OVERALL RATING		3.5
Presentation		4.0
Control		4.0
Gameplay		3.5
Fun factor		3.5
User Rating		4.0

NCAA Football 09 continues the tradition of sports simulation college football on mobile that allows players to take a shot at the National Championship.   It features 32 college football powerhouses like Ohio St., USC, Miami and Nebraska, plus some upgraded items over last year’s version, as you would expect. 

At start up, you can select Play Now to immediately begin a single game but you can also choose to go to the main menu that then opens up a few more modes.  Exhibition allows you to choose teams in a single encounter and New Game gives you a shot at the title with a 1, 7, or 12 game season.  Added to this year’s version is a Front Office that allows you to tinker with a substitution roster at your Alma Mater.

Like last year, offensive plays are divided into Run, Short Pass and Long Pass and also allows for specific college formations like the Wishbone and plays such as the Option.  To keep things clear, the game also utilizes the familiar three-colored identification marks to show when a teammate is open.  Newly installed this year to the passing game is the Field Vision passing scheme that has worked so excellently previously on the Madden series.  The running game remains the same where ball carriers can Juke, Stiff-Arm or Dive using the action button.  Defense also remains unchanged, which is fine, but considering the newly installed options on this year’s Madden, it would have been nice to have them here, but I guess those will come in next year’s NCAA.

One thing I should point out is that only in Exhibition mode can you select opponents.  In Play Now this is done automatically, and in Season mode you only select your favorite team and work your way through the gauntlet.  One thing about selecting your favorite team, the game’s theme can be switched to the right logo and fight song for a little customized feel.

As usual, the game delivers easy controls and looks quite sharp by way of good animation and cut-scenes.  Audio continues to work well with crowd cheers, effects and voice-over commentary.  Of course, you’d need to have a semi-decent handset to take advantage of this.

NCAA Football 09 actually reminds me a bit more of Madden 08, which isn’t a bad thing, but I’m wondering why EA just didn’t to go all the way and install all of Madden 09’s improvements instead.  I guess because that’ll have you looking to next season’s game that much more but do you really want to wait?  It’s still a good game with the college vibe and all, but I must say, after you’ve played Madden, this feels like a bit of a letdown.