VS.
The Game Boy Advance was many kids’ first introduction into video games and as a result some nostalgic reviews may elevate the actual quality of the games. Obviously, processing power of the current generation of computers and smart phones is going to blow the gaming platforms of 2003 out of the water and even more so mobile Game Boy platforms. Graphics is only one of many new features that mobile gaming was able to improve upon and the technology of today is able to greatly influence the design of the game play itself. So the question to explore is how has the years improved the overall quality of essentially the same core game play with two very different game executions.
MADDEN 2003
Madden 2003 for the Game Boy Advance (GBA) is based on the sport of NFL football and by 2003, the Madden video game franchise has been around for about 15 years. The popular PlayStation 2 version of Madden 2003 should not be confused with the GBA version which more closely resembles Madden of the late 90s except for the players. The game play itself is as close to a representation to the game of football in a video game style of play. In as simple of an explanation as possible, the player has actions to kick the ball with timing a click creating the difficulty. The player picks the plays and controls the quarterback/ball carrier and tries to find an open receiver to pass to or can try to run around defenders. On defense, the player picks a defensive formation and controls a single player to make a tackle or disrupt a play. Control is certainly lacking in this game as a runner can run forwards, backwards, sideways, or at a 45 degree angle and as a result running is a difficult game play option. Passing is hit or miss and there does seem to be some randomness to a wide open receiver dropping the ball. Interceptions and fumbles are uncommon as there is such little control the player is actually responsible for, but instances do occur at random or maybe game balancing intervals.
So why is the game fun?
First, the game play is simple and balanced enough that close games are common and the AI seems fair for its capabilities. If the user knows the game of football, the user should be able to pick up and play the game competitively early on. Secondly, there are plenty of little aspects that keep the player engaged in the game. Things like a catchy song on the home screen, John Madden’s announcer like commentaries after each play, settings to adjust the weather/time limit/rosters/location, a season play option where the player can work towards winning a Superbowl with his favorite team, or the create-a-player option where the player can do simple obstacle course actions to improve a players attributes. There was also options to link other Game Boys and play two player, but finding a cord and friend with the exact same game was inconvenient and the feature was often unused. Regardless, all of these little details bring out what makes a game fun and keeps the player coming back instead of putting the game down after a single game. Lastly, and this gets into the nostalgia factor, but for a young fan of football, it was just fun to be able to play a football game on a long car ride, or the bus home from school and it didn’t really require much more than that to please young mobile game players.
MADDEN MOBILE
Coming into the current generation, Madden has had to make game play and AI improvements along with current generation graphics and lifelike feel in order to keep players coming back year in and year out. What made Madden Mobile so revolutionary is that it was the first game in the series to be released for *free*. In order to cater to the free trend of mobile games, most developers create a freemium model, where the initial game is free, but limited and rushed or extra game features required paying. Competition and desire to keep playing requires the player to pay and the intense grind aspect to the game makes paying for success seem a fair trade off. So the game play itself is not much different from the old game and the game panders to players that pay rather than developing pure skill.
Why would that ever be fun?!?
In order to understand why this model is so popular in mobile games and especially used in Madden Mobile, the player has to realize what the actual goal of the game is. On the surface the two games appear the same, but in execution the games are entirely different. When a new player downloads Madden Mobile and signs in for the first time he receives his team which is made up of approximately 60/100 rated players and taught how to navigate throughout the game. It’s at about this time that the player realizes the point of the game is not to play Madden football, the point of the game is to use Madden football to play the game and achieve the real goal of having the best possible team. The game gets a player hooked when he realizes a better team makes the game play parts easier, but realistically the game is more like a massive card collecting game than it is with the football parts. The strategy of the football parts is similar to every Madden that has been in existence. Better graphics and abilities to do spin moves, trucks, special passes, etc. are all huge improvements in the game play from the 2003 version, but still the game play does get boring after a while because all the features in the world won’t make Madden itself as a standalone game all that fun. Lucky for Madden Mobile, there is so much more to do that the game play itself becomes sort of the afterthought of the main goal of a 99+ overall team.
The game play organization is as follows, Live Events, Head to Head, Season, and League. Live Events are short games or challenges for the user to complete for prizes. User has a limited amount of “stamina” a resource that generates at 1 per 10 minutes and fills up according to the experience level of the user (from 15-50 stamina). The stamina can be used on any of the game components that vary from 1-10 stamina per event. The rewards for passing an event can be some variation of a player card, a collectible, coins, fans, or experience. These events are timed and can be repeated for as long as they are active and the game participates in many different events that correspond to current events (e.g. Thanksgiving, Christmas, Superbowl, Combine, etc.). Head to Head is a cost of 1 stamina and is a best of three drives most points scored challenge against another player from around the world and the user can gain fans, coins, and experience with a victory. The user also loses fans with a loss. Season games are a cost of 3 stamina and is a regular season mode of a full game against a computer controlled Madden team. Winning a game gives experience and coins and a successful Superbowl victory gives a special collectible and a starts over with a brand new season. Users can also join a league of up to 50 players to chat, compete against each other, compete in intra league tournaments, and compete against other leagues. The game play of Madden Mobile is clearly already much more detailed than Madden 2003.
The other huge aspect of Madden Mobile is the collectible system. Collectibles earned are used in sets to get better players. The harder the set is to complete means the better player received in the end. There are some players only available in certain sets and some sets are only available for limited times. Collectibles are earned in live events, found in packs, or given from achieving certain team or league milestones. The last and probably biggest part of Madden Mobile is the Auction House. The Auction House is where users can bid or buy it now on players and collectibles. The price in the Auction House is completely set by the market. Items go from 101 coins to 100,000,000 coins. Rare players and items go for the most money and the player’s strategy for profiting in the game is how the player is able to build an elite team without paying real money. Getting lucky in the market is just as difficult as getting lucky in the stock market. Grinding out profitable items and saving up and investing in hot ticket items is just as important as grinding out sets to improve the team. The player can also try his luck by spending his coins or real money on packs that have a lottery style chance of getting a big-ticket item and selling it for a huge payoff and some “Golden Ticket” items are only available in packs or in the auction house for large amounts of coins. If spending money on the game is inevitable it is usually much more profitable to use them to have enough stamina to complete events and sell the players, but the chance of getting that lottery ticket is a great tactic by EA to maximize in-game profits. The season lasts one year starting in August just around the time that most teams are hitting the 99 overall mark and players starting to burn out, they get the chance to start fresh and build the team back up all over again.
The game play of each game is similar and while Madden Mobile has many improvements on the game play aspects, the versatility and dynamic nature on an online based team building game makes it much more addictive for the player. As a result, Madden Mobile is a much more complete game that offers enough changing aspects that the player doesn’t have the chance to get board of playing and the challenge of navigating a player driven market offers a hidden challenge that could be a game of its own.
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