Customer Reviews

NCAA Football 09

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(18)

 

 

I was really looking forward to getting this game. I was really disappointed today when I opened my package and started the game. The graphics are absolutely HORRIBLE. They are an insult to 1998 graphics. I don't even know where to start. First, the crowd is completely flat. The graphics are similar to a game from the mid 90's, and for that reason it is almost impossible to play. Even the field looks terrible. Yes, there are a lot of stadiums to choose from, but with bad graphics, who cares? Ok, now for some of the specifics.

Yes, you can shake the wii remote to control certain actions, such as on offense, you can snap the ball, pass the ball and evade tackles by shaking the remote. Also on defense you can block the pass, give a big hit or rush the QB all by shaking the wii remote. Overall, I would say that part of the game isn't that bad, but the controls are very simple. (Note to EA, buy a copy of PES Soccer. Copy their player controls. You will have a lot of happy customers...)

There are several options available to start off. You can go right to a game, you can play a "mascot game" which is also pathetic. Why do you want an entire team made up of the same mascot? If you do want that, you can play, but it is nothing more than the players running around in chicken suits. And see my previous comments on the graphics, and you will understand it is not fun to play. You can also go right to a rivalry game, which seems like a neat idea...and you even see who is winning the overall series. There is dynasty mode available, but I have not tried that yet.

You can pick from over 110 teams, and there are a lot of stadiums to choose from. I counted at least 160, plus a few special venues, such as Mile High for CU-CSU, the cotton bowl for Oklahoma - Texas, and about 4 others for Florida - Georgia, Army - Navy, The ACC Championship Game, the SEC Championship Game and the MAC Championship game.

The only part of the game that I liked was the use of your mii character to track your results, and it shows your picture if you make a tackle or big play. I don't know if it will show your mii in uniform, but with the absolutely horrific graphics, I doubt you could tell who it was anyway. I don't know if there is the "locker room" feature available like there is supposed to be in the xbox and ps games so you can download all of the player names. I could not find it if it is there. It appears that you have to go in and edit every player to get the right names. Why not add the locker room feature to the wii version EA???

I am a big college football fan and was really looking forward to playing this game, but I am very disappointed. For the umpteenth time, the graphics were so bad, it rendered the game unplayable. Don't waste your money, I am returning it as soon as possible.

throughout the past couple months my expectations went up and down about this game. I have played the previous NCAA games for years now and since I own a Wii I thought the new controls would be a nice addition to the game because most of it is getting old (please record a new commentary track). Once I put in the game I noticed the shotty graphics. Now I know it's on a wii, but that should not be the reason it is this bad. There are games like Resident Evil 4 that look fantastic. The image seems to be made to look cartoon like on purpose. I decided to play Western MIchigan at Central Michigan because it is my home school. The stadium is not there. Even though it has been in past games, I guess EA sports figured only some school can have their own stadium, the rest get a generic one. The crowd is flat and the grass is just a sea of green, like Tecmo Bowl for the original Nintendo. I quit to then see what extras there were. You have Dynasty mode, Rivalry game, and Mascot game. No Create a team, Create a character, or Historic games. I click on Dynasty mode because that is the most important part and start up as Michigan State so I know I will have a real stadium. I had to quit my first game twice out of frustration because the sensor bar is not reading the Wii remote movement. Kicking was nice with it depending on how the Wii remote is turned and the speed it is swung at, but everything else seems to not read well. Even the playbook is empty. You have about 10 plays that consist of zone, deep zone, man, blitz... etc. with no formations, and this is in the Non-All play mode. Lastely, I can understand in the All-Play mode to have it be cute, but when I turn it off, I expect that too as well. I could not get into one game with it showing me a smily face for a good play, or filling the screen with stars when I get a touchdown. I am sorry EA sports, but I will be returning your game and I hope you make you 2010 line for people who enjoy the game, and not for family fun.

This game lacks 90% of what makes it great for experienced players, and lacks the reaction time of the Wii remote for new users.

Wow. What can I say about this game? It's basically exactly the same as NCAA Football 2005 that I have for Gamecube. Right down to the two man commentary word-for-word. Except, the Gamecube version is actually better. This doesn't even have a create school/player option. The graphics are really basic. It doesn't show anything on the sidelines (players/coaches/fans). It doesn't even show the fans in the stands, like the Gamecube game did. The only other difference is using the Wii remote for gameplay, which is really tedious, and almost too easy. Simply flick/shake remote to pass/rush/catch etc... Yawn. No thanks.

Do yourself a favor and spend the 10-20 bucks on the Gamecube version instead.NCAA Football 2005

I really dodged a bullet with this one. I'm glad I rented it first.

I understand where many of the negative comments are coming from. The graphics aren't fantastic and the game play isn't very complicated. But as a college football fan who is more or less inexperienced at gaming and really just getting into it because of the unique nature of the Wii, I really enjoyed this. I likely would not have used much more complex controls (I have Madden 09 and probably don't get nearly the functionality out of it that I should). Of course I would have enjoyed better graphics but if I played games for graphics I would have a different system. I may not be the typical gamer but this game works for me and it might work for you too.

If I would have trusted my first impressions of this game I would have stopped playing after the first game, but over time it has grown on me. This is certainly not the best EA football game out there, and I would agree that any of the NCAA games for the GameCube are fundamentally better, but NCAA 09 has its place. Once I figured out how to change the camera views I became much more satisfied with the game. The controls were easy to learn and being able to adjust the AI made the learning curve fun. I was disappointed to find out that the voice clips from the announcers were not any different from the previous NCAA versions, but I purchased and play the game for the interactive nature of the Wii controls. Those who have problems with the game should be looking to the Xbox or PS3 for satisfaction. Games for the Wii are for interacting and having fun, not for spending 100 hours to complete a game or mind-bending graphics.

After years of making the market standard for sports games, EA missed badly on this one.

I do like the passing controls (hold a direction on the D-pad or 'A' and make a passing motion), and juking is fun as well (flick the nunchuk in the direction you want to juke). Play-calling is a little sloppy, but it gets the job done. A point-and-click system would be great, but unfortunately they didn't go that route and we're left to navigate with the analog stick.

Other than that, though, this game was a major disappointment. The graphics are terrible even by Wii standards (worse than PS2, which should not happen, ever). There are some tack-ons that I assume are related to All-Play, like shaking the remote after a touchdown to get the crowd into it. The screen fills with stars and there is a sound effect like a cup filling with, uh, some liquid to go along with it. Not cool.

I played as Nebraska, and the first thing I noticed was that even though the screen said I was playing at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, the stadium looked nothing even remotely like the real thing.

I really hope no one buys this game (I rented it), because EA needs to get the message that we won't buy junk just because it comes from EA.

When EA announced the first NCAA game for a Nintendo console since 2005, I was ecstatic. Being a mostly Nintendo guy myself, I've been longing for an NCAA game for four years now. I even bought a PSP last year exclusively for the NCAA game. So, naturally I pre-ordered NCAA 09 for the Wii from here at Amazon. It just shipped Monday and I received it today, so I was dying to try it out.

I started with the "Play Now" mode just to get the hang of it. On the Wii, they've added a new "All Play" feature that pretty much allows anyone to be able to play it. It's a simplified version of the control scheme that pretty much uses a shake of the Wiimote to perform all the actions. That's fine and the fact that you can still use a more traditional scheme as well is good. However, it seems like they added this in lieu of all the good features.

After some research online, I found that the Wii version has no online content at all. Granted, it's Nintendo's fault as much as it is EA's, but it's terribly disappointing. I was very much looking forward to playing this online with my other college football-addicted family members, but nope. The Dynasty Mode still exists and is likely about the same as it has been in the past, but I haven't yet had much time to really play through it.

The graphics are also very disappointing. The last Nintendo system NCAA game that EA made was the 2005 version, and honestly the graphics on this one don't look a whole lot better. It's at least as good, but the fans in the stands are only barely animated and add very little to the overall atmosphere. The sound is about the same as it has always been, with the same great GameDay crew providing the commentary.

So, in summary, it's decent, it's still fun, but it could have been SO much more. And honestly, I'm thinking about running out to my local store to get the PSP version to gain some features. How sad...a portable version has more features than a full-blown console version. Maybe EA will get it right next year. My suggestion? Rent it and play it first. You may still like it, but I really hoped for more.

Please tell me this is not the best you can do! Never before have I seen a NCAA game that stunk so bad. No historical games, terrible graphics, play selection slightly better than the tecmo era.
EA if you can't do better than this, please don't bother making a game next year. Instead of creating this manure, you should have stuck with systems that you cared to try with. If you do this again, I know of quite a few people who won't be giving you money in the future.

This has been the most disappointing game that I have ever played. I use to love this series on Playstation 2 and Xbox and was really excited when I saw that it was coming out for the Wii, but the graphics suck (even for a Wii), gameplay is not that realistic, and I could not figure out for anything how to make line shifts or audibles. There also is no way to see your play before the snap which sucks. I can't figure out why in the world that EA did not use the same approach that they had used with Madden 08 which was awesome. If I could I would not give this game any stars.

I have been playing various versions of the EA Football games for it seems like ever and this is by far the worst game I have ever played. The controls are horrible, the game play stinks, and the rest, wow!

This game has nothing to it. 10 years of simulation? Huh. No game has less than 25 years. No create anything? Wow, again, it is part of the fun.

Take your money and buy something else, not this.