For those who may have missed how we got to NFL 2K5 being the greatest sports game ever, it was decided by a fan-voted tournament held in March: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/Z7NpnNNknuDGpYk.html

Just upgrade the graphics that's it and NFL 2k5 will kick ass for another 15 years.

I wouldn't have guessed back then that this game would be the pinnacle of what we would have in the future. Never would have thought the future would be so dim for football gaming.

Why does this game look smoother than current Madden and “real player motion”

If I remember correctly, they put all that in a game and sold it for $20.

The thing I enjoyed the most is actually getting realistic results out of my other players. For example: if I drafted the best pass rusher, I NOTICED HIS PLAY ON THE FIELD!! Where as in madden if I drafted let’s say Aaron Donald, I can forget he’s on my team cause he would do nothing.

That beautiful throw to Kelce is impossible in Madden today

I miss the halftime show presentation!

I loved adding my own soundtrack to the game with the music on my xbox

Ratings and Physics are respected and the presentation was on par with a real game and the greatest halftime show of all time. Even great preview shows to watch every week on your franchise. So much passion was put into this game with excellent execution. Plus, it was only $20 when games were normally $50.

for 20 bucks that time the game was way ahead of its time

THEY SHOW HIGHLIGHTS AND THEY HAVE SPORTSCENTER. Blows my mind how modern games are so lackluster

I still own this game for my OG Xbox. When 2k is able to make SIM games again this is the foundation they need. Just bring everything in this game to the next Gen and I will never EVER touch Madden again.

Yeap, it did it...I'm mad at Madden lol From the gameplay A.I., to the depth of the franchise mode, I'm missing 2k5 and All-Pro 2k8...I promise if you lost a game in those modes, it felt like you lost because they were a better team and not because you were cheated.

for those that have played Madden all their lives and have never once played 2K5.. u will never understand how great this game was, and still is.

NFL 2K5 was truly amazing. Being a kid, I didn’t understand it at the time but this truly was a revolutionary game.

The VIP profile was literally 15 years ahead of its time...because WE STILL DON'T HAVE IT TODAY SINCE! The ability to self scout essentially was just genius. I'm still playing franchise mode with updated rosters because the game play remains challenging at the highest level.

I play this game at least once a day. Me and my friend have been playing it since it came out

I can like this video without watching it 🤷‍♂️ that’s how much I know NFL 2k5 is the best

I remember going so far in my franchise like 7 years with my created player

EA Sports is the worst thing that happened to gaming Change my mind:

Because of this video, went to the garage and took out my 360 and hooked it up and started playing. I put my tv settings to 'VIVID' and the game looks so great still.

I’m one of those gamers still clinging on to NHL ‘94 . Great vid

I really enjoyed this game back in the day. Haven’t played a madden since 2007 lol

Playing 2k5 resurrected on my laptop so refreshing to be playing a great football game

Great video. I wish NFL 2k5 was backwards compatibile with Ps4 and Xbox One

Other thing that was noticable was the field would gradually wear down whenever it was muddy or snowy.

Some may not know this but if you played on og xbox you can set celebration music for touchdowns, field goals, interception returns individually from music stored on your Xbox hard drive! It even had an editing tool for picking exactly where at in the audio file you wanted to set it for use. 😏

Just purchased this for my ps2 off eBay. I cant wait to play this again

It felt as if "Dan Stevens" and "Peter O'Keefe" were actually in the booth calling the game together and not like their lines were cobbled together.

i remember playing this game constantly on my ps2 growing up. best game i ever had along with SvR 2007.

I still play this with updated rosters. I dont see that changing anytime soon

Im forever so glad my dad bought this game when it came out.

This is ridiculous. EA has no excuses at all. The highlights feature on this game looks insane!

The game was being sold BRAND NEW for $20 and was leaps and bounds superior to any Madden game ever made even to this day, 2k5 is the best football game ever made. Hands down.

This game was amazing. From the presentation to the gameplay, it was great!

Seeing this video brought back some memories. I pray that whatever 2k is planning will be just a great.

Lot of people loved that first person mode and that would be the only way they would play. It took a lot of practice to get use to it but after you did, it was tremendous!

I can't deny the greatness of this game but I remember shunning this game because it wasn't Madden. Let's not forget Madden, all the way up to and especially 05, was a good franchise that did things right. Everything after is hit or miss with definitely more misses. EA did bring us the NCAA franchise which was amazing as well. Madden on PS4 is so behind where it should be based on these much older versions.

the way xbox let you add your own mp3 ripped on the drive to a first down catch to a big time touchdown catch was just ONE of the features that still hasnt been done since

In addition to the charge, if you tap "X" your player runs faster. The faster you tap, the faster they run.

It is quite amazing that this game that was made over 15 years ago can be put up against Madden 2021/2022 and be better than it in damn near every aspect except graphics. They absolutely nailed it.

Excellent video! I hope you can someday do one on the NCAA football series.

Imagine how incredible this would be with 2022 graphics

Those breakdowns of your opponents every week..... man i miss them. 3:56

Even 15 years ago they had different cut scenes, side line cameras, different QB step back motions, the ball doesn't hand in the air throwing a "bullet" pass. simple things Madden has been so bad for years but we have nothing to play sadly.

This game was ahead of its time and was handled w/care, it released at $20, when others were releasing at $60, this resonated so much w/fans, still have my copy, my original Xbox, and talk to my boys about it.

Nothing will ever top 2k5, and the fact that you can download new rosters means it'll never die.

I like the fact that "Maximum Tackling" was their low key version of the hit stick. You just clicked the right thumb stick after a charge to deliver a bone jarring hit. You could also use the right thumb stick to spin and juke on offense and manually hurdle by clicking the left thumb stick. Nuanced is an understatement! 💪🏽

Keep it up SGO! Give them no other option but to make the game we all want, deserve & give them our money for.

Mane!!! Dat halftime show was so 🔥

I played this game until my thumbs got bruised. Awesome game.

If you played 2k5 you know the right stick when running ball was lethal

I just played this game 10 minutes ago, for the first time. It's great, and its great to see my boy Brett out of retirement, and back with the Packers.

It’s ridiculous how much content is not in sports games these days

God I miss this game so much. Played it a ton on the PS2.

I’m getting this game on xbox360 or ps3 20GB Nice video it was super fun to watch

watching videos on 2k5 depresses me because I know we’ll probably never get a football game as good as this one ever again or at least in the near future

I love this game and still own it, I remember going back and forth with Madden 05 during that year. The only things with Madden that I enjoyed that year were the hit stick and Ray Lewis being on the cover. 2K5 just made a football video game feel fun. Not NFL Blitz fun, but competitively (especially in Franchise mode) you felt like you were playing and witnessing an important game broadcasted by ESPN. No other time since has a football video game done this for me. Sure, in Madden you may feel the stakes during a playoff game or one against a divisional rival, but 2K5 made EVERY game feel like this. Chalk-it-up to immersion and detailed gameplay fluidity, because that is what a sports game should always be. Even better, due to the competition from Madden during those times, 2K5 debuted with a $20 pricetag!! This is the best sports video game of all time, and it isn't even close.

I remember going to EB Games in the Mall with my friends during the summer of 2004 in July, we all played the game that they had setup on the Kios. We all walked out of the store with our own copy of ESPN NFL 2K5, it was an amazing football game and still is to this day. With that being said, I recently bought ESPN NFL 2K5 and All-Pro Football 2K8 again off Ebay, I just got my ESPN NFL 2K5 in the mail this morning, All-Pro Football 2K8 won't arrive until Monday or Tuesday, I can't wait to finally own these games once again. I haven't bought a Madden game in years, and I won't due to the direction the game has headed in. And it also blows my mind that, a football game that's almost 16 years old still plays better than any current or last gen Madden game, lol! And I also believe that EA Sports shot themselves in the foot when they bought the exclusive license to the NFL because, there's no competition for EA Sports or anything to help push their game to innovate. However, this is why Madden hasn't gotten better like it should of after all these years, there ain't any other NFL game on the market to compete with EA Sports.

Aah man, I miss that game!

There was a noticeable difference in playing with “elite” QBs, and, say, back up qbs. Accuracy mattered, you had to input which arm to stiff arm from, and even that was rating-related. Some RBs could stiff arm weak tacklers, but someone like Jamal Lewis would throw your face into the dirt. And i loved that animation where youd truck someone so badly that the player was rolling on the ground under your feet desperately trying to grab at you as you kept moving forward 😳

3:49 LOL That rejection is just a funny thing to read.

Besides the gameplay, presentation, commentary, pregame postgame and halftime show......I loved how you could assign your DB’s to certain WR’s, you still can’t do that in Madden.

What's interesting is that people remember this year by Madden '05 having the hit stick while 2k5 came at 20$, but 2k5 had something similar to a hit stick: by clicking the Right thumbstick (R3) the defender would dive arm closed shoulder first as opposed to pressing X/square where he would dive arms open. This 2k hit "button" would stop forward progress knocking the offensive back and increase fumbles if done right, but was extremely hard to pull off. It was just something they really didn't mention

That last run was beautiful 🤩

If only you can play this game on the Xbox One X The only thing I did not like about the game you had to keep pressing the speed burst button, other than that the game was awesome

The inclusion of the field reporting and Chris Berman made feel like a real game and way more immersive. I would love the highlights replaying during the half time and at the end of the game.

I would say greatest NFL game for sure, but for sports as a whole, MLB The Show drops a deep game every year with a few good modes that have a lot of replay value.

This was one of my favorite games of all time!!

My favorite memory was using the eagles and donovan mcnab with that pump fake n shoulder roll damn this game was lightyears ahead

Can’t even throw the damn ball without it getting picked off on madden 20

I still play this game it’s such a masterpiece

This game was way ahead of its time

Can you send this video to the EA execs to show them what a real NFL video game looks like and what fans want?

Plus you could add the nbc,abc Monday night football and fox sports theme on the introduction and after each score like a real game by adding ur own music downloads to the game it was amazing

To me, it felt really even and balanced. It felt like football. Madden feels like a video game

On the xbox you could use your own music in the game which was awesome too. I had Tiger Army going off when I'd score a td for example.

Playing it as we speak

“I wish there was a way to know you’re in the ‘good old days’ before you’ve actually left them”

I like the fact that you had a crib where you can see all of your trophies and accomplishments you had a jukebox paper football

the halftime shows and cribs. Plus the fluent gameplay I loved

Was lucky enough that 2K4 was sold in the UK. Taught me a lot about the game. And became my most loved and played sports game. Still play it today, and shame it cannot be put on my PS5. Never knew about 2K5. Sports games just got too complex for me now; these old ones are pick up & playable.

I remember playing this WAY more than madden 2005. I only touched madden because of hitstick

We would stay up all night long playing against one another . It’s the only football video game my dad would play with us because he hated madden. We played hours and all nighters with him. It was treasure memories

Who else shed a tear watching this? #memories

I can't believe I didn't discover this game until 2011-2012. I had a Sega Dreamcast and played the 2k sports series with a passion. But when Dreamcast died and PS2/XBOX came along I thought all there was to play was Madden. 2k is amazing!

People always look at this game with rose tinted glasses and never call it out for all the broken stuff and jank that it had that is even more apparent because of how far sports games have come since. Broken stat tracking, bad draft logic, dumb ai, the constant clipping penalties on kickoffs and cpu always throwing illegal forward passes, jerky run animations and poor implementation of speed with 380 lb nose tackles running down wide receivers. And this is coming from somebody who liked this game more than madden and I didn’t buy another madden after this year until madden 12 came out. This game did have some amazing things about it, but people need to come off this holy grail status and stop acting like football gameplay hadn’t gotten better since. Seems like when most people try to quantify why this game is so great the heft of this argument is carried on presentation (primarily the Berman & sport center wrap up) and the fact that this game had just a ton of stuff in it, even if a lot of it was really shallow. Guarantee most people played a celebrity vip once and that was it. Everybody says FPS was cool but nobody plays a whole season with it. But I think in a lot of cases what a lot of sentiment for this game comes from is that subconscious grudge against EA because they “took away our options” for other football games and madden gets held to this irrational standard because of it. 2k sold this game for $20 and I will still say is up there with the best $20 bucks I’ve ever spent as I still get use out of this game. Madden still sold more copies the same year and even more the next year and I remember arguing with my friends about how much more game 2k5 had to offer for years but they kept buying madden. But I think for many in hindsight now it’s like you miss me when I’m gone and since madden is more focused on nickle & diming us on a game with less content, now all of a sudden 2k5 is this incredible game because 2k gave you more bang for your buck. I believe is that exclusive license thing wouldn’t have happened the reality would have been that NFL 2k would have still gone on but eventually would have fizzled out like MLB 2k & NHL 2k because the way the sports sim landscape changed there is only room for one major sports game per league and the highest selling game is going to win that war. I’ll just say Sony & 2K did more focusing solely on baseball and basketball, if EA would have solely focused on football instead of trying to keep live & nhl going we might not even be talking about this game anymore.

This game was, and is, extremely good, but definitely not perfect. Some of its trade AI left you scratching your head (trading Brady for a punter, etc.), so you had to take control over every team to stop this during Franchise mode.

People forget NFL 2K1 was an excellent ground breaking game - first to use online - and it worked well even on dial up! And NFL 2K3 was a great game. You can argue gameplay was better than 2K5. But it was 'too hardcore' for most casual players and doesn't get the universal credit 2k5 does. But it did all come together with 2K5. It was the perfect game for casual / hardcore / any type of sports gamer. Good video and a good reminder how great that game was.

And to think that all of this run on ps2 and retailed only for 20 bucks are just... Mindboggling. Its scary to think how powerful, smart, and pro consumer game devs back in the day.

The colts, falcons, and vikings using the colts playbook are just ridiculously unfair. Still playing it to this day.

I've got to give these damn 2K football games some of my time again. I'm so hooked on Gears games right now.🤔

Carmen Electra being in 2k5 and Def Jam: Fight for New York has assured she will leave behind a legacy... a strange one, but still.

My favorite part of this game (besides being able to play it on my steam deck), is the pre-snap motions, hot routes, and subs you can do very quickly. Makes playing offence so much fun. You can play the numbers game on each side of the field like real life nfl offensive coordinators and play callers do. Madden never got this quite right. I feel like Peyton Manning sending guys in motion to get them open.

You forgot to say , in this game you can do one on ones in practice , yes I’m talking a receiver versus Db Limon versus defense of lineman you name it you can pick whichever two players you want to put on the field and go against your let’s say brother 101 or even the computer

So I just got this game. I will say that the game play is a bit more real and tougher than Madden 04-08(The ones I still Own). Although too many fumbles and INTs. That become way too unreal. However, Those Madden games allow for making each offensive & Defensive formation customized with the players you want in there. Plus you and change routes and starting in 05 and up you can put defenders in spy, the flats ect. Madden also has the tutorials for those who don't want to try and read the tiny font in the manual as well as just being much easier to just put in the disc and play. Plus if you save the game on Madden you don't ever have to reset your line up in each formation. The Halftime and Postgame is cute on 2K5, but the announcers don't compare to Al & John. For my taste I prefer Madden 04. 05, 08. I mean in 04 you can actually block kicks!

The only thing I would fix is if the weekly report had new and different animations for every games highlights, instead of recycling them, this game would be top notch

The music the commentary the crib the 25th anniversary stuff so many amazing things

Played last night and got offsetting penalties! Never seen that in Madden and i doubt we ever will either!