NCAA Football 2002 marked a new occasion to EA Sports College Football series. Its Madden series debuted on the PS2 with Madden 2001, but NCAA didn't go to the PS2 until NCAA Football 2002 with this new console. It also ushered in a new era, with broadcast style settings, with play-by-play announcing, with a lot more expansive statistics keeping, and a lot more. However, this game is not without its flaws that are also very noticeable as well. So without further ado, here is what NCAA Football 2002 does well and what it struggled with going to the next generation of video game console.
Positives:
1. Broadcast Presentation: EA Sports does well with the transition to PS2 with the ability to get Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, and Brad Nessler as part of the broadcast team. The three combined to carry their way through to new heights in video gaming commentary. There is good presentation when there isn't a 'regional' or 'national' broadcast with an on-field announcer that gives play-by-play, similar to that of the NFL Gameday 98 announcer.
2. Statistics Keeping- This differentiates in a major way from the PS1 games for NCAA. There is the ability to keep most stats and save the game. It's not perfect like in later editions but for taking the leap up, it is done perfectly in later editions, but at the least it was a lot better than on the PS1 games.
3. Fluid- This game is fluid, it is quick on the ability to get done with a game and go forward to the next. I think the game on the transition is surprisingly good with its pacing and ability to be quick and fluid. You wouldn't expect it knowing it has to transition to a bigger stage but it does do well in this regard.
4. Recruiting- It is straight forward to recruit, to know your points budget, and to see who you can lure to your school. You have to be strategic to fill holes on the roster but also be within the budget to do well with the game overall. I appreciate the way this was done in the next step up to the PS2.
Negatives:
1. Repetition of commentary- They get better with this as time goes forward. However the commentary in this game is very, very repetitive to be honest. It is a downside and one that is noted nonetheless.
2. Easy competition- This is what the game lacked more so. The competition was so easy overall that even with step-ups in difficulty it made it still easy. Just overall I thought they struggled with this, and it was just a game that you could go worst-to-first pretty easily in 1-2 seasons (dependent on the CPU.) So that is the major struggle here is just it being too easy a game.
3. No note of who you recruited- So there isn't an extra screen for whom you got to commit to your program. This is done better in future games and really speaks to how barebones this edition really is.
4. Graphics- Honestly I can't give this game a good grade for graphics. It's grainy, it's not well refined and it struggles to produce good graphics. It does a LOT better for both going forward in future editions as well but the original was a massive struggle.
Overall Rating:
This was a barebones game to start with really no major big things to hold its hat on in its transition to the PS2. I overall thought the game was barebones and not a great expectation especially in hindsight and the further editions do a lot better going forward. I think this was done well in some regards, but is merely above average in respect. So overall rating is 6.5 out of 10.
