The PlayStation football wars have begun in earnest now that all the big titles have been released. I have been a big follower of all EA sports games since their console beginnings on the Genesis in 1990. The original Madden game revolutionized video football when it was released on Sega's 16-bit console and set the bar that all other football games were originally judged against. Their first NCAA game didn't appear until 1995 (excluding the Bill Walsh games) and has evolved into NCAA Football 99.

This is EA's second NCAA game for the PlayStation and it was the first of the big three to be released (Madden NFL 99 & NFL Gameday 99 being the other two, of course) and it just may be the best of the bunch. This has all the options and features you would expect in an EA game. You get all the standard options including exhibition, season, tournament and practice modes but EA didn't stop there. They have also included a dynasty mode and a play editor. Finally, you can create your own plays. Yes!

The graphics are the first thing that I'll touch upon because they are a landmark for EA. NCAA Football '99 is their first polygonal football game. They took a lot of heat last year due to their insistence on staying sprite-based when their main competitor (Sony Sports, now 989 Sports) went polygonal. Even though Madden NFL '98 was arguably the best football game ever made, with it's perfectly tweaked engine and the best AI ever seen in a football game, it still was perceived as a disappointment. You won't be disappointed in the graphics here, though. They look great and are very smooth, without all the rough edges and blockiness associated with polygon graphics. They are very detailed with all the helmet logos and uniform nuances, down to the Nike-line logos on the shoulder pads reminiscent those found on real-life college jerseys. The frame rate is pretty smooth, with a very slight choppiness when a lot of players are bunched together on screen. However, that doesn't detract from the game play. It's barely noticeable. The speed rivals any football game out right now, sprite or polygonal, and the graphics are light years ahead of NCAA Football '98.

The players are easily controllable, with all of the various jukes, spins, and hurdles being executable with the control pad whenever you need them. The stadium graphics are virtually identical to last year, and that's fine, as they were, and are, very detailed and accurate. All 112 of them offer very different environments. That brings up one of the games strongest features: the crowd and stadium ambience. Good stadium atmosphere can add realism to a game, but it's unfortunate how often it's overlooked. I cannot put into words how amazing this game is in terms of crowd sounds and effects.

The chants and marching band effects are the best in any football game to date. The crowd will get pumped up at just the right moments in the game, like a big third down defensive stand, or a drive late in the game when you're trailing by six. On defense, you can even encourage the crowd by pumping them up via the L1 button. Hitting it on key defensive plays makes the crowd go crazy. This is a testament to the painstaking detail that EA included to make the game as accurate as possible. The sounds of the actual players are great as well, with helmet and shoulder pad collisions that sound convincingly hard hitting. The play-by-play is done by an in-stadium PA announcer who calls things such as yards gained, downs, sacks, etc. It's not as revolutionary as the two-man commentary made famous in the Triple Play and NHL series, but it's very effective nonetheless. At halftime, the announcer even broadcasts scores from the other games taking place that day.

A feature that EA has started to incorporate in their sports titles is a career mode, or in this case, a dynasty mode. This adds almost infinite replayability to the game. The depth is utterly jaw-dropping. You pick a team and you have to take them successfully through subsequent seasons. You are signed to a 5-year contract that may or may not be honored, depending on your success. The dire need to win is not as high at a school such as Boise State, for example, as it would be at Nebraska, which is a perennial powerhouse.

The regular season is standard fare with top 25 rankings and the like. The game intensifies after the season ends. You have to recruit players to replace those that leave due to graduation or to join the pros. I forgot that underclassmen could leave, and was stunned to see my junior running back leave for the pros after my first season. You have to send various scouting personnel to find and recruit new talent. You can send the head coach, who brings back the star players; assistant coach, who brings back productive starters; and so on and so forth.

After all your recruiting is done you can see the fruits of your labor by viewing the recruiting screen, which shows where all the players decided to go. It's a very interesting feature that adds so much to gameplay that college football games without it won't cut it anymore. One note about this mode is that it sucks up a lot of memory card space -- taking up 13 blocks on your card. (Madden NFL '99's franchise mode only takes about 6 blocks.)

Along with depth, you have to have a realistic AI, which was last year's biggest weakness. This year, the CPU will compensate for your skill with some solid gameplay and will adjust a little to your style. Their is a small bug that allows you to rack up multiple sacks, but it doesn't affect gameplay at all.

The kicking game has a new twist as well. EA have added a trajectory kicking system that allows for high (shorter and tough to block), standard (normal),and low (longer range but easier to block) kicks. I've found these particularly useful and they add a touch of needed strategy to that part of the game. Analog passing and running are also available, if you want to explore another avenue in game control.

Other features of note: NCAA Football '99 allows you to play notable bowl games from 1946 up to 1998. If you win a game, you acquire a code that allows you to unlock one of them. The play editor is great for those "wannabe" coaches out there. It shows EA's confidence in their AI schemes by allowing you to create your own plays to see if you can find "money plays." EA's stats database is unrivaled and tracks any stat you would ever need, and does it very accurately. It also gives out player of the year awards at the end of the season.

This is my favorite football game for the PlayStation. I prefer the frame rate and stadium ambience over Madden. It has all the features you could ever want in a football game with a nice AI engine to boot. I just wish EA would get their two development teams together and standardize some features between the pro and college games. This game is highly recommended, even if you own Madden NFL '99. NCAA Football '99 easily deserves a place in your PlayStation sports library.