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Video Game Review: NCAA Football 09

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By ROMMIE JOHNSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 25, 2008

System: Sony PlayStation 3

Also available for: Microsoft Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, Sony PlayStation 2 and PSP

Publisher: EA Sports

Reviewer's rating: **½

ESRB rating: Everyone

Game type: Sports

Kind of like: "NCAA Football 08"

Best feature: It really captures the fun, spirited atmosphere of college athletics.

Worst feature: It's pretty much the same every year.

The bottom line: It's no secret the game industry suffers from sequelitis, and as a result there's a big part of us that really wants to hate the "NCAA" franchise. Now in its 16th year, it's exactly the sort of safe, established series that stifles innovation, keeping developers from taking chances with a new intellectual property.

But even though the game's new tweaks are subtle - and hardly worth $60 if you already own last year's version - we have to admit it's still a heck of a lot of fun to play.

Among the new features, the most substantive is Online Dynasty mode, which lets you and up to 11 friends take charge of your favorite programs for as many as 30 seasons. Thankfully, efforts have been made to keep recruiting from getting overly tedious. And if you get tired of waiting around for your buddies, you can take your dynasty offline and get on with your life.

Other changes are comparatively minor. For instance, you can ice the other team's kicker, string together juke moves more fluidly - that sort of stuff.

Otherwise, it's just football - and that's never a bad thing.

Rommie Johnson

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