Madden NFL 2004

New features in Madden 2004 include a new owner mode option that allows the player to control a franchise. In this mode, the player takes on all the responsibilities related to owning a professional football team, from regulating hot dog prices, to team relocation, to hiring and firing coaching staff. Another new feature is the ability to edit a historic team. Also, a new training camp mode, occurring before the preseason, that can help player progress faster by putting him through mini-camp drills.

This Madden game is best known for its version of then-Falcons quarterback Michael Vick, an arguably overpowered character and by acclaim the greatest Madden player of all-time due to his 95 speed rating. In 2016, developer Clint Oldenburg told Gameradar that over the next several years "features were added to the game specifically to stop Vick." The 04 version of Vick has been used in Madden NFL 25 and 15 in Ultimate Team mode as a 99 overall with either 99 or 100 speed.

Upon release, the game sold over 2 million copies in three weeks. It sold more than 5 million copies within a year. By July 2006, the PlayStation 2 version of Madden NFL 2004 had sold 3.5 million copies and earned $170 million in the United States alone. Next Generation ranked it as the fourth highest-selling game launched for the PlayStation 2, Xbox or GameCube between January 2000 and July 2006 in that country. Between those dates, 22 million copies of the Madden series were sold in the United States, of which Madden NFL 2004's PlayStation 2 version had the highest share.

Based on the platform, Madden NFL 2004‘s ratings ranged from universal acclaim to average reviews. GameRankings and Metacritic gave it a score of 91.77% and 94 out of 100 for the PlayStation 2 version; 91.54% and 94 out of 100 for the GameCube version; 89.24% and 92 out of 100 for the Xbox version; 88.40% and 91 out of 100 for the PC version; 80% and 80 out of 100 for the PlayStation version; and 74.60% and 70 out of 100 for the Game Boy Advance version.