Madden NFL 2005 is EA Sports' first appearance on the Nintendo DS and attempts to continue the solid tradition of great gameplay for Nintendo's newest system.

Facts and Features:

• Full 3D gameplay that makes use of both screens
  
• 2 player wireless support
  
• Touch screen support for audibles, hot routes, defensive shifts, and timeouts
  
• Voices provided by John Madden and Al Michaels
  
• Touch screen acts as a X and O view during plays
  

Presentation
Madden is presented in a similar fashion as its console cousins, but it lacks many of the bells and whistles that the big boys sport. Licensed music is very scarce and voices are used so sparingly it seems like they were last second implementations. Menus will be familiar to anybody who has played Madden in the last few years and so should the game modes. The touch screen is put to limited but good use, but I'll discuse the particulars in the gameplay segment. Madden NFL 2005 on the Nintendo DS definitely feels like Madden, and that's important to fans of the series like myself. Read on to see how the handheld iteration of Madden NFL 2005 fares on the DS.

Gameplay
Madden's strong point has always been its gameplay. Rivaled by few, the Madden franchise has been able to provide the most realistic football experience anywhere in a digital setting. While Madden on the DS isn't disappointing, it doesn't quite stack up to its console counterparts. The speed of the game has been cranked up to a faster pace which tends to hurt the running game a little. It's pretty hard to pick out an opening between lineman on occasions due to the fact that the speed is so quick, but it isn't crippling. The passing game still plays in the same way as the console versions, but it lacks some of the accuracy. If you hold the button down on a pass, you will deliver a high speed straight pass, if you just tap it, a slower and higher thrown pass will result. On offense, you are still able to juke, stiff arm, sprint, and spin to avoid tacklers. On defense, you are able to sprint, dive, jump/raise hands, swim move, spin, and select the defender closest to the ball.

The AI in Madden NFL 2005 is at times a little suspect. On a few occasions I noticed that computer clock management wasn't the brightest. For example, the computer had the ball on the 12 yard line with 20 seconds to play in the half on a first down, and they decided to settle for the field goal. A more aggressive nature is usually found in Madden, but it's really nothing major. In fact, you can adjust not only the difficulty of the AI, but you are able to customize in which aspects you want the computer to be proficient. If you find that you pass too easily, you are able to make the computer a better pass defender without having to make any other aspects of the game harder.

The kicking game in Madden is very simple on the DS. You have two sliders that control the left/right and the distance of your kicking, but there is no control for height. Pulling off onside kicks is a little tricky due to the fact that you can't change the height of your kicks, but it's an aspect of the game rarely needed.