As the summer is winding down it's time again for America's favorite sport, NFL football. The upcoming season of course means a new version of America's favorite sports game and Madden NFL 08 has been released by EA Sports. Just to make sure that no one is left out, EA are releasing the game on all major formats, including the PSP. While it might not compare to the versions on the next generation consoles, the PSP game is still a solid football experience.

This year's Madden contains all the game modes you would expect; Franchise mode, Mini Camp, Practice and Play Now are all available in Madden 08, with franchise mode including Fantasy Draft, Preseason, Season and Off-Season segments that you can play or simulate as you desire. One feature I really like is the play-controlled simulation option, which allows you to play a game without being down on the field controlling the players. You see the progress of each play you've called by a short text message with the number of yards gained or lost. There's an Assistant Coach segment in the Franchise mode, which allows you to increase the attributes of your players based upon the success of your season.

One new feature in the game that I really enjoyed is the Superstar Challenge. This mode allows you to recreate key plays of the 2006 season, such as the 60+ yard field goal made by Tampa Bay. The Superstar Challenge is broken into several tiers to progress through. The lower tiers might offer a simple challenge such as scoring a touchdown with 1:43 left on the clock in the 4th while the higher tiers offer challenges such as stopping the other team from scoring, scoring a touchdown to tie the game and then win in overtime and so on. The game lets you decide how you'll win, either by recreating the exact play from 2006 or by performing a new play. It would have been nice if some type of extra bonus had been offered to accurately recreate some of those historic plays, but sadly it isn't.

Another new feature in Madden 08 is the weapons indicators. Key players in the game are labeled with a skills icon to help you identify who is lined up and where. A quarterback could have four different icons, while a safety will have three icons. For example, a quarterback could be ranked as a Cannon Arm, Scrambler, Precision Passer or Franchise Quarterback while a Defensive Lineman could be a Heavy Hitter, Run Stopper, Pass Rusher or Force of Nature. Every time you line up you can press the left shoulder button to view icons of the key players and where they are located on the line, which sallow you to adjust your play to an area not occupied by a key, icon player. Think of the icons as a way to identify a player without having to memorize his name on every play.

Madden 08 performs very well when it comes to the gameplay, without any noticeable slowdown or control issues during the majority of the time. You get all of the standard moves you would expect, such as a spin, juke, sprint and dive. The game includes the Hit Stick option, which is performed by pressing the triangle button and pushing the analog nub in various directions. On offense these combinations allow you to perform highlight reel moves such as running a defender over. For me, the only big issue I had was with kicking; your kicks are performed by pressing down on the analog nub and then pressing up when you've reach the highest point of the power meter you want, but if you happen to move the analog nub left or right during your up movement then it could result in a kick from the side of your foot. I always seemed to have this problem occur at the wrong moments, usually when I was kicking deep within my field position. I probably should mention that the AI still performs some miracle plays from time to time, I guess in the hope of turning the tide or keeping the game close.

Visually the game looks good, especially for a PSP football game. All of the players are on the field and the game keeps moving along at a solid frame rate, regardless of the action on the field. During the regular camera angles all of the characters look great, but when you get a closer view you see the apparent PS2 visual look from years ago. Blocky character models, textures lacking detail and weird graphic effects such as balls floating off of the players hands are all here. There are some nice character animations during certain tackles and receptions though; my favorite is when the player has the ball stuck to his hand and he has to use his foot to remove it.

Madden NFL 08 might not set the world on fire as the "be all and end all" portable football game, but it's still a top contender. The number of gameplay modes is sufficient to keep you going for months and the controls are nicely implemented. Visually the game could use another coat of paint, but it still isn't a complete eyesore. In the end, Madden NFL 08 does exactly what a good football should do - it gets you into the game with minimal loading times, enjoying the good plays while cursing the bad one. While a few minor enhancements might be needed, the game still offers a fun and exciting portable football experience that every Madden fan will undoubtedly enjoy wherever they go.

Reviewed by James Fanciullo for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).