Top Five NCAA Football Games of All Time

[RaychelSnr]

This week, Operation Sports' Patrick Williams tries to solve the worldwide mystery of which five NCAA Football video games to hit store shelves are the greatest to ever be released. Some of his picks may suprise you, while some may not. Be sure to check out his article, the top five NCAA football games of all time.

"This game was literally the “granddaddy of ‘em all.” The first college football game didn’t have every D-1A team, let alone have real college names. BYU was Provo and Penn St. was State College, but still you got the point. The game was so much fun to play -- perfect for having friends over and playing all night with a couple of bottles of Mountain Dew to help your cause."

[allstar3970]

I think I'm gonna go with NCAA 2003/2004 on the PS2 were the best imo, but that may be b/c those were the two i got the most time with.

[stoncold32]

Re: Top Five NCAA Football Games of All Time

Excellent. I dont see how anyone could deny NCAA 2004 as being the GOAT.

I put in SO many hours on that game & I was in college at that time, so that made it doubly as great. Not to mention that year had some great college athletes as well. Just everything lined up properly that year.

In my Classic games on there, I have defensive struggles in which I won 10-7. But they were exciting though. And then I have offensive shootouts on there in which I won or lost 48-45.

One thing that game did totally right was passing. The touch you were able to pput on the ball was perfect, trajectory, speed, everything.

[Moostache]

No love at ALL for the Gamebreaker series???

I personally LOVED NCAA Gamebreaker '98 and '99....I thought that those games were better than the EA offerings by a wide margin at the time. Sony kind of lost it after that and I thought the later EA games on the PS1 and all their games on the PS2 were better than Gamebrekaer, but for its time the NCAA Gamebreaker series was a whole lot of fun!!

[FlyingFinn]

Re: Top Five NCAA Football Games of All Time

No love at ALL for the Gamebreaker series???

I personally LOVED NCAA Gamebreaker '98 and '99....I thought that those games were better than the EA offerings by a wide margin at the time. Sony kind of lost it after that and I thought the later EA games on the PS1 and all their games on the PS2 were better than Gamebrekaer, but for its time the NCAA Gamebreaker series was a whole lot of fun!!

Yeah I had a blast with Gamebreaker as well.

[Deathblooms]

I remember using Auburn 84 I think on Bill Walsh and you could not stop Bo Jackson-I used to love that game

[ehh]

I loved Gamebreaker as well, I remember I thought the graphics were so amazing when I first saw 'em compared to Madden/NCAA '98. Curtis Enis was a monster in that game. I also remember the code you could enter so everyone on your team was "golden", aka a Gamebreaker. Also, 2 player co-op was a blast because the non-ball carrier could run around pressing square to dive and throw bone crushing blocks. Sure, it was insane cheesing but I was a teenager and didn't care - it was fun.

NCAA '04 certainly should be #1, can't argue with that. I played more games in dynasty mode in that game than any other, football or otherwise. It's amazing too because perhaps the biggest flaw in the game was non-rotating conference schedules in dynasty mode. I played 15+ season with Penn State and never played a single game against Michigan - that speaks to how fun and addicting the gameplay was that I could over look that and not let season after season get stale.

[OMT]

Re: Top Five NCAA Football Games of All Time

1. NCAA 09
2. NCAA 04
3. NCAA 03
4. NCAA 08
5. NCAA 06

That's my personal list.

[jfsolo]

Re: Top Five NCAA Football Games of All Time

1. NCAA 07-XBOX
2. NCAA 06-XBOX
3. NCAA 08-360
4. NCAA 04-PS2
5. NCAA 03-PS2

[OMT]

Re: Top Five NCAA Football Games of All Time

Here's some reasoning:

5. NCAA 06 - One word: Girlfriends

4. NCAA 08 - Next gen at 60 fps, video highlights, and really deep recruiting.

3. NCAA 03 - First time playing NCAA when I started working at Tiburon. The recuriting and playing as UCF in the Citrus Bowl...er... UCF Stadium instantly converted me from Madden. Also loved mascot mode (sorry guys).

2. NCAA 04 - Everything just came together on this one. Sports Illustrated covers were a really cool feature as well. Only negative was the new memory card manager was full of crashes and standard violations that had to be fixed, taking away dev time from the stuff that makes a game great.

1. NCAA 09 - Just as good as 2004, but next gen/hi def makes it the new #1.

[N51_rob]

Re: Top Five NCAA Football Games of All Time

Here's some reasoning:

5. NCAA 06 - One word: Girlfriends

4. NCAA 08 - Next gen at 60 fps, video highlights, and really deep recruiting.

3. NCAA 03 - First time playing NCAA when I started working at Tiburon. The recuriting and playing as UCF in the Citrus Bowl...er... UCF Stadium instantly converted me from Madden. Also loved mascot mode (sorry guys).

2. NCAA 04 - Everything just came together on this one. Sports Illustrated covers were a really cool feature as well. Only negative was the new memory card manager was full of crashes and standard violations that had to be fixed, taking away dev time from the stuff that makes a game great.

1. NCAA 09 - Just as good as 2004, but next gen/hi def makes it the new #1.

On this board that is a huge statment. NCAA 2004 is held on the same lofty ground as NFL 2k5. I hope that you are right.

[Tarheel]

Pound for pound NCAA 99 was my favorite

[OMT]

Re: Top Five NCAA Football Games of All Time

On this board that is a huge statment. NCAA 2004 is held on the same lofty ground as NFL 2k5. I hope that you are right.

NCAA 2004 was better than NFL 2k5!

[stoncold32]

Re: Top Five NCAA Football Games of All Time

Here's some reasoning:

5. NCAA 06 - One word: Girlfriends

4. NCAA 08 - Next gen at 60 fps, video highlights, and really deep recruiting.

3. NCAA 03 - First time playing NCAA when I started working at Tiburon. The recuriting and playing as UCF in the Citrus Bowl...er... UCF Stadium instantly converted me from Madden. Also loved mascot mode (sorry guys).

2. NCAA 04 - Everything just came together on this one. Sports Illustrated covers were a really cool feature as well. Only negative was the new memory card manager was full of crashes and standard violations that had to be fixed, taking away dev time from the stuff that makes a game great.

1. NCAA 09 - Just as good as 2004, but next gen/hi def makes it the new #1.

Like the poster above said, that is a huge statement. I would hope that it is true.

NCAA 2004 was better than NFL 2k5!

From a gameplay perspective, yeah it was, you guys hit the nail on the head with that game. But if ya'll could do(now) anywhere close to the ESPN-type presentation that game had, it would be awesome.

[BSherrod]

Here's some reasoning:

5. NCAA 06 - One word: Girlfriends

4. NCAA 08 - Next gen at 60 fps, video highlights, and really deep recruiting.

3. NCAA 03 - First time playing NCAA when I started working at Tiburon. The recuriting and playing as UCF in the Citrus Bowl...er... UCF Stadium instantly converted me from Madden. Also loved mascot mode (sorry guys).

2. NCAA 04 - Everything just came together on this one. Sports Illustrated covers were a really cool feature as well. Only negative was the new memory card manager was full of crashes and standard violations that had to be fixed, taking away dev time from the stuff that makes a game great.

1. NCAA 09 - Just as good as 2004, but next gen/hi def makes it the new #1.

Dude, I love having you guys on the board and I have gotten a chance to sink a lot of time into the game. For 2004 to be topped, in my opinion, the presentation needs a big bump. Nothing beats the Notre Dame intro (Whom I hate) or Miami coming out of the smoke. Those same animations with new models and the player spotlights and you might have a winner.