Football season is here and iPhone gamers are scouring the App Store for the best NFL video games available for their device. Three of the best apps in this genre are included in our round this week. The titles which made the cut are EA’s Madden 10, Gameloft’s NFL2010, and Chillingo’s Super Shock Football.
Madden has been dominating the football game market for the past 20 years. EA Games has now released the first version of Madden for the iPhone into the App Store. Now there is quite a rivalry between Madden 10 and NFL2010 and gamers face a tough decision.
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.
We’re looking forward to multiplayer and roster updates coming in a future software update. As it is, replay ability is exceptional. This IS a Madden football game. Expect to be engulfed in it until the next one is released. Gameloft’s NFL2010 is right up there with Madden yet each offers a few things the other lacks. So, go ahead and buy both if you can pull it off. At $9.99, Madden enters the App Store at an expected price point and should stay there for the entire season. As anticipated, Madden 10 brings a 4-Star experience to the table and shoves its closest rival NFL2010 into OT.
Being released as the first full-featured football game for the iPhone, NFL2010 by Gamloft is designed to deliver. Of course, Madden 10 will be the title all comparisons are made by. Yet, in our reviewing NFL2010, we were excited to see it holds up and stands tall against its 20-year-old rival.
We really were shocked by the stunning visuals in NFL2020. Madden 10 better watch our as this smaller competitor is racking up to be a huge success. All the audio sounds are pleasing. Controls are well honed and respond appropriately to our commands. Some functionality does feel absent as the plays come off as preplanned. We felt like we just set them up and then watch them unfold in front of us. However, we did like the Kicking plays as we felt these offered the most control with aiming and power. This was probably our favorite aspect of the gameplay.
For what it’s worth, NFL 2010 looks great and plays well for a first effort. We expect to play this one for some time. While a little pricey at $7.99, it seems downright cheap when you consider that any similar console version will likely start around $50. NFL 2010 is a solid 4-Dimple touchdown celebration of a game.
With Super Shock Football, iPhone app publisher Chillingo brings a different style to the football genre. Based on the electric football games of the past, Super Shock Football will grant a satisfying experience to iPhone gamers, even if it doesn’t replace Madden 10 or NFL2010.
We really loved the graphics of the 2D players running around in a 3D world. A top down viewing angle is used for setups but switches to an on-field view when watching plays. Crowd noise, whistles, and vibrating players humming all adds up to some cool audio effects. All the controls can be met with a single finger. The bottom of the screen hosts game info like scores, time remaining, etc. These don’t distract from gaming but are a little hard to make out. Players can set the quarter length and the number of men on each team up to 11.
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.
We can’t believe how far iPhone and iPod touch gaming have come in just a little over a year. When we decided to take a look at these NFL video games for review, we were surprised at how well they all performed. With Madden 10, NFL2010, and Super Shock Football, players clearly have some of the best apps to get their football fix.
