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NCAA Football 09 xbox360 Game Reviews
NCAA Football 09
Critic Score
Metascore: 83 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
7.1 out of 10
based on 23 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 19 votes
Read user comments
Rate this game

College football has never before felt more wide open than in NCAA Football 09. Gamers can experience the excitement of making big plays on the field, as they have the ability to directly control and influence the game through the all-new break away animation engine. With huge cut-back lanes, new tackling animations and wider blocking holes, NCAA Football 09 offers a host of offensive opportunities. NCAA Football 09 also brings the atmosphere, pageantry and tradition of college football to life. Through the redesigned stadiums, which reflect even more detail of each school’s individual playing field, to the dynamic sidelines filled with school colors, cheerleaders and mascots, players feel the excitement of college gameday. Players can gain Home Field Advantage as the intensity of the home crowd rises and rattles the composure of opposing teams. All 120 Football Bowl Subdivision schools are represented in the game and players can even customize the in-game atmosphere with their own personal music collection. Off the field, NCAA Football 09 features its most robust Dynasty Mode yet, inviting fans to create and manage a perennial powerhouse program from landing blue-chip recruits to winning championships on the field. For the first time ever, Dynasty goes online with up to 12 competitors to recruit head-to-head, customize schedules and play for up to 60 seasons. [Electronic Arts]

PUBLISHER: Electronic Arts
DEVELOPER: EA Tiburon
GENRE(S): Sports, Football
PLAYERS: 12
ESRB RATING: E (Everyone)
RELEASE DATE: July 15, 2008

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

93
Worth Playing
The series' best effort in years.
Read Full Review
91
1UP
After years of online fumbles by developer EA Tiburon, our annual war cry for an online dynasty mode has been answered. Not only is NCAA Football 09's most impressive innovation brilliantly seamless, but it's full-featured as well (from recruiting and scheduling to talking sure-fire pros into staying on an extra season).
Read Full Review
90
Games Radar
Even if NCAA Football 09 doesn’t exactly reinvent college football video games as we know them, it’s the best version yet to grace us this generation.
Read Full Review
88
GameFocus
Great presentation.
Read Full Review
86
Da Gameboyz
NCAA Football 09 certainly lived up to my expectations and is a significant leap from last year's version.
Read Full Review
86
MEGamers
Madden might have all the big time names and the star studded teams, but NCAA offers the simpler side of life where your school’s pride and colours is what you eat, sleep and dream about.
Read Full Review
86
Gamer 2.0
When all's said and done, NCAA 09 may have some rough spots and bugs, there are ways around it that keep them from hampering the immense amount of enjoyment that the game offers.
Read Full Review
85
XboxAddict
I didn't mean to harp on the gimmicks, but while there were some minor flaws in the game, it's a very solid effort for the long running series.
Read Full Review
85
Official Xbox Magazine
Quarterbacks lead out receivers with passes much more effectively and realistically, and there’s much less of a "pro" feel - mistakes are made that open up holes in coverage for you to exploit.
Read Full Review
85
Team Xbox
What EA has shown in NCAA Football 09 is steady progress and a sincere desire to put out a better product than it did a year earlier. NCAA Football 09 definitely passes that test with flying colors.
Read Full Review
84
IGN
The Online Dynasty is an excellent addition to this series, but the mistakes made with the Campus Legend mode keeps this year's title from being truly extraordinary.
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84
Cheat Code Central
Just the next game in a long line of great games. If you are content with the version you already have, then there isn't enough staggering new content to warrant an upgrade. However, this is the best game in the franchise to date, and I'm glad I made the switch.
Read Full Review
84
Game Over Online
Difficulties on defense and an overpowering “icing” technique aside, NCAA Football 09 has put itself in contention for a championship season. With the addition of the online dynasty and the always-outstanding college football atmosphere, all the talent is here to make this a memorable year.
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83
Game Chronicles
After spending several weeks playing NCAA Football 09, I continue to be amazed by the graphical improvements.
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83
Game Informer
This game is going places its predecessors never went, but it's also unwilling to ditch a past that is just slowing it down. [Aug 2008, p.80]
Read Full Review
81
Planet Xbox 360
NCAA Football 09’s addition of the Online Dynasty mode unquestionably saved this game from mediocrity.
Read Full Review
80
Kombo
This year, more than any other, it feels like NCAA won't be a stop gap until Madden hits the store shelves and can stand on its own by offering a different experience that the NFL can't match.
Read Full Review
80
GamerNode
NCAA Football fans will love this, and if casual football fans can get past a few of the graphic issues then we may just have another wave of NCAA Football fans charging the field.
Read Full Review
77
GameTrailers
It’s disappointing that some of the sticking points from last year’s game haven’t been addressed. Yet, if only for the option to download updated rosters and take their dynasty online, we recommend upgrading to this year’s game for the hardcore college pigskin fan.
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75
Gaming Age
In the end you can't go wrong if you are a fan of the game. Just don't expect to be wowed by any aspect except the online and offline dynasty modes as they have shown the most attention to features in the game. The rest is just window dressing.
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75
GameSpot
Just as the addition of the Online Dynasty mode will satisfy many, the lack of significant improvements to other key modes of NCAA Football 09 will disappoint many others.
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70
GameDaily
It just about looks, sounds and plays as it did before, solidly but without anything "wow"-worthy to justify your $60 purchase.
Read Full Review
70
Gamervision
EA touted that you would be able to download the names and positions of the actual players in the NCAA, but this hasn’t worked since day one.
Read Full Review

What Our Users Said

Vote Now! The average user rating for this game is 7.1 (out of 10) based on 19 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

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