Madden 2005 is one that often gets mentioned in the "Best Madden" conversation. I was inclined to think this as well, but after revisiting a handful of Madden games, it's missing some quality of life and gameplay features that keep it from the top tier.

As the story goes, offense was notably overpowered in Madden 2004, so Madden 2005 set out to make defense better and balance the game. Unfortunately, it was an overcorrection. Defense has never been particularly fun to play on PS2 Maddens, and now offense became seemingly more frustrating too with receivers struggling to shake their defenders.

Franchise mode does have some fun new additions, including the newspapers and the Tony Bruno Show (a radio show that plays in the background while you're going through menus). On the downside, part of the menu UI is done through the use of a palm pilot which almost sounds like a joke, but this was the technology in 2005.

So why is this game remembered as one of the best? Madden was extremely popular at this time and it's one of the most-played entries. By the time the PS2 series peaks a few years later with more finely-tuned gameplay, many gamers had already moved onto to next console generation.