With every passing year the gridiron sport is becoming more and more popular. With the NFL already in its pre-season stage, SKY broadcasting more games on TV and another match heading to Wembley stadium later in October it’s looking to be a pretty good year for American football in the UK. Obviously with another season of American football that means another Madden title and questions always bloom as to whether this year has proven better or worse than the last.

I’m not going to go into details about how to play the sport itself because if you don’t know the rules chances are you’re not going to buy this game and probably not reading this review :S Controls include flicking the remote to throw, hike the ball and power through players. Obviously you move your athlete with the analogue so it does sort of feel like a regular video game with a few appreciated gesture extras thrown in for good measure. It’s where the Call Your Own shots feature comes into play that really impresses. For the first time in a Madden game you’re now able to change passing plays on the fly and actually direct where your players run with the Wii remote. Press the A button before a snap and you can select wide receivers and change their running path for that play. It’s a real evolution for the series and can make games feel far more involving. Hopefully next year Madden 10 will allow for you to create your own play book and even change defensive plays. The potential is there and hopefully EA will notice that.

The controls themselves work perfectly and the addition off All-Play where things are toned down for the gamer is great for newer players to the series. My brother who isn’t a regular Madden player tried it and got used to the controls in ten minutes. Indicators help show which receivers are free, which plays to pick and generally make life easier.

Madden is always full of modes and this year is no exception. One returning mode that’s always fun with friends is the party mode. Here you are treated to a trivia quiz on all things American Football which is sort of like the Playstation’s Buzz games minus the varying round types. It’s good but you really need to know your stuff for it to be any fun. Then you have the twenty or so mini games where you can compete against one another for points. These include the games found in mini-camp where you’ll just alternate to get a high score but also new events where you’ll play on the same field at the same time. These are obviously the more fun but overall it’s a nice package to what is already a game not short of modes.

Then you have the franchise mode where you take control of any NFL team and take them through the pains and triumphs of season games, training, trading players and more. It’s as good as it’s always been and the most in depth of any sports title I’ve seen with the only ones trumping it being manager games. You can go through the entire pre-season, draft, rebuild your stadium, relocate your stadium and even set the prices of hot dogs. It’s so deep and I’ve lost many hours simply scouting for players and organising my team alone!

Then you have Superstar mode where you select a single player and take them through training, get picked by a team in the draft and hopefully win yourself a Superbowl. The difference between this and franchise is that you only play as one player. You can be a kicker, wide receiver, tailback or the one most people will choose, a quarterback. Throw in some IQ tests, TV interviews and more and you have another option to tick away the hours.

Also included is practice, mini game camp, a play now mode and the new 5 on 5. Here is a simple scaled down version of the real thing with cartoony visuals that doesn’t stray too far from Wii Sports. It is almost like the Street series minus over the top moves and crazy locations. Definitely another great addition for the multiplayer gamers.

Online this year has been significantly improved too with an experience that rivals Mario Kart Wii. You can choose to enter online as a guest with no stats being kept or you can instead opt for an account. No longer must you use the annoying friend codes. If you see someone you want to add then go ahead, they’ll be included in your friend roster on you EA account. Developers take note and finally rid us of the ridiculous friend codes. You may not be able to chat via headset or write your own words, but you can send various pre-written messages in lobbies which are split into casual and competitive. It’s nicely laid out and proof that third parties can do online well.

Visually the game has finally been given the graphical bump it sorely needed. The past two iterations looked identical to the Gamecube versions and that was one of the bigger negative points I found with them. Now the game has a smoother more fluid look to it, boasting an overall more finished feel. However I don’t know if it’s just me but the commentary seems repeated from last year. The phrases are the same and still Al Michaels and John Madden seem bored at times. I think it’s time to freshen up the audio comments from these two. Soundtrack wise Madden doesn’t disappoint. You get the usual list of rock, metal and R & B with around thirty tracks in all.

Like all EA sports titles the differences are small but luckily for Madden 09 All Play they add to the experience and make for a much more complete title that could easily compete with the 360 and PS3 versions. An improved online mode, better visuals, extra mini games and modes and an excellent “Call The Shots” feature make for the best Wii Madden yet.