released here shortly, so without hesitation I jumped to review Gameloft’s rendition.

Presentation

It’s clean, there’s a slight lag on the load times but it’s very minor compared to other games.  The UI is a snap, easy to read touch controls that make for an easy rifling to get a quick start.  Graphics are okay, I have not seen the game played on a 3GS yet, but on my 3G  WF6.N4K it looks like my old OS9 copy of Madden 2000 on my ancient iMac.  Given the speed of the 3G model and my old iMac, I’d say it’s about right on the money when comparing the two.

Game Play

Surprisingly, the gameplay is good!  Since I am learning to play football on a new platform, somethings will be different.  Picking your teams (through quick mode, season or playoffs), adjust your time limits, the coin flip, the playbook, angle of kick/strength of kick, all of that is somewhat the same as Madden, albeit with touch controls over a controller.

The difference is with the split second decisions you are confronted with on both sides of the field.  When running with the ball, you are given three action icons: bulldose through your defender, spin around him or juke to the side.  Everything slows down and you have a second it seems to tap the desired icon.  On the defense side, there’s two icons, with no slow down.  One is tackle and the other is a fireball or in my opinion, it’s a flat out run-them-over-tackle.  The latter isn’t as technical, but if you have a clean shot, I’d use it when I can!

Don’t expect to pick up the game and master it right away.  I will say I didn’t pick up Madden fast on my xbox after playing Madden on my computer and PS1.  Show some patience and keep after it.  You can only absorb so much of the tutorials daily.  But after a while instinct will take over.

The Cons

Although it’s getting easier to play as I go through a few games, there’s a huge learning curve.  With all respect, it is my first football game played on my iPhone.  I just think it needs a dumbed down version to hook more players in. Other than the early frustrations, it’s only a matter of time before the game starts to make sense and enjoyable.

Conclusion

It’s worth getting and playing.  I have yet to play Madden 10 to make a sound comparison, but Gameloft’s approach is one to check out.  I hope they update the game soon with online/Wifi play as promised on their iTunes page.

So my thoughts are: learn the system, exploit the weaknesses and get ready for the online match ups.  If you are like me, the online part is the BEST.  Get up to speed before the leagues open!