So I Played NCAA 06 Today

[mmorg]

Decided to dust off the old Xbox and play some NCAA Football 2006. Boy was I impressed!

Here were a couple of things that really stood out to me:

1. Ratings.
I looked at the default rosters and the ratings are spread out in a way that makes sense. There were only a handful of 90+ players on teams like Tennessee, Texas, USC, Ohio State, Florida, Michigan, Notre Dame. All of the top ranked teams heading into that year.

2. Game Speed.
The game played significantly slower than NCAA 09 on the 360. If I lobbed a pass, the QB actually lobbed it and QB Arm Strength overall was very slow compared to what I was used to. This lead to a more realistic passing game. Also, non-elite Wide Receivers dropped plenty of passes. I really had to hit an average receiver with a perfect pass to get him to catch it, I could only bullet the passes to those elite receivers.

Players actually had to accelerate to get up to speed. I played a game against my friend with Oklahoma vs. USC. I had Adrian Peterson running a sweep and while I was rounding out my run to run parallel to the sideline he was chugging pretty slow. Once I hit my opening and was off to the races he didn't hit his top speed until about 20 yards from when I started running straight. This was truly amazing to me because in NCAA 2009 people are flying around at top speed all game and every play.

3. OL/DL
An actual pocket was forming while I was passing! What the hell? How can we be on NCAA 2009 and not have anything close to a pocket? On default All-American sliders I was actually getting sacked a ton because I was so used to NCAA 2009 and being able to sit in the pocket for minutes before having to throw. In 06 I had to actually have my safety valves and start reading the defense to complete a pass before getting sacked.

4. Game Mechanics.
My favorite thing that I noticed was when I would get hit while I was throwing there were lame ducks. QB's were very inaccurate and I was getting some very realistic stats in my user vs. user game. The running game was a little weird but the stats worked out great, not having a highlight/truck stick on offense was foreign but I quickly adjusted to it and was using juking to my advantage.

Basically, there is nothing in NCAA 2009 that I could honestly say does better than NCAA 2006 regarding game play mechanics. Everywhere that NCAA 2006 failed, NCAA 2009 fails equally if not worse. The only thing that I honestly missed from 2009 when playing 2006 was that my audibles didn't appear on screen when I would hit the audible button. This was the only thing that I found myself actually thinking about being needed while I was playing. I will definitely be playing a ton of this, and might even pick up the latest NCAA for the Xbox and see how it compares.

Why has there been minimal progress on this series since 2006? What is EA doing?

[gator3guy]

ahh the PS2 days...great memories.

[Tuxedo9000]

I bought NCAA '08 last week for 13 dollars and I thought the same thing. Ratings were alot better, speed is at least 100% more realistic, the so called 'layered bending' they hype up for '10 is already there.

I agree when you said everything last gen did worse, '09 for 360 did equally or as worse as it.

My favorite part about last gen was starting a game between Harvard and Yale. The game comes on, you see Brad, Kirk, and Lee. Brad tells about the game a little bit, then they show some weather forcasts, they show the key player warming up, then they make their pics for the game.

The actual gameplay is alot more balanced. 1AA schools have low ratings, so I was dropping passes left and right, I had to lob passes and user catch and be very selective. On '09 I can call any play, and throw to any guy and catch it without thinking twice about it.

My best moment was a run play. It was a counter, I hiked the ball, hit the hole, broke one tackle, then hit my top speed about 15-20 yards into the run and outran everyone. That is the way it is supposed to be. You don't start out at 4.3 speed instantly, it takes a little bit to reach it.

My main gripe I would have about last gen would be the computer on Heisman great jumps every play and you have maybe 2.5 seconds to throw the ball and the fact that it is easy to get to the outside on running plays. The pursuit angles are good and speed is set just right so I'm not sure what the problem is on that.

'09 has the opposite problem, you have all day in the "pocket" and it is the same in the outside runs but for a different reason. Bad pursuit angles and horrible speed differencials caused '09s problem.

[mmorg]

Quote: Originally Posted by Tuxedo9000

My best moment was a run play. It was a counter, I hiked the ball, hit the hole, broke one tackle, then hit my top speed about 15-20 yards into the run and outran everyone. That is the way it is supposed to be. You don't start out at 4.3 speed instantly, it takes a little bit to reach it.

Yeah my favorite part about my experience today was the run game. I was able to set up the defense with Slams and Dives and then hit a counter right at the end of the first half and took it 58 yards to the house. Broke one tackle at the LOS with a stiff-arm and was gone because the whole defense bit on the counter. In NCAA 09 I would have been able to run parallel to the LOS then upfield and dance circles around people like Bo Jackson in Tecmo Super Bowl.

[AuburnAlumni]

Ah yes...NCAA 2006....SOUTHERN SWARM!!!!!!!!!!!!

[MrOctober430]

Great points dude. I never played 07 or 09, didn't care too much for 08. But to me 06 was the best I've played and I collected all from 01 to 05. It would be nice if they go back and look at 06 and take some notes.

[Tuxedo9000]

Quote: Originally Posted by MrOctober430

Great points dude. I never played 07 or 09, didn't care too much for 08. But to me 06 was the best I've played and I collected all from 01 to 05. It would be nice if they go back and look at 06 and take some notes.

Yea I've noticed that '06-'09 use the same gamplay engine. It works well and it's probably the best they can do.

They need to find a system like that for next gen and stick with it and refine it. They spend 3 years changing player models and I personally like '08 the best in terms of looks.

[nightcreeper]

ncaa 06= best ****ing college football game period!


oh yea texas was the **** on there to.....