PlayStation 2

NCAA Football 06

There are no major flaws in this game except for a few "EA-isms", like when your runningback stops dead at the goal line (and stands up straight) or inexplicably injure his chest. I also wish the game would let you know definitively if a pass is complete or not. There's no half-time show, which is odd considering the game has everything else. One pleasant surprise is the music selection, which sounds like the soundtrack from my college days. With tracks from De La Soul, the Pixies (a censored version of "Debaser"), and the Clash, it's madly eclectic but highly listenable. NCAA 06 Football is a terrific package, and a no-brainer for college football fans.

If you're a college football fan, NCAA Football 06 is the game you've been waiting for your whole life. It might even be the best football game ever made, professional or collegiate, which, given the competition for the title, is really saying something. The new "Race for the Heisman" mode gives players a great reason to keep playing the game even after they've mastered it, and you won't find a better online sports experience anywhere. This is one game that will have fans cheering long after the final whistle has sounded.

There are a few minor stumbling points, but NCAA Football 06 brings back the greatest elements from past titles and adds exciting new career gameplay with the Race for the Heisman element. Sure, the refs would be tossing the flags for excessive celebrations a lot, if this were the real world, but it is not, and that means the glitz and excitement of college football meets with demonstrative elements to pull off exciting gameplay. Gridiron greatness – your name is NCAA Football 06.

The laces on the running game have been tightened up considerably, a much-needed emphasis has been placed onto impact players, and the CPU will do everything in its power to rattle your nerves. Both hard-hitting and deeper than you could possibly imagine, EA's collegiate gridiron is well worth revisiting.

All things considered, NCAA 2006 is a magnanimous leap forward for the franchise. Some key improvements have eliminated most of its faulty aspects and technical oversights. Nothing has been compromised, and every new enhancement serves a purpose, nothing is implemented just to fill up space on the back of the box. NCAA 2006 plays faster, runs smoother, looks more authentic, and probably tastes better. It's a fitting segue for the title's move to the next generation, and football enthusiasts and casual gamers alike will love this game. In a nutshell: Don't save those $50 waiting for Madden. Buy this game now.

While the inclusion of the Race for the Heisman mode was an incredibly ambitious move, along with some of the other tweaks made to the game, NCAA Football 06 manages to carry them off rather well. This isn’t a rental or a possibly purchase for a football lover; College football fans will be ecstatic to play this faster paced title that has better controls and more innovative gameplay features. This game itself is a contender for a championship.

While a bevy of nifty new features has been added to NCAA Football 06, the best aspect of the game is probably its re-tweaking of the usual NCAA game balance. The actual nuts and bolts of playing a game of NCAA 06 make it feel just right, and for veterans of the series, playing will evoke warm memories of NCAA 04. Combining that great gameplay balance with all the new features added over the past two years results in a game that every college football fan should have in his or her library.

NCAA is still a lot of fun to play, but it's more of a 12-yard run on first down instead of the 40-yard TD bomb down the field.

We're not exactly looking forward to 2006 - NCAA Football 06 isn't better than last year's game and our Cal Bears are sure to do worse than 2005's miracle run - but for all the inexorable fumbles, stumbles and bumbles, we expect plenty of daylight for our Bears and plenty of green for this game. Go teams.