Mobile Game Review of "NCAA '09 by EA Sports"

NCAA '09 by EA Sports for mobile is a shrunk version of what powers the Madden '09 and NCAA '09. The 3D engine is pretty impressive... You can see most of the players on screen doing tackles and whatnot. And the version for LG enV (VX9900) made use of the extra screen real-estate quite well. The announcers have a few words to say, but they get repetitive. There only seems to be 4-5 moves per play type, so a lot still depends on reading the opposition and running the right plays. Animations are cute but gets repetitive as well. All in all, it is a fun game to try if your favorite team's included.

The game lets you setup a full season with your favorite team, set 3-, 5-, or full 15- minute quarters, and full college ball rules. There's a lot of game involved. However, the playbook is nowhere as complete as the console game, and no custom plays. You can do college level tricks like half-back pass, fake field goals, and all that.

The stats are pretty impressive. You don't get names and portraits, but each player and benchwarmers are rated by ability, and you can make substitutions for your favorite team before going into the game as a part of "front office" functions. Too many there isn't any injuries that force immediate substitutions.

Once in the game, the game plays like Madden pretty much. Hit OK to hike the ball, and watch the receivers to see who comes open (red, yellow, or green for open). Each is marked by arrow, so hit the direction pad in respective direction to pass. If you make it, you control the receiver and go for additional yards. If not, it's incomplete and you get to try again. Yes, you do get clock management now... You can try to run out the time, and the opposing team CAN and will use timeouts to stop the clock for their own use as well. Run game works similarly, except you need to make more moves such as dodges and pushoffs. If done right, you can break tackles and score big yards.

Defense is mostly done by AI as it's quite hard to manually sack the opposing QB. Pass protection is actually quite good. However, if you picked the right defense, enemy will usually lose yards. Again, it's partly a guess on how they'd respond to the situation.

Kicking is very simple... hit 1 to lineup the direction of shot, then hit 1 when you're at the right part of the power meter, and the kick is off!

As said before, the animation of players shrugging, high-fiving each other, and so on are good the first few times, then it gets boring. Announcers start to repeat their comments after a few plays... Argh.

All in all, NCAA'09 is a very impressive looking game... Until you look past all the chrome. Still, it is an impressive achievement for a mobile game. Worth a try at least, if you're into football, unless, of course, you get Madden '09 (mobile).

Rating: 7.5 out of 10 (looks great, until you see the flaws)
Pros: everything's 3D, right uniforms, animations, commentary, etc.
Cons: short playbook, not enough animations, not enough commentary...