My take on the PSP version

[gonova]

There are things good and bad with 09 PSP. It all depends on what you are looking for in a portable college football game.

If college football isn't important to you, wait for Madden. IMO Madden has always had the upper hand, esp. with the PSP

First the good, IMO:

1) Gameplay has been quickened and there are new and better animations. In order to get this, EA sacrificed player models, bringing them down to a more polygonic look. But the game is not really meant to dazzle with graphic details, its meant to have smoother gameplay.

2) I do not notice the passing delay, but I have it set to "quick" passing mode.

3) Stadiums are closer to accurate, but still generic. There seems to be more generic stadiums though, so they can get close in some instances (Michigan, for instance).

4) Dynasty is the same as 07, kind of bare bones, but workable.

5) I like the addition of the green and red receiver icons, they do seem to help. The running game seems to be more "between the tackles" than option or pitchout. Passing is still tough, but the game seems to give you a break if you hit a guy when he's green.

6) More camera options, especially if you like the camera far from the field so that you can see more players. They also did a good job with the ratio of player size to field size, usually EA makes the players too big so that the field feels smaller.

7) Pretty good controls for a PSP football game. Turn on the advanced 2 setting for maximum controls.

8) Gameplay sliders are in again and hopefully will help EA's gameplay shortcomings.

9) You can edit rosters, no glitch like the next gen versions.

The bad:

1) Freshman Mode...turn it off.

2) First grader graphics like ball trail can be turned off, but you can't get rid of the blue/gray football. I have no idea what purpose it serves.

3) There is graphic hiccup wihen the ball travels through the air on a pass. This is disappointing especially since Sony improved the hardware for smoother gameplay.

4) No online anything (not really important to me)

5) No histroric teams.

6) No option to play a bowl game when you are in exhibition. I like this feature so that if I want to play an actual bowl matchup, I can set it up exactly as it is in reality.

7) No weather option on exhibition.

8) Lack of band music during the game, gives the atmosphere more of an NFL feel.

9) Field graphics took a step back. No real difference in grass or turf, they both look the same. No in game field markups or dirty uniforms. Logos are more pixelated. Again I think they did all this to smooth out gameplay, but who knows.


I've gone on long enough. I'll give this game a 7.5 since it gives me most of what I want in the game. I can see where people will give it a lower score though.