Every year, Madden seems to add new features and game modes, and 2002 is no exception. This time, there's the addition of the Two-Minute Drill, a fun way to practice and build up Madden Challenge tokens. Also new this year is the Situation feature, which allows you to set up a specific scenario. This mode will allow you to arrange a classic situation in the NFL.

A rundown of the various Madden 2002 game modes follows:

Exhibition

The standard mano y mano. The throwdown. The battle. The scuffle. This is where you call up your buddy and tell him he's about to get a butt-whoopin'. This is where you settle old scores. This is where you play your grudge matches.

Exhibition is also a good place to get used to a team's playbook before heading into a season. Heck, they have four preseason games in the pros. Why don't you do the same?

In Exhibition, you have access to a lot more teams than you will in Season and Franchise modes. Here, you'll be allowed to play with all 32 NFL franchises, plus all Classic teams, All-Pro teams, and any teams you may have unlocked by getting Madden Cards. Exhibition also allows you to play with the eight NFL Europe squads. 

Season

This mode allows you to take one team of your choosing into battle for a series of 16 games, plus the playoffs.

In Season mode, the game will keep track of a whole new set of stats, and you'll have new opportunities to set and break records as you progress. It also allows you to play your way into the playoffs, and ultimately, the Super Bowl. At the end of the Season, you will get the opportunity to play in the Pro Bowl.

Season mode is also your gateway to a Franchise. Even if you didn't choose to play a Franchise right off the bat, you'll be given the option to launch into a second Season after the first concludes, turning your one-year campaign into many.

Franchise

Franchise Mode is one of the greatest features of the Madden series this far. It allows you to select a team and play with it throughout several seasons. In the process, you will make all football decisions for that squad... who to sign, who to cut, how much to pay players, etc.

Franchise mode also allows you to select the Houston Texans, stock the team with talent from the Expansion Draft, then continue to sign players and cultivate the budding organization. Or, if you've created a team, you can choose to insert them as the franchise instead of the Texans.

Check out the Building a Franchise section of this guide for tips on how to run your franchise.

Tournament

The perfect party mode, Tournament allows you to compete in a user-created tournament with 4, 8 or 16 teams. You can choose either single or double elimination for the tourney. In single elimination, if you lose a contest, you're out. In double elimination, you must lose two games to hit the skids.

Tournament mode allows all players to conduct a Fantasy Draft, should they choose to do so. This means all rosters are wiped clean and competitors get the opportunity to build their organization from the ground up before going into battle.

You can use your created team in tournament mode by pressing the CIRCLE button at the team selection screen.

Custom League

In much the same way that you can customize a tournament, you can also customize a league. This mode allows you to rebuild the NFL with as few as four teams and as many as sixteen. This allows you and a group of friends to compete directly in a series of games where every contest counts.

In a Custom League, you can set either Round Robin or Double Round Robin formats. In round robin, you play every team once. In double round robin, you face every squad twice.

You can determine the number of playoff teams as well. If it's two, the two best teams will square off in the Super Bowl immediately following the end of league play. Up to eight teams may reach the postseason.

Practice

Put your team through the paces and get used to controls and Playbooks with the extremely useful Practice Mode. Select who is competing on both offense and defense, then choose which team you'd like to control.

After the load screen, you will be able to select both the offensive and defensive sets to fully practice what you want to work on. Each time a play is completed, regardless of the outcome, the play will reset from the original spot. If you'd like to practice another play, head to the Practice Pause menu. Select Choose New Play to switch up what you want to work. This will allow you to change both offensive and defensive sets.

Situation

This mode allows you to set up almost any game situation imaginable. Create a classic game scenario or practice your offense against a specific set of circumstances. The gameplay elements you can manipulate are listed below.

Away
Home
Away Score
Home Score
Quarter
Qtr Length
Time Left
Possession
Down
Yards to Go
Scrimmage
Home TO
Away TO

Two-Minute Drill
The two-minute drill is a new addition to Madden. It allows you to run an offense against any defense in the league. The goal is to score as many touchdowns as possible in the two-minute limit. The more you gain, and the more you score, the more points you will earn.

Points will then convert into Madden tokens. Doing well on a two-minute drill can earn you a couple hundred tokens, which converts into two packs of Madden Cards.

The point totals given for various accomplishments during the drill are listed below.

On to Controls

Madden NFL 2002 official site