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Jul 30 2006
NCAA Football 07 Review
PSP Game Review | Sports
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| Summary: Solid game with a few glitches.
87
Graphics - 95
I rented both the PS2 and PSP versions of the game two days ago so I could compare the two and decided which I would like to purchase. I went into the game with very low expectations. I know the PSP is much more powerful than any of the previous or other current (sports games on the DS look horrendous!) handhelds but many times the “to-go” port of a console title feels very watered down. Especially after my experience with Madden 06’ for the PSP (It was a good port of the console version but it was very buggy). The PSP version does a great job displaying much of the detail from the college stadiums. (So far I’ve play a game at my two favorite schools Kansas State and Notre Dame). Most surprising for me was all of the animations and player detail included in this version of the game. After playing the PS2 version almost all of the same tackling, running, juking, stiff-arm, etc animations were present in this game. EA even included the big play dramatic “slo-mo” zoom in when a receiver goes to grab a deep bomb or when a defensive player sacks a QB.
Sound - 75
Overall I thought the sound in the game was very good. The play-by-play commentary is included (and can be turned off) and you hear the college band playing at times during the game. You also hear the roar of the crowd whenever a big play happens and it build louder as your team gains momentum or when you pump them up (by pressing the select button prior to the snap of the ball). My only major gripe is that EA seems to have assigned a generic stadium song for the home and away teams when they score. The first game I played was Kansas vs. K-State and the second was USC vs. Notre Dame (K-State and Notre Dame were both home teams). In each game the same generic college song played for K-State and Notre Dame when I scored a TD. For some this may be a very minor thing but personally I enjoy hearing my team’s fight song play when I score because it makes it feel more true to the college football atmosphere. My guess is that EA could not include the data for the game to play all of the fight songs in game (or maybe it would’ve impacted load times?). The game does cycle through all of the college fight songs when you’re on the main menu screen after the game boots so they’re definitely programmed onto the UMD. Had it not been for this I would’ve given the sound a 90.
Controls - 90
The controls for this game handle very well on the PSP. The pre-snap and post snap controls are very similar to other EA football games. The “X” button snaps the ball and the receivers are assigned to different buttons. When running the buttons allow you to spin, dive, etc… The most noticeable change in the controls comes in the kicking game. Instead of using the old start-stop power meter you now use the analog stick to for kickoffs and for field goals. You pull back on the stick to start the power meter and then you push forward on the stick to stop the meter and execute the kick. It took me a few tries to but now that I’m used to it I like it. The players themselves seem to respond very fluidly to the controls. The game also gives you the opportunity to gain an advantage on defense for timing the snap of the ball. If you hit the “X” button at the same time the ball is snapped a message will pop up on the screen saying “JUMPED SNAP”. This usually gives you a boost to getting to the QB quicker or allows you to throw an offensive lineman out of the way. If you’re too early then it will say “Early Jump” and you might bump into the offense for a 5 yard penalty or the QB can snap the ball getting a “free play” because you’re caught off sides. If you hit the button late it will say “late jump” and it seems like this makes it harder to break through the offensive line and get to the QB.
Load Times - 85
With most PSP titles long load times seem to be the norm. After my experience with Madden 06’ I was prepared for the worst. Madden was plagued with long load times and even 5 second in game loading before “4th down” would display on the screen. I was pleasantly surprised by the limited load times for NCAA 07’. It seemed like the game did most of the loading up front before the game started because I didn’t really notice any load times while playing (except for a brief second to load a replay but this can be turned off ). I haven’t had a chance to try any of the other modes (like on-line or dynasty) so I don’t know if the load times get worse.
Gameplay - 90
The game play overall has been pretty solid. I really enjoy all of the different player animations they were able to include. Play calling is done via the typical on-screen formation selection menus or you can press “[]” to ask Corso for a recommendation. I’ve had some trouble so far with the running game. I find that when I call a play that goes up the middle unless my line opens up a huge hole it’s nearly impossible to gain any yards. My back will usually get stuck trying to run through my own lineman and eventually the defense will come up and deliver a massive tackle since he’s just sitting there unable to move. Also it seems the computer has problems spotting the ball. Sometimes you’ll break a 5 yard run but the computer spots the ball 4 yards short resulting in a 1 yard play.
Overall - 87
I really have enjoyed the game during the limited time I’ve had to play it. I am really impressed by this portable version of a console favorite. The game play is pretty smooth, the graphics are great especially for a portable, and this version seems to include many of the features included in its console brother. I have a few gripes about the sound and from what I’ve played so far the offense seems to be a little unbalanced (running the ball seems much harder than passing) but overall this is a strong translation of a console favorite onto the PSP. I’d like to know if there is a website or software out there I could use in order to edit the player names on the rosters. As with any college game the player’s names aren’t licensed so you have to manually rename all of the players in the game. Trying to edit all of the player names using the PSP would be very annoying.
REVIEW IT
PRODUCT INFO
BUY IT
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Comments
Good review Chitown. Did you try out the online play at all? How about the ESPN ticker? It looks like a pretty good game, was wondering if it was as fun online.
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great review! is there any way to download the correct player names and stats?
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i dont think u can do that with ncaa football
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yeah they never show the player names because the NCAA players can't get paid thats illegal
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I didn't have a chance to try the sports ticker or any of the on-line features.
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On the player name thing I was just wondering if anyone knew of a computer based program or software taht would allow you to type in the names of all of the players and then import it back into the game by saving on a memory card duo and puting it back into the PSP system.
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The online play is much better than madden 06 for psp in my experience. I only played a game or two but load times are better and the game play is smoother - could have been the internet connections but it really felt better. While you're logged into ea nation but not in a game it has an espn ticker going across the bottom of the screen. Periodically, every 20 minutes or so, it plays espn radio news headlines - very clear, just what you would expect. You don't need to wait 20 minutes though for the first iteration...maybe two or three minutes. Again, that's only when you're in the EA Nation menu's, not during gameplay.
It's weird but you can have it populate player names and then save it that way - when you go into save there are 6 or 8 seperate things to save. Some of those are roster lists. I don't quite get it (why aren't they populated to start with if they are in the game anyway) but it does give names
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I wanted to post again to highlight two things mentioned. The graphics!!! They are completely amazing!!! If you've scene tekken and were impressed, this is the sports game version. Much, much better than the somewhat disoppointing madden 06 for psp graphics.
Running game - really really bad!!! It practically makes the game unplayable. This is due to the ball placement bug. It really is that bad. EA has acknowledged the problem and says they will fix it. I sure hope that happens soon. You may want to wait until the fix is available to buy it.
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great review but is the online mode. I've heard mixed reactions from critics but what do other people think?
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hotice said: "You may want to wait until the fix is available to buy it."
given EA's past performance in terms of PR, i wouldn't give this game a chance in h311 until they release a fix and it's proven to work. they f***ed up Madden 06's carreer mode and didn't even bother fixing that, so i wouldn't trust them at all.
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yeah they are really sucking for the PSP some reason, otherwise, EA is my favorite cuz on PS2 and Xbox 360 all their games are great, the NCAA is awesome on 360, maybe they just put less time into the PSP version because they know that their isnt as many PSP owners than the ps2, xbox, 360.
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Overall in my opinion EA put 1000 times more effort into this game compared to last year's Madden release. The graphics are outstanding in NCAA 07' and the controls are pretty smooth. If it wasn't for the ball spotting bug on the running game and the lack of school anthems being played when you score (people probably think I'm knit picking with the anthem thing but I think that's a big part of the college game atmosphere) I would highly recommend this title to any sports fans that own a PSP. Once the running game bug is fixed I would probably add 10 points to my overall score for this game.
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