Ever fancied being more than just the coach of your franchise ? What about being the superstar quarterback ? Sure, we've all created our own persona and put him into the game but we've never been able to control intimate details about his progress as an NFL athlete. Superstar mode gives you that chance. This mode of NFL Football 06 is about living and breathing the life of an NFL football player. It's about making the right career decisions, hiring the right agent... doing the things you need to do to raise your profile. It's also about being a good player on the field. Superstar mode wraps around the solid gameplay of Madden with something new and different to the franchise mode we've grown to love...

Pay careful attention when picking your parents

Superstar mode begins by giving you the chance to pick your parents. You need to select a mother and father with the correct qualities according to the position you are hoping to play. For instance, choosing a father who is a Japanese Sumo Wrestler is probably not a good idea if you are hoping to become an agile running back. You will then be given the chance to take an IQ test, something that most NFL teams put their prospective picks through in the weeks leading up to the draft. In the meantime Terrell Davis and your newly hired agent will drop you advice via the phone and help you with media work, such as television interviews. The climax to this early part of the game is the draft and things only get interesting once you know which team and which city you are heading to.

Before you can be drafted you need to sign and complete the registration form

After you have been drafted you land rather nicely in an appartment which can be upgraded further on in your career to a much more swanky appartment, a large house, and so on, Your status and profile is already growing as your own personal website is launched online with different pages being added each week through the early part of the game and into camp - each page of the website containing useful stats and data about your career. Later on the site will highlight sponsorship or endoresement opportunities.

Once camp begins that's where the football starts. Each day of camp contains at least one practice, sometimes two, giving you the chance to take the field and start catching the attention of the coaching staff. Make big plays and you will improve your chances of starting or even just making the roster. Repetitions of plays are run giving you the chance to accumulate points - the more points the better. Make a poor play though and you lose points so you need to make sure you know what you are doing. It's a neat, almost mini-game type of element to the Superstar mode that would also fit in nicely in future versions of franchise mode. The mini camp drillls have been part of franchise mode for a while and we've been calling out for something more substantial for a while... this preseason camp mode would fit in nicely, but I digress.

Preseason games also factor into the mix and just as in real life you will be given a chance to make an impact on the field, at least at one stage or another.

Once the season begins just as in the NFL there are lots of realstic elements that go towards influencing your progress and opportunities to increase your profile will drop on your doorstep from time to time, such as movie or television roles. I also mentioned at the start about making the right decisions to progress. During Superstar mode you will have the opportunity to fire your existing agent and hire a new one. You will be given the chance to bad mouth your opponents or even your own coaching staff. You can even come out the week before a big game and guarentee a win. It's all in there.

At the end of the season you might be cut, you might decide to ask for a trade or holdout and request that your contract be renegotiated.

Superstar mode integrates rather nicely with the 'Road to the Heisman' mode in NCAA Football 06. Just as in Madden, NCAA 06 lets you create your own persona and take the player from rookie trying to make the college roster all the way through to potential Heisman trophy candidate. Once he declares for the draft that's when Madden takes over.

For the first time ever Madden has an alternative gameplaying feature to the franchise mode, and while not perfect in every aspect, Superstar mode is a step in the right direction as far as offering different gameplaying experiences for the wide spectrum of people who like playing videogame football.