I love football, so much so it’s almost a second religion. I love the excitement, the strategy, and most of all the way it lends itself to trash-talking with your friends. It appeals to introvert inside of me to study up and learn all I can about the sport, and the extrovert who can’t get enough of discussing, debating and sometimes just downright vulgar ribbing at the expense of friends and acquaintances.

So it shouldn’t be too surprising to learn my love of football began around the same time I first fell for playing video games. The two didn’t merge together until Atari’s “Realsports football” as their first attempt at a console football game was horrid, and I was a little too young to play the original roller-ball “x’s” & “o’s” game in the arcades.

I can credit John Madden 1993 for helping me become a true student of the game, rather than just a casual fan. With each update of the Madden series, I seem to learn some nuances to the game that only help my appreciation of it grow. I haven’t missed an entry in the series since ' 93.

“But you’re talking pro”, you’re thinking, “what about college ball”. Going back to the Sega Genesis, I loved the Bill Walsh series, and followed it through until college football ' 99. After It switched from “Walsh” to “NCAA”, the series seemed to take a dip in quality, with lesser game-play and a noticeable downgrade in graphics from the Madden series. Since I actually prefer the pro games, I just gave up on video game college ball.

That is, until this year. My good friend Max, like a lot of good folks around here, eats, sleeps and breathes college ball. Sure, we’ll debate who we thinks better, Tom Brady or Peyton Manning (I’m swinging him around to Brady), but the boy just goes El Loco when we get to talking college football. Add a little alcohol, and he’ll debate you all the way across the bar. Fortunately, we both root for the same team. (Georgia Bulldogs, but I have strong ties to Louisville Cards too.)

‘Twas Max that convinced me I just had to try NCAA 2006.


Graphics

Although I haven’t seen the newest Madden (coming 8-9-2005), I have to say this game is prettier than Madden 2005. The players are perfectly rendered and there is no flicker at all. (Which probably hasn’t been a problem since 1999) I only have minor gripes, like all fields look like artificial turf, all cheerleaders look exactly the same except for their uniforms and the crowds. Even if you’re playing an away game, blowing out the home team, the stadium is still full with fans standing up doing the wave and loudly cheering. Even the grainy cut scenes of the crowd from Madden 㥥 looked better than this. These are minor gripes, as its what’s on the field that counts.

Sounds

I’ll be honest, the only “new” music I really listen to anymore comes via my local college radio station and sports video games. I like the “mall-punk” sounds of the songs on NCAA 2006, even if they do get a bit repetitive. The crowd sounds in the game sound like they do at the stadiums, and the commentary is entertaining for about one game.

By its very nature, video game commentary has always been a little off and repetitive, but NCAA 2006 brings it to new annoying levels. I really like listening to the ESPN Gameday guys on TV, but in this game they are just repetitive and annoying. To Max, it’s even worse because he says they repeat all the same things they said last year. I look forward to the day video games can replicate the low level annoyance I usually experience from traditional television broadcasts.


Gameplay

From what I’ve reads in other articles, including ESPN’s “the Sports Guy”, gameplay has remained relatively unchanged. Since 1999, games have come a long way with more varied playbooks to choose from, and even very helpful practice modes to help you tweak your gaming skills.

New to 2006 (and very much hyped) is the inclusion of a “Race for the Heisman” mode. In this mode, you’ll choose a position, and have to compete in a skills test, very similar to what you do in the practice modes. I chose a RB my first time out, and must have done fairly mediocre, because I was recruited by schools ranked in the low 50’s. I chose to go with Penn State, just to play with the legendary (yet increasingly irrelevant) Joe Paterno. Don’t worry if you’re not recruited by your favorite school, you can always walk on and become a starter immediately.

I like the idea of “Race for the Heisman”, and look forward to its updates in the coming years. As it stands now, I find it way too unrealistic. Although my player was recruited by Penn State, his stats weren’t even the best of the running backs on his team. He ran for a lot of TD’s against cream-puff opponents, but against worthy rivals like the Ohio State University and Michigan, he was pretty much shut down. I found myself going with my fullback who almost guaranteed me 4 yards per carry, and I even found myself substituting my RB in favor of a more seasoned upperclassman. Did this negatively affect my guy’s chance at the Heisman? Not at all, the Heisman voters seemed to love me just as much, although I did miss out making the front page of my school’s newspaper.

If you’ve been playing the Madden series exclusively, you’ll find the game-play in NCAA 2006 a lot easier. Max took his team to a National Championship twice, winning all games by at least 20 points and his QB won the Heisman two years in a row. This was after playing on the highest level after only a week. I’m a weaker player at Madden than him, but my guy got the Heisman his Sophomore year to, and I won the National Championship my 2nd year. (I was barely able to crack the top 20 my first year due to starting out at 56 or so and a very soft schedule.)

Another aspect I don’t really care for is called “in the zone”. After you’ve made a few good play with a specific player, he becomes as invincible as Pac Man after munching on a power pellet. I swear, it would’ve taken a sniper to take out my RB when he hit the zone, as he could probably even bust through a brick wall harder than the Kool-Aid man.

I do like the home field advantage aspect, where you can “pump up the crowd” between plays. If you’re the visiting team, the crowd flickers, and your controller will rumble like a late 60’s fastback muscle car screaming down a straightaway. Just don’t get too excited if you score though, you’ll only have those cloned cheerleaders screaming your praise.

Defensive play is a lot of fun, although teams still seem to be able to get off a miracle scoring play or make an impossible 3rd down more than I’d like to see. Penalties are generally kept to a minimum too. The “big hit” play using the right analog stick can be a lot of fun to use, but your timing has to be just right or you’ll goof up the tackle.

Special teams is a lot easier, even going back to 1999. I was able to score a touchdown from kickoff at least once every couple of games, including against the powerhouse teams such as Michigan.

Overall, I’d recommend this game, although I don’t think its worth the 49.99 price tag just yet. I was bored with it after a couple of weeks since I found it somewhat lacking in challenge. (I sure haven’t said that about the past few Maddens). Honestly, unless you’re just a diehard college football fan, you might want to wait until this title dips in price. I’m looking forward to this year’s college football, and will be giving NCAA 2007 a chance also. One last thing, Go Cards! Go Dawgs!


Recommended: Yes