OK, so I'm a little late getting to the party for NCAA 09, but there is a legitimate reason: the last two years of this game sucked. I mean, annoyingly sucked. A combination of several little things, like how long it took to actually kick an extra point, combined with some major issues, including obvious cheating by the computer, made NCAA 07 and 08 impossible to play. Yes, I can hear you now: "But DibO, it was harder to run your wishbone option offense, and you just quit out of frustration, you big baby!" True, if has become a little more difficult, but not that much. No, the various gameplay issues, and amount of button presses to took to get tasks done, drove me away. And after reading various reviews and articles about the game, 09 didn't look like it was going to even make it in the door.

Weak as always, however, I broke down recently and slunk home with a nice used copy. Surprise! It's playable. Surprise! It's much faster all around. Surprise! Select field goal, and the ball in is the air in under two seconds. Oh happiness! It seems as if someone at EA/Tiburon finally sat down with the list of "stupid things we keep hearing about in the forums" and fixed them. Thank you! The game is, thus far, a joy to play. Controls are smooth, though probably tough to grasp for a novice of the series. The animations make sense. You can see plays developing, whether you are in position to stop them or not. Cheerleaders are back. The graphics are much crisper, with the stadiums showing a noticeable improvement over past incarnations. They flyover at the beginning of the game could actually induce a touch of vertigo. And the sound is fantastic, and much richer than in years past. The best example of this is how much more often the bands play during a game. It goes a long way to recreating the feel of an actual game.

Are there problems? Sure, a few, not nothing major. I miss the players warming up on the field as Chris, Kirk and Lee discuss the pending matchup. The game will pick a formation for you on "unusual" plays, such as the computer going for a fourth down when you don't expect it. This can cause a bit of confusion, and also gives away fake punts and field goals. One control issue I had was on the give to the fullback on an option play. The default dive button is A (Xbox), which is also the button you hold down to hand off to the fullback. But without changing the control scheme, my back just kept diving every time he touched the ball. Hard to surprise the D with your ball carrier on the ground. Also, I'm not into the new recruiting setup, whith it continuing all season long. Much more true to life, sure, but how about a choice of recruiting setups? The post-season style was the way to go, and I'd like to be able to use it. My final issue, however, has been around for a few years. You can no longer call audibles while your team is getting into position after running a play and then using the hurry up option. In the past, as soon as the previous play ended, you could hit Y for hurry up, then press X for audible, and call one or more as the players got set. Now, you have to wait for them to be lined up, which gives you less time to make a play change. So what if it is more realistic? I want to win! And why can't I blitz my nickel corner for 89 sacks in a season anymore????

Sorry for the rambling there. To sum up, I am rather impressed with the current version of NCAA 09. If the same or like issues have turned you away from the franchise since the move to the current consoles, now looks to be the time for a return. It's a quality game again, and one that I'm looking forward to filling the painful month of post Super Bowl February.