Switch 2 is still in its infancy, and it continues to prove that it can bring current-gen titles to handheld in often astonishing ways. One area that has seen a significant leap forward is the sports game. The original Switch was simply not the place to experience flagship sports titles like FIFA and the 2K stable of blockbusters. Now, the ’26 version of EA Sports FC scores and we even have impressive Switch 2 versions of WWE 2K.
Madden 26 did a great job of bringing NFL action roaring back onto Nintendo platforms after a long hiatus, giving an admirable technical show with a mostly stable experience on both docked and handheld. Madden 27 outdoes this with a dedicated performance mode that targets 60fps in both modes, plus a visual quality setting that drops frames to allegedly highlight some of the game’s graphical flourishes, like dynamic weather effects and lighting (more on that later).
Before diving into the review, it’s worth pointing out that, with some caveats, this is one of the best experiences I’ve had with a sports game on a Switch console that didn’t involve two Italian brothers and their menagerie of rivals. The gridiron feels like the best it ever has with a Nintendo controller in my hand. Since regaining some of its former glory in recent years, Madden offers a tight, rewarding game of football. Play by play, it’s a time sink that can be as exhilarating or as relaxing as you want it to be.
Madden 27 plays much the same as last year, with several flavours of arcade or simulation styles and plenty of ways to tweak offensive and defensive mechanics. There are some new additions this year, like a timing-based catch system that gives a bit more control over receiving passes. More dynamic jostling lets you attach a defensive back to a wide receiver to slow them down. There’s also some added pre-snap adjustment for more freedom before executing a play.
These features bolster the already solid football game we know and (mostly) love. On top of mechanical changes, the presentation feels expanded this time around, with each team having their own unique game day atmosphere. Elaborate firework displays, goofy mascots, ear shattering anthems, your favourite team has a real personality on display here.
Madden 27 comes with the standard roster of game modes, a mixture of single, multiplayer, and co-op experiences that are iterated on with each new instalment. The big change this time around lies in franchise mode, with the “Persona Engine” being introduced to add an extra layer of immersion. This addition gives every player a set of personality traits that dictate their behaviour throughout the season.
Your squad has Persona DNA, which is designed to give each of them individuality, determining if a QB has the right leadership mindset, or a headstrong linebacker gets heated during important decisions. It allows you to foster teams built on loyalty, or take an army of chaos agents to glory. Franchise mode is where most of my time goes in Madden, and I did appreciate this extra plate to spin. It granted an added dimension of strategy to player acquisition and maintenance.
Elsewhere, there’s the Superstar mode, in which you create a player and take them through a semi-story driven career. You can start their journey at a moment of your choice and progress through a more focused, but ultimately shallow campaign.
There’s a bit more interaction, like training minigames that will have you benching for reps and running an efficient sprint, but I miss the goofy Hollywood story modes like Longshot that used to be bundled alongside Superstar. I like a bit of narrative and bland scenes of your created GOAT sitting down, messaging on their phone just weren’t engaging. What Superstar is good for is exploring the different positions and how they fit into the team dynamic throughout a season.
Ultimate Team offers the usual avalanche of booster packs, challenges, and microtransactions, front-loaded in the opening menus and attempting to suck you in with season passes and free cards. MUT is EA’s bread and butter now, so it’s hard to dismiss, but I’ll take a few online matches and a stint in the franchise mode any day of the week.
That said, with its frequent updates and online challenges, MUT is where most players will get mileage out of the game. Season passes and time-based challenges sink their claws into you and beckon you in like an expensive siren song. The shared experience of co-op and online multiplayer challenges adds to the communal flavour of MUT, and that is uniformly strong this year.
Speaking of online, I jumped into a few matches and found them a stable experience, when I didn’t randomly lose connection. Hopefully servers will stabilise in the coming post-launch weeks, but for now, finishing a game is a dice roll. Head to head online challenges are quick to get into, though, which takes the sting off the connection problems.
The other major online caveat is that most of the game’s functionality seems locked behind the health of EA’s servers. Once during my review, an outage trapped me in the main menu loading screen. If this isn’t fixed, this might be the first time a Madden title is fully locked behind an online connection. There are several modes that have always been online locked, but it’s a worrying precedent if this has expanded to the full game.
Now, how about those visuals? Well, the new Performance mode is where I spent most of my time, and it offers a smooth and stable experience. Visual Pro doesn’t make a huge difference in either mode, making it hard to justify moving away from Performance mode. There is a dynamic weather system during games and some nice lighting in the stadiums, but Performance seems to show these just as well as Visual Pro.
Undocked is the real draw here, and I found the experience damn near flawless. From first snap to last, Madden 27 feels phenomenal to play on the small screen. EA claims that 60fps is the target for both docked and undocked play, and it’s noticeable how little a hit those frames take when undocking, if any at all. Touchscreen is available, which makes choosing plays and navigating all those menus a breeze. Shame there aren’t any Switch-specific control options.
If this is the future of sports games on Nintendo hardware, then the future is bright. On that subject, though, out of the box, Madden can look a bit murky. For those who find the experience darker than usual, head into the accessibility menu and tweak the brightness and contrast.
Madden 27 improves on the performance of the previous entry and adds in a healthy suite of new features to make this a worthy new year for NFL on Switch 2. Franchise mode is even more of a time sink with the added Persona DNA management, while MUT is bursting with challenges to keep you opening packs until next year.
Online issues take the shine off things, at least at launch, but this is the best football game on Nintendo hardware since Tecmo Bowl.
