Best NCAA Games of All Time

[ehh]

Playoff Mode at the end of the season was by far the best part about the series on the PS1 days.

If I had to order the PS2/Xbox years I'd say...

1. 2004
2. 2003
3. 2002
4. 2007
5. 2006
6. 2008
7. 2005

I have not played '09 on PS2 nor do I plan on it but if they reduced the momentum meter effect and fixed the pursuit angles it would be at #4 on the list and bump all the other games down a notch.

[BobbyColtrane]

after spending the past few days with 2009 on ps2, i think this has the potential to be my favorite ncaa game. i started playing this game in the bill walsh days with their crummy mascots on the field lol.

five reasons:

1. momentum/home field advantage is in the game but it isn't as overpowering as it has been in the past. the past few years this has been a game-killer for me especially b/c i play on heisman. when the momentum went against you on the road, it was almost impossible for me to COMPLETE A PASS. this lead to me going 3 and out on every series and dropping a TON of passes, etc. this year the momentum meter is still there, it still affects game, but it uses a little bit of a lighter touch.

2. pursuit angles are much improved. notice i didn't say "fixed" - the cpu still takes bad angles, as do your players. but overall this happens i'd say at a much more realistic rate than in years past and allows you to have big plays, but not to the point that it's unrealistic.

3. discipline is improved. notice, i did not say "fixed". a few teams go on probation after year one but they just lose a few scholarships, so it doesn't KILL the game.

4. the stat engine is improved. notice, again, i did not say "fixed". what drove me nuts in the past few versions of the game were the super-unrealistic quarterback stats were you had a ton of QBs with >70% completion, 40 TDs, and <5 INTs. this year there are still some high QB numbers, but there aren't as many and it's much more livable.

5. all the features, animations, controls, etc. are there in this game, but the gameplay is pretty good. this is a nice balance between having updated features and having perfect gameplay. there are still impact players, defensive hot routes, momentum, home field advantage, the magazine covers, more in-depth recruiting and everything else they've added since 2002. the gameplay is probably better in 2004, but this IMO is the perfect balance of features, realism, and playability.

ncaa 09 ps2 ftw!

[NC State-31 UNC-27]

nobody mentioned that 2005 on Xbox had the dreaded SLOW DOWN???

Boy did that have this place going freaking insane, and rightfully so. I had PS2, and the bad thing about '05 there was that it had the superhuman pass defenders.

Then I went to my friends house after reading about all the controversy here and played on Xbox and boy was the slow down noticeable. And to think some people here were trying to say they "weren't seeing it" LOL.

NCAA 04 is the best of the series, played by far my longest running dynasty

[DrUrsus]

What was so great about 2004? I can't remember that one. Maybe I still have it. I will have to check that out.

[DrUrsus]

Quote: Originally Posted by WinstonWolf

after spending the past few days with 2009 on ps2, i think this has the potential to be my favorite ncaa game. i started playing this game in the bill walsh days with their crummy mascots on the field lol. five reasons: 1. momentum/home field advantage is in the game but it isn't as overpowering as it has been in the past. the past few years this has been a game-killer for me especially b/c i play on heisman. when the momentum went against you on the road, it was almost impossible for me to COMPLETE A PASS. this lead to me going 3 and out on every series and dropping a TON of passes, etc. this year the momentum meter is still there, it still affects game, but it uses a little bit of a lighter touch. 2. pursuit angles are much improved. notice i didn't say "fixed" - the cpu still takes bad angles, as do your players. but overall this happens i'd say at a much more realistic rate than in years past and allows you to have big plays, but not to the point that it's unrealistic. 3. discipline is improved. notice, i did not say "fixed". a few teams go on probation after year one but they just lose a few scholarships, so it doesn't KILL the game. 4. the stat engine is improved. notice, again, i did not say "fixed". what drove me nuts in the past few versions of the game were the super-unrealistic quarterback stats were you had a ton of QBs with >70% completion, 40 TDs, and <5 INTs. this year there are still some high QB numbers, but there aren't as many and it's much more livable. 5. all the features, animations, controls, etc. are there in this game, but the gameplay is pretty good. this is a nice balance between having updated features and having perfect gameplay. there are still impact players, defensive hot routes, momentum, home field advantage, the magazine covers, more in-depth recruiting and everything else they've added since 2002. the gameplay is probably better in 2004, but this IMO is the perfect balance of features, realism, and playability. ncaa 09 ps2 ftw!

Bill Walsh, now that is a flashback. I'm 38 and I can remember playing Joe Montana on the Sega. Of course I can also remember Realsports Football, Coleco Football on the Atari VCS (not 2600 when I bought mine), and Intellivision Football. Those all suck, but it was great at the time. I had a mattel handheld head to head football game with nothing but dashes and bleeping noises. Besides Madden when it came out. Tecmo Super Bowl blew my mind at the time. It actually compiled stats for about everyone, had all of the teams and logos and real players. I bought a Nintendo just to have that game.

I really remember liking one of the College Football games on the PS1 made by Sony. I think it was the second or third one that came out. Oh yea, I think it was called College Gamebreaker. It was good for the time. I used Florida and Danny Weurffel sometimes I remember.

[ehh]

Quote: Originally Posted by NC State-31 UNC-27

nobody mentioned that 2005 on Xbox had the dreaded SLOW DOWN???

It's funny because I remember how bad it was when the game first came out but I played a few minutes of '05 last week and it was nowhere to be found.

Quote: Originally Posted by DrUrsus

What was so great about 2004? I can't remember that one. Maybe I still have it. I will have to check that out.

It was the last game in the series that was glitch free and didn't have a ton of gimmicks. No momentum meter, no impact players, no HFA - all things which felt really cheap when you played the future versions of the game. As someone else in the thread said it was a simple football game, two teams on a field and may the best team win. That really wasn't the case after '04, whether it was '05 or '06 with a ton of dropped passes or '07-'08 with zero defense and an incredibly over-effective momentum meter. As the series progressed you didn't feel as in control as before, sometimes the outcome of a game felt random or out of your hands.

There was also a big overhaul after '04, 2002-2004 was the same game play for the most part and 2005-2009 was different.

There were still a decent amount of issues with 2004, the option was too lethal as was the juke and spin move, passing was too easy especially post and drag routes. Recruiting was way too easy, you could get 15+ 5-star recruits each year, no rotating conference schedule in Dynasty mode. The CPU didn't run the ball nearly enough, robo-QB for the CPU late in games or a half, etc.

But overall it was fun as hell and glitch free.

[KG]

I had alot of fun with '04 using Texas Tech and their pass-happy offense.

I also liked '07 on the PS2 with my UNLV dynasty.

'07 was a little more flawed with the crazy momentum meter but the gameplay was very fluid compared to the 360 one.

[boondock18]

If EA could just cut and paste the 2009 ps2 gameplay into the beautiful stadiums they created for next gen along with a working online dynasty I'd be a happy camper. I'd probably pay $100 bucks and still feel like I got a deal.

Why do the running animations looks so horrendous still? This is year 3 and they still look better on the PS2.

Right now my favorite is NCAA 07 on PS2. I like '04 a lot, but it had some issues as well. With a good set of sliders 07 played the most realistic game of football that I have played.