Isn't It Amazing How Far This Game Has Evolved From NCAA 97 on the PSX

[Steelerfan2k1]

I have played the EA college football series back to the Bill Walsh college football days on Genesis (which were great games for their time IMO) - but - does anyone remember the horrible abomination that was NCAA 97 on the PSX?

Thinking back to that game - it was one of the last 2D football games (along with Madden 97 and 98) - and it was abysmal. I remember Payton Manning being on Tennessee in the game - and I remember being able to average like 60 points a game with 5 minute quarters. Even worse, you literally could not play pass defense. I can remember giving up around 400 yards passing per game - along with 40+ points per game - with no pass rush and no interceptions. You could somewhat account for this against the computer by developing tricks to get sacks and picks - but - these were useless against human opponents. Against a human opponent, it was literally non-stop scoring. I can remember games with 5 minute quarters that were 70-68.

I can still remember being so frustrated thinking about how bad this game was in comparison to the previous versions of Bill Walsh Football. Then - NCAA 99 came out in 3D. All was well, and the rest is glorious history - with the masterpiece that we play today (I know - it has its flaws - but they are nothing like those in NCAA 97)....

Does anyone else remember this horrible game that eventually evolved into one of the greatest games of all-time?

[rns]

For me, no.. just because the first NCAA football game I ever played was Sega's 2K3. It was fun and I like recruiting and thought it was a great game and played it for many months. But then I switched to EA 2003 and was blown by how less stiff the gameplay was. And this year, continued improvements. So I can only imagine how much it blows away ancient-time versions.

I did play one or two Madden titles way back on SNES though. Fun, but in no way as addictive as this game.
Hopefully in 5-10 years we'll be looking back on this game and talking about how much this game sucked compared to EA NCAA 2011!

[Mizzou23]

The first college football game I actually owned was NCAA '99 for the PC. Let me tell ya it has come a loooong way. I was of course using Missouri, a top 25 team that year. I ended up going undefeated, winning my conference but ended up getting shut out of the national title game. I don't remember who was ahead of me, but I know neither team was undefeated. I was so pissed that I started a dynasty with Michigan. I got to use the A-train as a sophomore and the guy was a total stud.

The thing I hated most about the game was the lack of passing game. You couldn't complete anything other than bombs or out patterns (I never could anyway). Yet I still loved every minute of it. That was before you could even recruit specific players. You just told it how hard you wanted to recruit each open position you had and what kind of player you wanted for the position. I think the next year was when individual recruiting made it's debut on the PS1. It's a shame it was the last NCAA game for the PC. Maybe they'll bring it back someday.

[cliburn]

I played the Gamebreaker series on PSX. I thought it was far better than NCAA back then, but now 989 is garbage and NCAA 2004 reigns supreme!

[GridironGamer]

It really has evolved into quite a game. But now i think about the next generation consoles and how big the leap was from PSX to current Ps2/Xbox. The leap from current console to next generation should be even greater. I try to picture this game on the next console. Just how will Ncaa 2006 or 07 look and play. How much more blurred will the line between reality and the game itself become.

[Steelerfan2k1]

Ya - it is hard to fathom what the XBox 2 and PS3 versions of this game are going to offer. Hopefully we will get a glimpse of what these systems will have to offer this May during E3.

I know that I want to get a nice new TV when the new systems come out.

[cbird]

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Steelerfan2k1 said:
I have played the EA college football series back to the Bill Walsh college football days on Genesis (which were great games for their time IMO) - but - does anyone remember the horrible abomination that was NCAA 97 on the PSX?

Thinking back to that game - it was one of the last 2D football games (along with Madden 97 and 98) - and it was abysmal. I remember Payton Manning being on Tennessee in the game - and I remember being able to average like 60 points a game with 5 minute quarters. Even worse, you literally could not play pass defense. I can remember giving up around 400 yards passing per game - along with 40+ points per game - with no pass rush and no interceptions. You could somewhat account for this against the computer by developing tricks to get sacks and picks - but - these were useless against human opponents. Against a human opponent, it was literally non-stop scoring. I can remember games with 5 minute quarters that were 70-68.

I can still remember being so frustrated thinking about how bad this game was in comparison to the previous versions of Bill Walsh Football. Then - NCAA 99 came out in 3D. All was well, and the rest is glorious history - with the masterpiece that we play today (I know - it has its flaws - but they are nothing like those in NCAA 97)....

Does anyone else remember this horrible game that eventually evolved into one of the greatest games of all-time?

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yeah, the game has improved dramaticly, but you would think they would figure out that a majority of college teams run the ball more than pass after six years of development