This year the armchair-football-videogame world has two major contenders competing for the title of football game of the year. Both Electronic Arts’ Madden 2004 and Sega’s ESPN NFL Football are quality programs, but one of them must be declared victorious on the gridiron of Playstation 2. The two games will go head to head and be compared on all aspects.

Graphics: In terms of graphics, both Madden and ESPN Football, fare incredibly well. ESPN edges out Madden in terms of player animations, player models, and tackle animations. But Madden’s stadiums and replays show why it’s been the titleholder in the videogame football market for years. Although ESPN does have nicer player animations, its other elements seem a little bland giving Madden the edge in graphics.

Gameplay and Control: In terms of gameplay, once again both games bring a lot to the table. ESPN’s “First Person Football” mode is a marvelous addition to the game, creating a new level of realism in football games. To combat this, Madden has added the “Playmaker” mode to try to keep up, but this mode makes things a little harder to control and only works well in defensive situations.

ESPN on the other hand incorporates excellent controls for players with some new options to the genre that add loads of replay to the game. Ultimately, the edge in gameplay and control goes to ESPN because of its near faultless playmaking and better tackling system.

Sound: Sound-wise ESPN is great. With insulting comments from the opposing D line, sounds of bone crushing tackles, and more than adequate commentary from Dan Stevens and Peter O’ Keefe, ESPN has entered the field of sound on a good note.

In Madden the sounds of the field are just fine. But the music selections combined with Madden’s hackneyed commentary made me turn the volume down, giving the edge in sound to ESPN.

Franchise Modes: Both of the games have good franchise modes where you control your team from the perspective of the coach (ESPN) or the team’s owner (Madden). Both include a good number of options, but Madden blows ESPN out of the water in terms of opportunities here.

Extras: A few more things you should know about these games before you buy them; Madden has such a wide variety of extras that ESPN pails in comparison. On the other hand, Madden also has some extensive load times whereas ESPN has some of the shortest I have ever seen for football games. Although ESPN puts forth a valiant effort in the “extras” category with throwback uniforms and Cribs (awards for special accomplishments), Madden owns ESPN in extras.

Overall: Overall, both games are excellent. If you have the cash on you I’d recommend buying both of them, but if forced to chose, I believe ESPN NFL Football wins out Madden for the title of best football game of the year.