NCAA Football 07 [PSP]

The face of college football has changed a lot since the '06 NFL Draft, and Saturdays may never be the same. Football enthusiasts may end up looking back on this last crop of collegiate athletes gone pro as one of the most talent-filled in recent history, with defensive threat Mario Williams gone to Texas with the stunning first pick, followed up by the playmaker, Reggie Bush, now a New Orleans Saint. His former USC teammate, jet-setting Hollywood playboy Matt Leinart is out of the glitz and glamour of SoCal and has packed his bags for the arid environs of Arizona, where he'll serve under the tutelage of the rapidly aging former Super Bowl MVP Kurt Warner. While these superstars won't be attending any more classes next year, they've done a surprisingly effective job at brining attention to the game of college football, and by association, EA's first college football game for the PSP.

When you do decide to tackle NCAA Football 07, you'll still be well served by suiting up with the underclassmen and seniors at USC. The disparity between team strengths is pretty extreme in some conferences, just as it is in real life. Taking one of the top teams through the Dynasty mode will highlight the disparity in most divisions, as some games will seem like match-ups between men and boys. This is the college game, though, and you'll have to really blow out the weaker competition in order to impress the coaches and media, whose ballots are what drive the all-important polls, which determine the eventual winner of the national championship. You'll also want to target specific players for many of your scoring drives, to give them a legitimate shot at winning the Heisman at the end of the season. Don't forget to scout and target the incoming high school players, as this is where your talent pool comes from. The schools with the best recruiting end up having the strongest program, which in turn provides you job security and that great pay raise when it's time to renegotiate your coaching contract.

The Heisman Trophy and the National Championship aren't the only achievable goals worth attaining, either. NCAA Football 07 also features a wide assortment of rivalry games that are entertaining, bringing additional bragging rights to the table, with nifty rewards to boot. For example, you can have the University of Miami Hurricanes take on the Florida Gators in a battle for the Seminole War Canoe trophy. Win it, and it'll appear in your trophy case, part of your spoils of war. And how can it get more intense than Michigan against Michigan State, duking it out over the Paul Bunyan trophy? You also have the annual Army-Navy game, UCLA and USC's clashes for the Victory Bell, and a host of other intense rivalries to rile you up and get the competitive urges flowing.

From a visual and aural standpoint, NCAA Football 07 succeeds on all counts. The presentation is slick, with professional ESPN-style overlays during instant replays, and a diverse variety of different end-zone celebrations after scores. The in-game advertising by Coca-Cola and Pontiac is well handled and doesn't offend -- in fact, it serves to reinforce the televised feel that the game has going for it. You don't have the hip-hop or nu-metal soundtrack of the pro games, but this is college ball, and in college ball you need a marching band, and all the familiar themes are here. The default NCAA camera angle really serves to give you a televised feel, and anyone looking over your shoulder as you play may have to do a double take at times, possibly convinced that you're watching a live game in progress. The mascot games are a clever idea that has been done before but works particularly well here, considering the immediate association the most popular collegiate teams have with their chosen guy in a suit. When you field a full team of Nittany Lions against a bunch of mustachioed rebels from UNLV, you'd have to be quite the sourpuss to not have a chuckle or two. The uniforms look great, the spins, jukes, and stiff arm animations also hold up well, although you may be bothered by players' inability to leap over the defensive line on a third and short or goal line scoring attempt. The dive move seems more like a headfirst slide, and doesn't work to go over players as it has in Madden games of years past -- this can get particularly frustrating if your running back comes up on a wall of defenders with nowhere to go, turning a sure-fire touchdown into a turnover. Occasionally you'll also struggle with the change in camera perspective, particularly when taking control of kick returners.