NCAA 09 For Nintendo Wii Review

Crap.

That pretty much sums it up.

I was at Blockbuster over the weekend, and saw a copy of NCAA 09 for the Wii and decided to plop down the 8 bucks to rent it for 5 days. I took it home, threw it in, played one half, turned it off, walked away. That was Sunday. I haven't turned it on since.

Oh sure, it has all the pretty colors and noises that drive three-year-olds bonkers, but for someone who played the original Xbox version since 2004, all this game did was make me sad. I have to believe that someone over at EA has to be thinking this was a total disaster. Anyone?

The fit and finish of the game is a serious drop off from the 08 Xbox version. The field looks over saturated and fake, the stadiums are no longer detailed and specific to the school, the player animations are jagged and don't match the "japan-imation" look of the rest of the game. As far as gameplay goes, the "AllPlay" may be good or bad, I didn't try it. I used full playbooks, turned off the ball-trails, etc... I tried to make it as close to what I was used to as possible. But it was no use.

My QB threw pic after pic, and when not throwing to the opposite team, he'd throw it into a wide open spot on the field without a receiver within 15 yards. Running was okay. Holes were pretty open and it was nice to be able to run some option plays (even with Mallett). Defensively, you can kiss sacking the QB goodbye. And good luck defending the pass. Opposing QBs all turn into Tom Brady!

This version is a drastic step backwards for this franchise. It might not be so bad, but the 360 and PS3 versions look drop-dead gorgeous. And from what I hear, the gameplay is right on par. EA, Nintendo really dropped the ball. If you want to enjoy this game, go buy a 360 or PS3. The Wii might be a great gaming platform, but not for this storied franchise.