| Madden NFL 06 | |
| Developer: | EA Tiburon Exient Entertainment (GBA, DS) Floodgate Entertainment (Mobile 3D) Sandcastle Studios (Mobile 2D)[1] |
| Publisher: | EA Sports |
| Series: | Madden NFL |
| Genre: | Sports |
| Modes: | Single-player, multiplayer |
| Platforms: | PlayStation 2 GameCube Xbox Xbox 360 Windows PlayStation Portable Game Boy Advance Nintendo DS Mobile phone |
Madden NFL 06 is an American football video game released in 2005. It is the 16th installment of the Madden NFL series by EA Sports, named for color commentator John Madden. It is the first Madden game for the PlayStation Portable and Xbox 360 and was a launch game for the 360. Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb is on the cover.
Madden 06 introduces the Superstar mode, which allows the player to create and take control of an NFL player from his rookie year all the way to retirement. An athlete can be created by evaluating pairs of judging, based on their IQs, occupations, and hobbies, whether their child would excel in the NFL or by importing a player. Superstar mode is essentially Madden's Franchise mode seen through the eyes of this athlete. Rather than manage the team's front office, the player manages the career of his athlete.
It also features the new QB Vision Control. A cone, appearing as a spotlight emitting from the quarterback, simulates his field of vision. To make an accurate pass, the quarterback must have his intended receiver in his field of vision. Passing to a receiver not in the cone reduces pass accuracy significantly. The size of the quarterback's vision cone is directly correlated to his Awareness rating.
However, this has been criticized by many fans because it may resemble some bias that EA Sports and the Madden series itself is frequently accused of. A player can shift the vision cone with the right analog stick, or focus the cone on a specific receiver by holding a shoulder button and pressing the button assigned to that receiver. This change also met with the poor reception. Although the passing system adds a whole new level of realism, it also makes the game significantly more difficult for players playing teams with less-aware quarterbacks. These players will be forced to improve their reflexes in order to be competitive, as throwing outside the QB vision cone results in a very weak and inaccurate pass.
Accompanying QB Vision is Precision Passing. Pressing the directional button or left analog stick in a certain direction as the quarterback passes the ball will make the throw over the receiver's head, behind him, in front of him, or at his knees.
The most critically acclaimed new feature is the highlight stick, which functions like an offensive version of the hit stick from the previous year. When running the football, a player can push forward the right analog stick to run over the defender, at the cost of risking a potential fumble. Several features from previous titles return such as hot routes, playmaker features, and franchise features.[2] [3]
The soundtrack for Madden NFL 06 featured EA Trax integration that includes Avenged Sevenfold, Tech N9ne, Memphis Bleek, Slim Thug, Disturbed, Foo Fighters and many more hip hop/rock artists.[4] [5]
The player can import their created player from Own The City mode in NFL Street 2 into the game's Superstar mode after finishing the game mode. The player starts as an 18-year-old rookie in NFL Superstar mode and attributes are given by how development points were distributed in NFL Street 2. Also, draft classes from NCAA Football 06 could be imported to franchise mode. If the player has a save file from Madden NFL 06, they can unlock the Madden Challenge Bus in Burnout Revenge; a gameplay demo of Revenge is also available on the PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions of the game.[6]