Product Description

Whether you’re at the helm of a collegiate powerhouse in Dynasty mode or dominating the action with the easy-to-use control system in all-new EA SPORTS Family Play, life on the college gridiron jumps to life like never before with NCAA Football 09. Challenge friends and family on an even playing field and call your favorite plays from a simplified playbook, then take your game to the next level by delivering big hits with the help of all-new action icons. You can even field two teams of mascots in the hilarious Battle of the Mascots mode. With arcade-influenced gameplay bringing out all the fun and excitement of Big Play Saturday, and the accessibility of EA SPORTS Family Play, it’s never been easier to pick up and play NCAA Football 09. An all-new Wii-exclusive moves system featuring simplified Wii Remote-based controls makes NCAA Football 09 the most accessible college football game ever. Call plays on both sides of the ball using a simplified playbook featuring 40+ plays or call plays like a pro with the full playbook. When the pressure gets to be too much, hand things over to your head coach and have him call the plays for you. All-new action icons tell you when to tackle, evade defenders, swat the ball on passing plays, and more—all while the play is playing out. A fun, arcade-style presentation throws you into the action faster than ever. With the removal of non-interactive scenes, gameplay begins at the line of scrimmage, and players can join a game on the fly with a press of a button. Hype the crowd with user-controlled celebrations to gain a momentum boost, or taunt friends and rivals after every big score.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #347 in Video Games
• Brand: Electronic Arts
• Model: 15599
• Released on: 2008-07-15
• ESRB Rating: Everyone
• Platform: Xbox 360
• Dimensions: .25 pounds

Features

• Wide open and authentic college style gameplay
• College atmosphere and pageantry plus the all-new Mascot Mode
• Home Field Advantage with new mini-game components
• Improved recruiting system in Dynasty mode
• Online capable and up to 4 players

Customer Reviews

Not For The Football Purists
I love football, been a fan for 20 years. I've played Madden and College football for over a decade so I know how its supposed to look and play. First off NCAA '09 looks great and moves great. The animation is top-notch, I'm always noticing little touches, beautiful for most part. The college team at EA surpasses even Madden when it comes to animation. But none of that matters unfortunately . This game is wholly unbalanced. Glitches abound, graphical annoyances. Nothing comes together as it should. EA doesn't seem to think there are any defensive battles in college football! There is no defense in this game. If the CPU doesn't advance the ball and is forced to punt it seems as if it is only that way because the CPU chooses it to be. The plays that the CPU chooses are just stupid. Run on first down with a loss of yardage, second down run for a loss, only to have their QB throw to a wide open receiver for a first down. Last years version was far from perfect, but I thought it was a very good foundation to built upon. If you are a football purist like me you will eventually come to hate this game. If only because there are so many good ideas like the pump fake being mapped the right analog stick or the great animation. EA continues to be a great disappointment me. Madden 09 had better be the second coming, or I will forever turn my back on EA. I might as well have took a lit match to three twenty dollar bills.

Been playing it ever since this came out and I am VERY impressed so far!
First of all, I have been an EA sports gamer for a while now... ever since Madden and NCAA football has been developed. If you look over my past reviews I have written, you will see that I don't hold my opinion back any in regards to hammering a game title. Personally, I feel EA in regards to XBOX360 has gotten cheap and lacked quality over the years. So read this review taking that into account.

As for this game, I have to say, "ABOUT TIME!" EA's NCAA football is finely getting back to the level of its glory days in regards to quality and new inventive game options. For example, there is a new bluff option in the game. Usually when you pick a play and your team is on the field, you want to check what that play looks like before you snap the ball. The problem with doing that is the other team knows what you are calling right before you snap. The new bluff feature allows you to show multiple bluff plays on the field - both runs and passes. You can show multiple bluff plays and throw in your real one to see what it looks like and still not totally give away what you are doing... GREAT ADDITION TO THE GAME!!! The recruiting in the game is a lot better also. This game allows you to now pick and choose what you want to do in regards to recruiting and let the computer take care of the rest. It provides options for people who want a little assistance to allowing the computer to do it all.

The game play finely is smooth again. Running the ball seems more realistic and passing is more fun. I think the game programers of today have finely started to catch up to the XBOX360's technology... finely. The past games just didnt feel right to play. Newer gamers (People who started playing this game in 2006 to now) probably wouldnt notice this however if you have played this game and Madden forever, you'll notice.

About the graphics... the xbox360 has always done pretty well with graphics, however, this year it looks even better. I have to stress one thing though. Having a quality TV makes all of the difference. For example, I have an older model HDTV 27inch that I played this game on and it looked nice, however, when I played this on my 52inch 1080p LCD HDTV... this game is AWESOME!!! Regardless the game is fun no matter what TV you have.

Well I will probably be adding to this review as I play more. So far I have not experienced any freezing moments or glitches in the game, however since the game only came out yesterday, I may change my attitude about that topic. I havent played it enough to give a totally valid opinion. With that said nothing so far.

UPDATE: I'm still enjoying the game very much. Still no Freezing up like the poster stated before the game came out. I've noticed a lot more things about the game also. There is A LOT more detail to it in regards to the stadium, crowd and sideline action. Your cheerleaders are sad when you mess up for example. I remember in older games the crowd and cheerleaders would celebrate no matter what. The Crowd and Sideline players interact more with the game. About the game being too easy??? I do not agree with that. Play the game on a higher level and try playing with the teams that don't have every player rated high. I usually stay away from the USCs of the game. What is the point? The team is already perfect - in regards to player ratings. Basically, if you want it to be harder there are ways of making the game harder. One Con about the game I do not like is that blitzing is a lot harder. In the past speed rushing on the sides was a lot easier. That changed last year so I went to LBs to blitz manually. This year I can't get through with the LBs or LE/RE. Being able to hit the QB is something I really enjoyed in the past. This does take away from the fun factor of the game - a little. With that said, still a great game!

Daniel

Too much junk
I have owned NCAA 09 for a couple days now and there has already been some big problems I've had with it. For one, after I scored a touchdown the announcers acted as though the opposing team had scored and then I received the ball again on a kickoff that was supposed to be for the other team. I have never had this big of a bug occur during any other football game I have played. Besides that, the gameplay seems cluncky and slow and the controls seem to be inconsistent.

Another part of gameplay that was annoying was the "updates" to certain parts of gameplay. I was playing a close game against an opponent and was about to kick a field goal to tie and for some reason the camera view for my kicker made it so I couldn't even see the goalposts. There was a help icon which I pressed but then noticed that the playclock was still running while I was trying to figure out what the hell was happening. Suffice to say I missed the darn field goal.

New updates are supposed to improve gameplay and make it more fun and this game does the opposite in several cases. I would honestly still rather play NCAA 04 when the gameplay was crisp and smooth. I think that EA could really use some competition so maybe they'll improve the gameplay instead of giving us a buggy product with frustrating "updates".