The waning days of August bring with them some certainties of the annual cycle of reality - back to school shopping, the furious rush to get in final summer vacation days, the overflowing bounty of farm-fresh fruits and vegetables at stands everywhere, and a new Madden football release. Madden NFL 07 is the second PSP iteration of the franchise, and it feels very much like the versions for other platforms - it's apparent that much has been learned and fixed, but it's equally apparent that much work remains.

I'll tell you one thing that bugs me right from the start - what is NEW! Yes, the game proudly proclaims what new features it has included this year, which isn't bad - it helps you figure out the new features. The problem is that the 'new' highlight is permanent. So when you've logged hundreds of hours over the next several months you will still be told about new features every time you start the game. That aside, I'm pleased to report that the majority of issues from the first Madden PSP game have been fixed and lots of new features and a cool mini-game have been added, making this a very worthwhile addition to the Madden roster.

Before I get to the actual game, I want to address the basic issue of video game football. What is it that attracts so many people to buy it year after year? These are questions that trouble those who have little interest in sports games - they see football games as not much different than the latest Virtua Tennis - you simply play the game and advance through, winning matches. But that's where they're wrong. Certainly the video game is a simulation of the sport, with fantasy team and franchise modes that feed the annual fan frenzy - but it's more than that. Football as a game is a simulation of war, which immediately brings elements of strategy into any decent representation. The strategy comes in both real-time and turn-based varieties, because of the way plays are called and executed. It's also a sport based upon a combination of individual and team efforts, giving action and nuances a great impact. Madden looks to flesh out that real-time and turn-based strategy / action / simulation combination more and more each year. Unlike world-based strategy games like Civilization, football is a 'closed box' - there are fixed rules and dimensions that simply don't change. Therefore, I contend that the attraction of the game is that the developers are asking "How many holes can I fit in the box?" - and we still haven't reached the limit.

So what has been added? Most of the action is on the running game, which makes sense since the featured player on the cover is a running back. Tradition dictates that the emphasis of new features focuses on the position played by the cover athlete. There's a major new Lead Blocker feature that lets you make the hole through the defence and then take control of the running back to blast through. Dovetailing nicely with this comes improved running back controls that give you more flexibility to work through the play. Fortunately, Madden NFL 07 is not plagued by the 'phantom yardage' bug that hurt the recent NCAA 07 release. There's also a new Kick Meter and a mini-game called End 2 End.

For those who just want to play, the first menu option is Play Now, which launches you immediately into an exhibition game with your preferred team facing off against a rival of your choice. Unless you have prior experience, you'll quickly find yourself a bit lost in all of the options and controls at first. There's a wide variety of ways to approach playing Madden - indeed there is even a Head Coach mode in which you simply call the plays and let your AI team execute them. On the other end of the spectrum, you can snap the ball, take the lead block and then switch to running back and power through the line. Similarly on defence you can control every aspect of the gameplay. The flexibility here is an excellent feature that's great for new players who are learning the game.

And there is plenty of opportunity for learning, with two separate mini-camp modes to help you practice skills in all areas, as well as a basic Practice area for running plays over and over. Offence and defence speed, power and accuracy - everything you need to succeed in the action portion of the game you can learn in this section; you'll find an exercise for capturing flags that teaches you how to break through the line in a fast and efficient manner, a precision punting exercise, running and passing, and all sorts of other skill drills. Each can be done in either a practice setting or in game mode, and I cannot stress enough how important these drills become as you seek more and more challenging games. I had particular trouble with the Pocket Presence QB drill - but that was because after a year of heavy PSP use I still didn't really know which button corresponded with which symbol well enough to keep up! Speaking of learning, several assist features are available, such as pass assist, which helps you catch the ball even when you're controlling the receiver. These helps ease you into the game - but if you plan to move beyond Rookie mode then you need to learn how to do all of these things very well by yourself.

The controls work very well but can take some time to learn. Depending on which player you're controlling, and the play situation, there are different options available - you will stumble for a while, but eventually it will all make sense and become second nature. Again, I stress spending plenty of time in mini-camps practicing the skills to help you hone your control knowledge.

Beyond mini-camp, there is the massive Franchise mode in which you can take control of a team and execute a fantasy draft; build your roster and take your team through up to thirty seasons! This is a very in-depth simulation - you work through all phases of the football year and are in complete control at all times. After you go through the 49-turn draft, you take your team into Training Camp, where you work with your players and earn points to increase their attributes. The Preseason matches help you trim your roster and evaluate new players' skills and weaknesses, then you're ready for the Regular Season - play your schedule, make trades and adjustments, and try to get to the playoffs. The game allows you to take control of a team for the Super Bowl and Pro Bowl even if your team doesn't make it, which is a nice touch. Finally, there's the off-season - time to work through all of the required behind the scenes stuff before the next season is upon you. Franchise really is a very well designed game mode - but it's unlikely that every aspect will thrill every player. Personally, once through the draft was plenty for me - I was glad that for my 'real' run I could skip the draft and let the game handle that for me. Just about every section can be simulated if you don't want to run it yourself, but of course, if you skip too much then you aren't really playing the game.

The strategy comes in when it's time to start calling plays - should you pass or run, how the defence is aligned, their strengths and weaknesses, and so on. Analysis is critical to success, especially at more challenging difficulties. The difficulty settings also warrant mention, rookie, pro and all-pro, as the gap between each is significant - rookie is very easy, but pro is pretty challenging. All-pro, on the other hand, is just insane and intended only for seasoned veterans. Of course, you can mitigate some of the challenge by using the play-calling help, which is the 'ask Madden' feature. Generally this suggests appropriate plays, but sometimes the suggestions can only be described as wacky. For example - on second down and inches, Madden suggested I run a Fly pattern from the shotgun. Thanks, John, but I'll go with a Halfback Dive and play Lead Block. These suggestions can be helpful when you're just starting out though, as they help you to develop a strategy for various field positions and time situations. I suggest working out your own system as soon as possible - you'll never learn to read a defence running someone else's plays.

After playing for a while and winning some games at the Pro level, I thought it was time for some live competition - and was reminded of the difference between computer AI and human intelligence. The WiFi Infrastructure mode is easy to connect and find games, and you get to dive right in. Things went great right up to the point when my opponent stripped the ball from me on my return, then ran for a touchdown three plays later. It got better from there, but I was beaten in the end, and learned a lesson in the importance of working on all of the action and strategy skills. There's also a local wireless mode, and you can connect to a PS2 and exchange data between versions of the game too. It's somewhat unfortunate that the PSP connects only with the PS2, as the USB connection could easily hook up to a PC. Perhaps next year…

New this year and exclusive to the PSP is the End 2 End mini-game. It is strange in that you have to turn your PSP sideways to play, and the goal is to return kickoffs for touchdowns. Every special move you execute gets you points that you can compare online to other players. It's a fun little mode, but honestly not worthy of 'top menu' status - some of the practice games are more fun and challenging. It is clearly there because it's new and to provide an exclusive feature to the PSP, since it lacks some of the features of the console versions.

While the graphics in the first PSP Madden game were criticized, this year they are excellent; the animations are generally smooth and authentic, while the overall feel is very realistic - it is hard to think of this version as scaled down graphically compared to the PS2 or Xbox (the Xbox 360 version is another story!) The graphical cues help you find open receivers and break tackles and blow through the line for a QB sack - you never get lost because of muddled or overly crowded graphics. Some of the ending animations, particularly pass-catching, are jerky and unrealistic, but the overwhelming impression is one of extremely high quality graphics. The sound quality, however, is not nearly as good - there's nothing aside from the crowd going wild that makes you notice the sound in a positive way, making it adequate and nothing more. The commentary in particular is problematic and there are numerous times when one of the commentators says something that makes no sense, such as talking about a pass block when I actually ran in for a touchdown. The soundtrack is very nice, with songs that work very well, displaying the artists and titles in a small corner graphic.

The first question I always ask anyone about a PSP game is "how are the load times?" That was another major complaint about Madden 07 for the PSP - and while the loads have not been eliminated, they have certainly been optimized. In other words, you will still encounter heinous load times on occasion, but you won't get an overall feeling you're being plagued by long loads, because during the majority of the time they're very quick, and even when there are thirty-second loads (which I still consider too long), you get a combination of music and trivia that makes the time pass quickly.

If the picture forming in your head is one of a game that is solid but not without its share of flaws, then I've succeeded in sharing my view of Madden NFL 07. It's a great game that will keep you busy for many hours across several months, offering tons of options and replay value; yet there are plenty of quirks and load time frustrations, and some things could use more optimization. It's not perfect, but it is a great advance from last year's effort, which brings me to the final issue, that of value. Is the game worth buying? I'd have to say that it depends - if you like to play week to week along with current teams and rosters, then you're already committed to an annual update - and you'll get a few new features. But if it's all about the action then you need to weigh how much you will play the game this season. Personally, a large amount of my playtime was spent on practice modes that I won't need to relearn next year and that's something to consider. But if you're looking for football on the go, this is the best handheld iteration yet and certainly good enough to be worthy of your time and money.

Reviewed by Michael Anderson for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).