System: Microsoft Xbox 360

Also available for: Microsoft Xbox, Sony PlayStations 2 & 3, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS

Publisher: EA Sports

Reviewer’s rating: ***1/2

ESRB rating: Everyone

Game type: Football

Kind of like: Same ole “Madden”

Best feature: Adaptive difficulty level, Randy Moss

Worst feature: No Madden in the booth!

The bottom line: When it comes to a genre-defining game such as “Madden,” it’s easy to understand why developers and publishers are reluctant to mess with a successful formula. “Madden NFL 09,” like every other edition before it, is essentially unchanged, save for a single “improvement” that is heavily marketed.

This year’s game features an adaptive difficulty setting called “My Skill” that adjusts to user tendencies, strengths and weaknesses. Like the box says, “The game adapts to you.” For many players, it will most definitely improve their “Madden” skills. There are hiccups, though, as it takes a few games for the CPU to generate an accurate difficulty setting.

Once it does, though, the game balances itself out quite nicely and becomes one of the better “Madden” experiences in recent memory. If anything, it emphasizes smart play-calling above all else (well, that and proving we’re not as good at “Madden” as we think we are). It just requires a little patience.

Perhaps the most noticeable difference isn’t on the field at all. John Madden, everyone’s favorite commentator of the obvious, has been relegated to mascot status, reduced to explaining the basics of the game on menu screens. Replacing him in the booth is NBC’s Cris Collinsworth, whose polish and insight is downright awesome.