Any sports gamer knows EA’s legacy on the pro football field.  The Madden series has always stolen the spotlight from EA’s other exceptional football series, NCAA Football.  This season’s edition, NCAA Football 2003, may very well be the changing of the guard. 

Using the same incredibly solid football engine that the Madden series uses, NCAA Football relies more on its character to set it apart from its big league cousin.  While it still has the great game play and usual game modes, including Season, Dynasty, and Exhibition, it’s really the college atmosphere that makes NCAA Football 2003 worth purchasing for football fans.

The most entertaining mode of play is of course Dynasty mode where players build up an existing college program or create their own college and start a program to take them to a national championship.  There is a fair amount of customization in the dynasty mode, including creating your own college stars, creating a school, and customizing your non-conference schedule, so that even if you are coaching a small-time Division 1 school, you can still play a powerhouse such as Nebraska or Miami to try and gain some prestige.  Inching your way up the national rankings not only puts you in better position for a bowl bid, but also increases the likelihood of landing that star recruit.  Dynasty mode takes on new life after the season has been completed and the Bowl games have been played.  The off-season is one of the most in-depth, perhaps too in-depth, in any sports game.  While so much attention goes into the battle on the field, the unseen recruiting battle can be just as important.  Snatching up top high school graduates isn’t going to be easy, and could mean the difference between playing in the Orange Bowl and the Toilet Bowl.  A number of recruiting points anchor a system in which players decide whether coaches or assistant coaches call or visit potential blue chips to strengthen their programs.  Recruits love to stay near home, so don’t expect a top East Coast prospect to join a West Coast team.  While the recruiting system is complex, it tends to overstay its welcome while trying to recruit a second-string punter or other mundane position.  After recruiting, players go into a training period where they can improve their skills before the season and fight for starting positions.  Just before the season starts, players get a chance to do what every coach loves: trim down their rosters by cutting the deadweight.  After that, it’s another shot at a national championship. 

NCAA Football 2003 hosts one of the most hilarious modes to grace a sports title since NBA Jam’s legendary Big Head mode.  The Mascot mode suits up a team of school mascots against a rival’s mascot squad and the results are hysterical.  The game plays exactly the same as an exhibition match, but the players are replaced by guys in giant mascot suits.  There are fifty mascot teams to choose from including Otto the Syracuse Orangeman, Big Al the Alabama Elephant, and Joe Bruin of the UCLA Bruins.

Rivalry mode gives gamers the chance to fight out a game between rivals for bragging rights and in some cases a trophy such as LSU and Arkansas’ Golden Boot, Purdue and Indiana’s Old Oaken Bucket, and Cal and Stanford’s Big Axe.  Once trophies are collected, they can be viewed in the trophy room. 

While the general premise of the game is simply Madden Football with college players, there are a few college differences.  The most notable difference on the field is the availability of the option play, which allows quarterbacks to run with the ball and have the option to pass the ball or lateral the ball to a streaking runningback.  The lateral can actually be used at any time with the Z button, a move that can add a little pizzazz and lead to big yardage.  Because this is college football, players and teams are more likely to dominate, which means defenses need to be called accordingly.  Shorter play clocks mean quicker plays, which usually leads to more offense and higher scores.  College rules dictate that only one foot needs to be in bounds on a catch, and the folks at EA have loaded up on new catch animations in addition to the several tackling and tackle-breaking animations NCAA shares with Madden.

I’ve seen NCAA Football 2003 on both the Xbox and Gamecube, and I must say the Gamecube version looks better.  While the field graphics on the Xbox version look great, the Gamecube’s are killer, and I’m using a simple S-Video adapter on a four year old TV.  Animations run smoothly, the players look realistic, and the physics are flawless.  There’s nothing robotic about any of these digital competitors, and the use of soft focus during cutscenes looks fantastic.  EA has included everything from whirling tackles to helmet-jarring hits making NCAA a treat to watch, and there’s nothing wrong with replaying neck-compacting straightarms over and over again to spite your friend.  Little things like crowds wearing team colors, cheerleaders celebrating scores, and accurate stadiums, like Boise State’s blue field, add more than enough graphic detail to really suck gamers in. 

The sounds of the game enhance the college experience with more than 200 marching band fight songs, college chants, and rock solid commentary.  It seems all the college fight songs are there and the drum beats during the game really get pulses racing and remind you that these aren’t kids looking for a paycheck, these are kids who just want to win.  The bigger schools have their fans behind them vocally, and their chants rock the bleachers.  ESPN’s Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, and Brad Nessler make the calls from the commentary booth and seem to have a bit more fun with their jobs than the Madden and Michaels team, and their remarks like “I haven’t seen moves like that since I was at prom!”, though entertaining, may leave you scratching your head or even committing delay of game penalties while you ponder what was just said. 

The only drawbacks to the Gamecube version of NCAA come with the controls.  With a few less buttons than other consoles, the hard-to-reach Z button becomes a modifier for some of the less used commands such as calling timeouts on the field, inciting the crowd, or canceling audibles.  It takes the finger dexterity of a concert pianist to hold down the outrageous combination of B, Z, and R buttons to change a play’s direction at the line of scrimmage.

NCAA Football 2003 is rated E for everyone.  

Gameplay: 9.2

NCAA Football 2003 is easily one of the best sports games out there.  Dynasty and Mascot modes really stand out.

Graphics: 9.5

Sure the crowds don’t look incredible, and the close-ups won’t fool viewers into thinking they’re watching a real game, but no other game out there looks as good as NCAA Football 2003 when the players are on the field playing football. 

Sound: 9.5

The fight songs drive home the college feeling, the commentary is dead-on, and the crowd makes the game seem bigger than your livingroom.

Difficulty: Hard

The complexity of controls will leave novices staring blankly at their controllers, but veterans can use that complexity to master the game.

Concept: 9

Though a straightforward concept – “Let’s recreate college football” – the results are staggering and realistic.

Multiplayer: 9

Playing with or against friends brings a lot to the game.

Overall: 9.3

NCAA Football looks great, sounds great, and plays great.  What else can you ask for?