If you want to play Madden NFL 2010 on your iPod/iPhone but are wandering if the game is worth the trouble, then this is the article you should be reading.

Released a few weeks longer after Gameloft’s NFL 2010 (also on iPod Touch and iPhone), Madden NFL 10 is the iPhone port of the popular and award-winning series for PC and consoles. Many were wondering if this version has lost a lot of the gameplay that made it famous with this port, especially since the PSP and Nintendo DS have an obvious control advantage over the iPhone. And we will say from the beginning that the game is slightly better on a PSP or a Nintendo DS. But, if you add the fact that you don’t have to carry another gadget with you (since you probably are always carrying your iPhone), the iPod Touch/iPhone port seems to have a lot more advantages.

An interesting solution that many iPhone game developers have adopted is the placement of two virtual sticks. You use these sticks just like you would use a physical one, and their functionality is pretty much the same. The problem is that you can’t actually feel a virtual stick, especially when you don’t have a tactile feedback. Fortunately, this version of the game is not finesse-centered.

Plays are pretty much like in the PC version of the game: you select players by cycling or tapping them and you can also make some presnap shifts. It is not as good as with a console version, but for a mobile device, it’s great. Here is where the producers made another smart move: by using the touch-to-draw method, you can instantly create routes for your receivers. This adds a lot more to the game as drawing a route in the seconds before the play is a lot more interesting that selecting predefined ones. The snap is made by tapping the screen and the throw is done by tapping a receiver. Quite interesting!

Another feature is the special slowdown button that appears in certain key moments of an offensive or defensive play. If (and only if) you want to slow things down, press the button and you will be presented with a wider range of options of developing the play. This was also possible in Gameloft’s NFL 2010 but the slowdown mode was introduced automatically (meaning you couldn’t keep playing at normal speed if you wanted to). The slowdown mode makes the game a lot easier for beginners and is also a great move around the finesse problems with the virtual sticks. Go into slowdown mode and you will have the precision you need when controlling your players.

The game can be played two modes: season mode and quickplay. Unfortunately there is no multiplayer yet, but there is word of an update that will bring multiplayer in Madden NFL 10.

As a conclusion, Madden NFL 10 is not comparable to the PC or console version. But you can’t carry your console with you all the time, can’t you? For an iPod Touch/iPhone game, it is really good and for $10, the game is really worth it.