When you have one of the top football franchises in the video gaming industry, you take on the mentality of the run-and-gun offense - you don’t slow down and play ball control, you keep pushing the pigskin down the field.

EA Sports, long the frontrunner in gridiron games, is doing precisely that, forcing it’s opponents to play a little catch-up on the scoreboard. NCAA Football 2004, for the GameCube is a top-flight football sim, featuring an array of new gaming modes as well as keeping the incredible animation and graphical content EA is known for.

So what is new?

Well, football fans are likely to remember the day the music died... no, no, not that Don McLean song, but that infamous Cal-Stanford game in which the marching band, thinking victory firmly in hand, began to move onto the field in the waning seconds. One problem, there was that kickoff, and a lateral bit of creative football action that resulted in a band member being steamrolled in the endzone and victory snatched from the jaws of defeat.

Should the game have even come down to that? Here is your chance to prove otherwise. EA Sports has put 20 of arguably the best college games of the past 2 decades in here for players to replay.

Other features include more than 200 new plays, including some new trick plays, more than 160 new teams (including more than 100 of the classic teams Oklahoma Sooners teams from the 50s and 70s or a host of Notre Dame teams spanning eight decades including the 1930 Fighting Irish squad), a feature called My NCAA in which players can record their top user moments in NCAA history books (not the real books mind you), and an EA Sports Bio, which enables players to track accomplishments and unlock special rewards.

While the old-time teams are certainly a lot of fun to see, with the old uniforms, there are a few minor things that may not make football purists happy. The 1930 Notre Dame squad is taking on the Idaho Vandals. Idaho wins the toss and elects to receive. The Notre Dame kicker gets ready to start the game, but rather than using the straight-on style that every team used back them, this is a soccer-style kickoff. Oops.

Idaho’s offense takes the field and after a couple of short gains, goes into an obvious passing situation. Notre Dame goes into a nickel package with a cover 3 switch package.

The offensive set does resemble the formations and plays probably used back then, but special teams and defensively, this game seems to have a generic playbook.

Graphically, this game is stunning, from the dynamic lighting and effects on the helmets, to the cutback moves of a running back seeing a sliver of daylight as he barrels into the line. The replay camera allows for 360-degree viewing of the prime moments.

The sound of the game features the vocal talents of Brad Nessler, Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit. This trio does a terrific job of capturing the flow and feel of the game, with a few minor setbacks.

As is often the case with pre-recorded soundtracks, sometimes the commentary does not fit the game situation and what was perfectly obvious to the player. For example, an incompletely pass drew this remark, giving an absent but would-be defender credit:

"He timed it perfectly and managed to get a hand in there to deflect the ball away." Huh??? The receiver was wide open in a seam in the zone. There was no one around him for six yards. The problem was that instead of trying to catch it with his hands, he put up a pair of stones glued to the end of his arms. The commentary needed to be a bit more critical of the receiver. But in an effort to be topical, the audio track grabbed dialogue not appropriate for the action.

The game play works nicely with the GameCube gamepad controllers. The learning curve should be very short and gamers will be in the trenches or dropping back in the pocket ready to air out the pigskin in no time.

The only real drawback to this game on this platform is the lack of a hard disk to copy saved game data too. If you immerse yourself into the entire game, you will need 208 blocks of free space on a memory card.

EA Sports has added some new features that bolster the playability of the game. The new teams make it exciting, and the play is still incredibly enjoyable. Fans of the sport will thrill to the graphical quality, the variety of teams, the options package and the peripheral elements that make college football thrilling. This is a terrific game.

NCAA Football 2004 is rated for Everyone.

Gameplay: 9
The game moves seamlessly from opening kickoff to final whistle. Some of the new plays add sparkle to the game and the entertainment that is college football seems to be a part of the game.

Graphics: 9
The dynamic lighting and shadow effects are wonderful and the animation seems to have been stepped up. Players move somewhat intuitively. There are a few clipping problems, but every time you see that perfect pitch as the quarterback is getting a facial from a defensive player, or see that receiver dive back to catch the ball, you will get a sense of the thrilling nature of the game.

Sound: 8.3
The majority of the sound track is similar to NCAA Football 2003. The play-by-play is solid and the crunch of pads, helmets hitting helmets, or the referee calling out the infraction is well done.

Difficulty: Medium
Learning to play the game is not that hard. Playing it well, and building that dynasty can be the real challenge. The AI of this game can be a little predictable.

Concept: 8.4
New teams and new features make this a somewhat better experience. The controls seem suited for the GC controllers.

Multiplayer: 8
This is a much better game when played against another human opponent. The game does allow up to four players with the GameLink interface.

Overall: 9
The new teams are the big draw here. The game has been tweaked and seems to be a fuller experience. The new options are definitely a great addition as well. This game is consistent in the red zone and scores in every facet of the game. The memory card may pose some issues for gamers but it will provide ample excuse to get more memory to hold all those game saves you want anyways.