When New York Giants receiver Plaxico Burress pulled down the winning pass from quarterback Eil Manning in Super Bowl XLII, the Game Guy wasn’t thinking “Yay!” or “Boo!” (He’s a Packers fan, so in his mind the NFL season ended two weeks ago.)

No, he was thinking, “This will be a great play to recreate on ‘Madden.”’

Yes, “Madden NFL 08,” the video football game against which all others — and there’s maybe one other worth playing — are judged.

Specifically, he was thinking about the Superstar Challenge mode on the PlayStation Portable version of “Madden.” This feature, unique to “Madden” this season, encourages gamers to try recreating game-winning scenarios through the previous season, setting them up just as they were on the field in reality.

Superstar Challenge utilizes plays that occurred during the previous season, so instead of Eli Manning and the Giants making spectacular plays in this year’s Super Bowl you’re asked to recreate, for example, his brother Peyton’s escape from the Tennessee Titans’ defense in a come-from-behind regular-season win on Oct. 8, 2006.

Of course, when “Madden NFL 09″ debuts this summer, expect the younger Manning’s on-field heroics to receive prominent recognition.

But Game Guy didn’t want to wait, so he set up a game between New England and New York, revised the player power rankings and the defensive- and offensive-set adjustments, and tried to recreate Burress’s catch.

He came close, but not close enough.

And as for recreating David Tyree’s game-saving reception for the Giants … well, forget about it. Call that one “Immaculate Reception II.”

But it was fun to try, and “Madden” publisher Electronic Arts surely knows it.