Madden NFL 2000

Madden NFL 2000 is a version of EA Sports' famous American football series adapted for the Game Boy Color. The game offers a top-down view of the field, formation selection on both offense and defense, and a simplified passing and play-calling system controlled with the handheld's buttons. It includes a season mode as well as the option to play a single match, letting players try out their favorite NFL teams away from home. The game tries to preserve the series' basic tactical depth - choosing a formation before each play and deciding between offensive and defensive strategy - albeit in a noticeably simplified form, adapted to the smaller number of buttons available to the player on a handheld.

Because of the small display and limited resolution, the field is shown schematically, and players are reduced to small color-coded figures distinguished by team. The controls focus on basic game situations - selecting a play, starting the action, and basic movement - without the elaborate animations that made American football famous on home consoles. The sound is sparse, with short effects for a touchdown or the referee's whistle, while the music is limited to brief motifs in the menu and between quarters. Clarity on the small screen was essential, since without it the player would barely be able to tell exactly where on the field the ball was at any given moment.

Madden NFL 2000 on the GBC fits into the wave of sports ports with which EA Sports tried to reach owners of portable consoles around the turn of the millennium. It wasn't meant to replace the big console release, but to serve as a lighter option for short gaming sessions on the go, at school, or during breaks. Today it's interesting mainly as evidence of how demanding it was to compress a sports simulation into the format of an eight-bit handheld without losing the basic framework of what makes American football fun on the field, and as a reminder of an era when the NFL sports license appeared on almost every conceivable platform.