The first entry in the long-running Madden NFL 2000 football series on the Game Boy Color is also the first entry in the series on a handheld in three years. The versions on consoles and computers having migrated to 3D graphics, the GBC edition uses traditional sprite-based 2D with a top-down view of the playing field.
Madden NFL 2000 features various game modes including Exhibition matches, Sudden Death games, Full Seasons and Playoffs. Players can save their progress using passwords. The game includes many familiar features such as player injuries and substitutions, audibles, detailed statistics, control of weather and game time, and more.
The playbook in Madden NFL 2000 includes a wide range of standard plays, as well as trick plays like fake field goals and reverse plays. Team and player names and statistics are based on the 1999 NFL season.