Share. Giving you the Madden experience in 8 minutes or less. Giving you the Madden experience in 8 minutes or less.

Superstar KO streamlines every aspect of the Madden NFL 20 experience. One offensive possession for each team, no field goals or punts, stripped-down playbooks, mandatory two-point conversions, and a sudden-death overtime tiebreaker. It’s as if college football overtime and arena football had a love child. EA postulates that the online-only multiplayer mode, which is now live for you to play, will require about eight minutes of actual gametime. For longtime football gamers who eulogize the cheeky arcade chaos of NFL Street and NFL Blitz, this should be taken as an olive branch. After years of elaborating on the monolithic algorithms of Madden Ultimate Team and the salary-cap math of Franchise Mode, Superstar KO returns Madden to its core base -- people who always go for it on 4th down.

Here's how it works: each player chooses one of eight baseline rosters, coached by a notable person in the sport with their own strengths and weaknesses. Jennifer Welter, the first female coordinator in the NFL, hosts a team called the Shutdown that boasts superior pass and rush defense, while Sean McVay's Record Breakers offers you a wider variety of offensive plays.

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“ One team I drafted featured Lil Yachty under center, handing the ball off to Raiders great Marcus Allen, while Aaron Donald assaulted the edges; a true Picasso of football weirdness.

After making your selection, Superstar KO drops you into an abbreviated fantasy draft to supplement the depth chart. Here, you add three different "X-Factor" players -- two offensive and one defensive -- as designated in the Madden main game. This is presented as a one-in-four choice from a pool that includes current superstars, legends of the past, and what EA is dubbing "icons." In particular, two icons. Lil Yachty and DJ Khaled, who are both blessed with high-tier quarterbacking stats. One team I drafted featured Lil Yachty under center, handing the ball off to Raiders great Marcus Allen, while Aaron Donald assaulted the edges; a true Picasso of football weirdness.

Once you're finished, it's off to the races. Whoever gets the ball first starts on the 25-yard line and attempts to orchestrate a no-holds-barred endzone drive. It will result in either an eight-point touchdown (with a successful two-point conversion), a six-point touchdown ( on a failed conversion), or a zero-point fizzling after a fumble, interception, or turnover on downs. (Remember, kicking isn't allowed here.) Afterwards, the other player gets the ball and attempts to either beat or match the score that the first player put up. If those drives end in a draw, you're put into a unique overtime condition, where each player gets three offensive plays to gain as many yards as possible. Whoever generates the most earns the victory.

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“ The NFL often comes off woefully self-serious, and it's easy to read Superstar KO as a repudiation of that trend.

The whole Superstar KO package feels a lot looser and lower-stakes than the buttoned-up Madden ensemble we've come to expect from EA. For instance, the players you draft all have their X-Factor abilities activated for the whole game, which means that Phillip Rivers can chuck flagrantly unreasonable floaters from the moment he takes his first snap. Each of the teams has custom uniforms and logos, EA designed a new cyberpunk domed stadium to anchor the action, and commentators Brandon Gaudin and Charles Davis have been jettisoned in favor of a DJ hypeman in the booth who yells things like, "Khaled from the gun on third down!" The NFL often comes off woefully self-serious, and it's easy to read Superstar KO as a repudiation of that trend.

The progression system in Superstar KO is also fairly stripped-down. After winning a game, you'll be able to add another X-Factor player to your squad before matching with another player. Sometimes, you'll even be able to add a player that your opponent had, as if you were looting an AK-47 off a dead combatant in a multiplayer shooter. (This wrinkle has Associate Producer of Madden 20 Jake Stein likening Superstar KO to a football interpretation of a Battle Royale, which makes more sense than you might think.) After reaching four victories, you've completed the gauntlet and will be rewarded with a bounty of in-game resources. Initially, the rewards will primarily tie into Madden Ultimate Team, but Stein mentioned that the team plans on diversifying the incentives in the future.

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My only qualm is that Superstar KO can only be played online against human opposition. Madden is one of the greatest couch franchises of all time, and the breeziness of this mode seems perfectly tuned to those of us who bring their consoles home for the holidays for some split-screen friends-and-family action. I mean, what's more fun than consolidating the fantasy football experience into a 10-minute window? But generally speaking, EA is embracing some long-missing levity. They put DJ Khaled on a football team. Frankly, it's about time.

Luke Winkie is a writer and former pizza maker in Brooklyn. He's written for Vox, Vice, The New York Times, Gizmodo, PC Gamer, Rolling Stone, and wherever else good content can be found.