NCAA Football 09 Review for the PlayStation Portable (PSP)

System: X360, PS3, Wii, PS2, PSP	Review Rating Legend
Dev: EA Canada (Tiburon / Team Fusion)	1.0 - 1.9 = Avoid	4.0 - 4.4 = Great
Pub: EA Sports	2.0 - 2.4 = Poor	4.5 - 4.9 = Must Buy
Release: Jul. 15, 2008	2.5 - 2.9 = Average	5.0 = The Best
Players: 1-4	3.0 - 3.4 = Fair
ESRB Rating: Everyone	3.5 - 3.9 = Good

Some of the tackle animations are pretty humorous, as defenders run over the man with the ball and there seems to be a lot of variety, especially with the amount of tackles you can perform with dives, ball strips, and hits. However, many animations seem to be a tad too familiar and even reused from past NCAA Football titles, from touchdown celebrations to cheerleader dances. In wide shots of the stadium, crowds seem to not move at all, as you see thousands of blurred people completely motionless in the stands.

NCAA Football 09 screenshot

The game does often focus on several fans in the crowd in-between plays, however. They are the same character models no matter which stadium you play in, but are wearing different clothes and face paint to support their home team. In Hawaii, they can be seen wearing Hawaiian T-shirts for instance, as they perform chest-bumps and hold up various signs for a bit of added humor to the game.

Though looking at panoramic views of the audience is a tad lifeless, the audio of the screaming crowd adds to the level of excitement and emotion of college football games, and home field advantage plays a big role in NCAA Football 09. Commentary by Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, and Brad Nessler is actually very well done and full of variety while playing, and the loud, brassy collegiate music adds to the college football atmosphere.

In all, it feels as though not much has changed in the couple of years gone by since the last NCAA Football title on the PSP. Depending on how eager you are to play the latest version, you may want to hang on to your 07 title or even the latest Madden installment for an equally entertaining football experience on the PSP. While NCAA Football 09 isn't getting a negative review here by any means, as EA continually delivers unparalleled football titles, there aren't enough additions here to make older versions unplayable in comparison.

By Pete Richards
CCC Freelance Writer

RATING OUT OF 5

RATING DESCRIPTION

4.0

Graphics
Players and stadiums look good on the PSP screen, and when viewed from a distance, it actually looks more like a television broadcast than a video game. More attention could have been given to crowd movement.

3.6

Control
Freshman Mode offers an extremely simple alternative to the otherwise detailed controls of the other modes included, though is unnecessary for experienced players.

4.0

Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
Collegiate music and stadium ambience add to the excitement, while detailed commentating avoids repetition.

3.0

Play Value
There is simply not enough reason for gamers to run out and purchase this title if they own previous NCAA titles or recent Madden titles for the PSP. However, it is still a good football title with a decent amount of play value on its own.

3.5

Overall Rating - Good
Not an average. See Rating legend above for a final score breakdown.

Game Features:

Accessible EA Sports Freshman Mode: Anybody can dominate like an All-American with assisted gameplay features, including simplified playbooks and game controls.

Become a playcalling genius in no time by calling plays based on your skill level with playbooks featuring more than 40 plays, or utilize EA Sports Freshman Mode and have the best play highlighted for you!

All-new action icons tell you when to tackle, evade defenders, swat the ball on passing plays, and more - all while the action is playing out.

More gameplay, less waiting: With an all-new streamlined pace and quickened tempo, gameplay now allows you to get in four quarters of non-stop action faster than ever before.