For locals that know little about the sport, Madden NFL 2003 is an ideal primer. As long as you know that the basis of this game is to make ten yards in four plays, the new Football 101 mode has all you need in the form of recorded descriptions from coaching legend John Madden himself, running demonstrations and commentary, and graphical overlays to chart the tactics in action for offensive plays. Following each demonstration is the opportunity to try yourself, while Mini-Camp mode puts you through drills that focus on improving Dual Shock skills in controlling players' movement and actions such as passing, diving and stepping.

In match modes, easier difficulty settings provide the same graphical overlays so you can see how your team will move and what each player will do. A further option, called Easy Play, replaces the team playbooks with generic options (run, kick, pass, etc). After selecting your intended move, formations and plays are automatically selected. If you're really stuck, you can always just "ask Madden", and the coach will tell what he thinks you should do.

Gameplay has always been a strength of the Madden series, but in Madden 2003 the PlayStation 2 finally has a technically worthy version. Player animations have been improved and now include gang tackles and side arms. Collision detection is as solid as ever, and graphically this release is as good as can be expected.

Gripes are cosmetic. The menus are poorly laid out and typically hard to read and replays are far too cropped to reflect the tactical environment. The commentary, while on the whole perfectly acceptable, also fails to respond appropriately to dramatic moments such as touchdowns. As if stopping after each play weren't disruptive enough, cuts to close-up shots of players after a play fail to convey sense of occasion and cannot be skipped. While providing a full-screen PAL conversion, Madden 2003 looks unmistakably stretched, no matter which camera angle is chosen. And the cheerleaders look terrible.