NCAA Football

COLLEGE FOOTBALL STATISTICS GAforE

If you love picking up the old pigskin and hoofing it around the living room on Saturday afternoons while watching college football, this is a game you can play that doesn't trash the furniture. Choose from one of 40 NCAA schools to play as.

An advanced memory capacity (AI) in the game allows the blockers to make their initial blocks, then move downfield to do more blocking.

You can also save multiple tournaments based on teams from the '60s, 70s, and '80s. A window of three plays can be seen on the screen at any one time on offense or defense.

You can see more of the plays by scrolling through them by pressing k the up arrow.

A unique aspect of this game comes in the form of a radar view of the receivers. A large window at the top of the screen allows you to pick up the receivers as they move down field. A Weather Mode for those really snowy days in your neck of the gaming woods has also been added.

The Intro Screen with a football player ripping through the NCAA logo is very cool.

Mindscape takes to the gridiron with NCAA Football, a solid game for the player who wants to get down and dirty in college ball. It won't thrill you with outstanding sound effects, graphics, or strategy, but NCAA delivers good game play.

Hit the Field

This game isn't loaded with strategy and options. You do play with the 16 best college teams of the last 40 years, but the teams all perform basically the same way, and you don't save team stats.

With only a few dozen offensive plays, NCAA definitely isn't a sophisticated Madden-type game.

Graphics and sounds are serviceable. Unlike Mindscape's previous sports games, like Stanley Cup and NCAA Basketball, NCAA Football doesn't utilize a dizzying 3D rotating viewpoint -- its overhead perspective is much more agreeable. The sounds, though, are pretty basic: just standard whistles and grunts without any commentary.

Clean Control

The standout feature is the smooth control system, which resembles the highly regarded Tecmo Bowl interface. Offensive plays are easy to execute, and the computer will challenge you to mix 'em up. By the second quarter, if you haven't begun to establish a sound passing and running game, stick the fork in, you're done! Unfortunately, manual defensive control is a little less refined. Tackling can be difficult, and your defensive players sometimes dive through a runner with no effect.

While lovers of more sophisticated football games may want to pass on this one, NCAA is perfect for the novice who wants to get right into the action without having to thumb through pages of instruction.