Just because one is better than the other, doesn't mean either one is worth getting IMO. I'm thoroughly disappointed in Madden, even if it may be better than NFL. Bottom line right now for me is neither one is anything to write home about. It may be "the best" sports games we have available now on the idevice, but that's nothing to brag about at this moment...
Also, knowing now how good the graphics can be on the iDevices, both of these games could have had much better graphics. The graphics that they both came out with is just laziness on the developers end. Oh and both of these games need a franchise mode as well as multiplayer (which is coming soon, hopefully).
I have played both and I would definitely say that Madden is better. The graphics are about the same but I think Madden is more realistic. I was able to always get sacs and interceptions with NFL, but it is very hard to do in Madden, like in real life. Also, for me, it is almost impossible to run in NFL 2010. 99% of the time when I try to run, I get tackeled right away and lose yards. Maybe it is just me sucking, but I think running is a whole lot easier in Madden. Sometimes you gain more that 10 yards, sometimes you gain a few yards, and other times you lose or don't gain yards too. This is also like real life. The only complaint I would have for Madden is that sometimes the ball goes right in the hands of either your receiver or defender but it pops right out of their hands and it's incomplete instead of a catch or interception. All in all, Madden is the better game.
Having played both, Madden is the far better of the two, with (IMO) better graphics, sound and game play. Love the diversity of plays available, and the (very) detailed statistics available for season play. It is, by far, the best sports title I've seen on the iDevice, yet, but is not without issues... Play Clock: There is no penalty for letting it run. When the play clock gets down to 1 second, it just magically stops (as does the game clock), putting you in a pause-like situation until you hike the ball. Personally, I want to feel rushed to call the play and line up... Dropped balls: It seems far too many balls are thrown and bounce off the chest of the receiver, or defender. Difficulty: The game is just too easy, and I can't do anything to adjust it. Perhaps it's my preferred style of play (pound the ball on the ground on O and blitz every play on D), but this is crazy easy. Ive played a couple of games, now; at first it was tighter scoring, but after learning how to run passing plays... Well, the last game I played was against KC. I play 7:00 minute quarters (the longest game possible), and it wasnt pretty... I connected on 22 of 38, for 462 yards (12.1/att). In 20 attempts, I ran for 399 (19.9/run). On defense, my two OLB combined for 23 sacks, 11 knockdowns and another 10 hurries. Final score, 107 to nothing! Oh, my team... The Raiders(!) Replays: There are none. Could've been so easy to add this in, i would've thought... Perhaps they didn't want to highligh the fact there are some odd hand-through-body type collision errors, but for an iDevice game, the graphics are very good, and perfectly smooth on my iPhone 3G. Replay Value: I dunno... When I finish the season, whats left to do? A full multi-season dynasty option wouldve been really nice; particularly since there are only 16 games in an NFL season. If I could end up with reasonable scores (about 20 points per) and stats (maybe 200-300 total yards) in a game with 7-minute quarters, and a perpetually game (dynasty), Id be really loving this game. For now, it will provide me with a week or two of entertainment (once my season is done), and it will probably be put to rest after that. This did, however, save me from buying Madden for PS3 or X360, so it served it's purpose.
