NCAA Gamebreaker 2000

by 989 Studios

Product Features

• Platform: Sony PlayStation 1
• ESRB Rating: E - Everyone

Product Details

• ASIN: B000034DCE
• Item Weight: 5 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #16,115 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

GameSpot Review

At first glance, NCAA Gamebreaker 2000 might not look or sound too different from last year's game, but once you sit down and play the game for any length of time you'll realize that the design team beefed up the game's features and its authenticity.

This higher level of authenticity is demonstrated by the game's plays, which were designed by Bob Toledo, head coach of UCLA and Pac-10 coach of the year. The plays themselves are quite different from anything you'd find in a NFL licensed game, even Gameday 2000. The unique plays are a nice change of pace for anyone who has played countless NFL games with the usual plays and formations we've seen a hundred times.

Whether you like the plays or not, Gamebreaker 2000 has a play editor that among other things lets you assign routes to all your receivers. The play editor is fairly intuitive and comprehensive, although it's pretty structured, so it won't let you do anything too crazy.

If you enjoy making plays in the play editor, then the new career mode might be right up your alley. This feature lets you test your skills as a coach at a small school. You'll help build that team up and play the season. Also, depending on your team's accomplishments in the area you coach, you could get a promotion or a better job offer from another school. However, if your team falls short at the end of the season you could get fired. This new feature is interesting and in-depth, and it will surely hold the attention of hard-core simulation fans who enjoy added extras like this for quite some time. Casual fans who simply enjoy the game's fast-paced action will probably try this once and quickly dismiss it. Other GM-type options include creating players and a playbook. In addition, once you get through the season, you can transfer your graduating seniors via a memory card to your roster on NFL Gameday 2000.

The recruiting feature is also back and is very similar to the one in last year's title. You can pick through the list of players and select those who look as though they could be the best candidates for the position. It's not quite as in depth as the feature in Electronic Arts' NCAA Football 2000, but it gets the job done.

One of the most unnecessary new additions to Gamebreaker 2000 is the celebration and show-off animations. Right after a play is complete you can celebrate, show off, or hurry to the huddle. I can understand the option to celebrate after a good play, but to be able to do it after every play - even when you throw an incomplete pass - is kind of odd. Sure, the ability to do this doesn't detract from the game, but it does seem kind of silly. The one thing that I can't understand is why the game has the show-off button, the show-off animations aren't that different from the celebration animations, and the refs call unsportsman-like conduct on you every time, costing you fifteen yards.

As with any good multiyear football game, the AI has to be improved from year to year, and the designers of Gamebreaker 2000 did just that. The offensive-line blocking and defensive coverage is a little smarter, and the computer doesn't let your players get too far away from the defenders , making you work a bit harder to complete a pass. On defense, it seems as though your cornerbacks have a tendency to be in just the right place more often than not to get a pick. Overall, the AI seems a little quicker and smarter, although for experienced players of NCAA Gamebreaker 99, the computer won't seem that difficult. Also, a lot of the plays that had holes in them last year have either been removed or tweaked.

The gameplay and control are mostly the same as last year's model, which is great since the total control passing and running game of NCAA Gamebreaker 2000 is still one of the most exciting and fun systems of any football game. In addition to this, the ability to choose whether you want to play the game with advanced or simplified controls is great. You're given the option when you're first learning the basic control scheme so you can have a chance to familiarize yourself with the game and bust off some moves without having to learn too much. Then, once you're comfortable, you have the ability to switch to the advanced controls for more precise control. Overall, the control doesn't feel that much different from last year's version; it just feels as though it's a little tighter and more in sync with some of the animations.

Visually, NCAA Gamebreaker 2000 is a little cleaner than the last game. The collision detection of the players could still be better, since the players are constantly walking through and into each other. While it doesn't bother me much post-play, I find it terribly frustrating during the action - especially when tackling. The only other thing that still bothers me about the game is that the players still look as though they're sliding atop the turf while juking. While the clipping and turf sliding are bothersome, they don't really detract from the otherwise smooth and bright graphics of Gamebreaker 2000.

In the audio department, the game seems on par with last year's title. Keith Jackson provides the play-by-play calls, which are still fresh and keep up with the action quite well. The sound effects, crowd sound, and accompanying ambient music really add to the whole college-football atmosphere.

In the end, Gamebreaker 2000 is a decent improvement over last year's title. Casual fans may not notice all the little nuances, plays, and animations, but fans of the Gamebreaker series surely will. --Ryan Mac Donald
--Copyright ©1999 GameSpot Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of GameSpot is prohibited. GameSpot and the GameSpot logo are trademarks of GameSpot Inc.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars NCAA Gamebreaker 2000, December 7, 1999

By A Customer

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: NCAA Gamebreaker 2000 (Video Game)

All I can say is if you like Gameday 2000, you'll love Gambreaker 2000. This college game not only has each schools fight songs, team colors realistic, and really sharp football fields, but also specific team playbook, developed by Bob Toledo. This game is MUCH better than NCAA 2000, by EA Sports.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not what I expected., May 27, 2002

By 

"charliekkkk" (Boise, Idaho, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: NCAA Gamebreaker 2000 (Video Game)

While the NFL Gameday series is improving rapidly, NCAA Gamebreaker is basically just the same old tired game. It is basically identical to last year's, and NFL Gameday 2000 is a much better game. It is still fun, and there is some good gameplay, but there is ot enough improvement to make this worthy of a purchase.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good game, worth the money, but not great., October 2, 2000

By 

Derek A. Wade "Derek A. Coach Wade" (South Prairie, Washington. USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: NCAA Gamebreaker 2000 (Video Game)

First off, the game itself is pretty good. My problems with it are mostly in documentation. I don't know why, but there's a widespread gaming philosophy that the manuals need not have all the controls listed. I can see that for a game like Mortal Kombat, where finding the hidden controls is half the fun, but in a football game this is just unnecessary irritation.

The controls I'm talking about are things like making the QB spike the ball to stop the clock, or kneel down to run the clock out and end the game. I've lost two games now because I've had to call a running play instead of a kneel down, and my running back fumbled. The player recruitment section is also barely documented in the manual, making it quite difficult to recruit the players you want. Another thing that is badly documented is the player creation section. Selecting different degree majors increases and decreases player stats, but this is not covered anywhere in the manual and it is not intuitive. Since the cover says "make a walk on that can dominate the game" I tried it, and was able to create a running back with an overall stat of 74. Unfortunately, all the running backs already in the game had stats of 80 or better, so there's no domination there.HEY! 989!! THIS IS A PART OF THE GAME, WHY DON'T YOU PUT IT IN THE DARN MANUAL?!?!

The announcer's sayings are also badly programmed. A number of times it's called the wrong defense ("Nebraska showing the nickel package." when I'm in a 4-3 is an example.) and his sayings get annoying after you've heard them a few times, since they're repeated three or four times a quarter.

One of the things that I found to be outstanding with this game is the sportsmanship. Every time you make the poor decision to "show off" you will be penalized for it. The REAL NCAA should follow those guidelines once in a while. (And so should the NFL.) There are also numerous cutscenes of players shaking hands after the game, or helping one another up after a hit. I like this, because I coach youth football, and I have to teach my players what good sportsmanship is a lot of the time.

The interface is easy to use, but it can be difficult to read the offensive formation because most of the camera angles give you a tackle to tackle view from behind the offense. It's also a little tough to figure out what player you want to control on defense. Some of the man to man defenses against certain offenses cause the defenders to line up in odd locations, an it can be difficult to determine which one was the blitzing linebacker, and which was the corner trying to cover a running back.

I'd recommend you get it if you like college football.