NCAA Football 2009 hasn't changed a lot over the years, but has progressively gotten better in many aspects of the game. Some of the differences are subtle and others more pronounced. This year's title has everything from the standard game modes, to taking on the career of a single player, crazy mini-games, mascot madness, and of course, great online play and game modes.
The play-calling menus can be a bit confusing to navigate at first (they scroll horizontally, not vertically), but they work well after the learning curve. What I was really impressed with, however, was the in-game audible-calling HUD (when at the line) and play-changing system. It is absolutely great... just be careful not to get wrapped up in it and get the dreaded Delay of Game call! The only issues I had with it were that at times (in Campus Legend mode), you can't look left and right to see possible cornerback blitzes (I don't have a widescreen TV), and at all times, you have to wait to get everyone set at the line before calling audibles, shaving precious seconds off the clock when trying to run the hurry-up offense.
On the field, the gameplay is very tight at times, yet still contains some exploits, unfortunately. Also, I have to mention that for whatever reason, NCAA Football 2009's special teams system is absolutely frustrating. Whether you're on the kicking or receiving end of the ball, the game automatically gives you specific play-calling options to choose from. It appears that, depending on the field position and time of the game, you'll be forced to call certain formations. As an example, you'll often be forced to run a "safe" punt return instead of having the option to go for a block or a normal return. Limiting your options like this is a real annoyance, and a distraction from the game in many ways.
The two main game modes, Dynasty and Campus Legend, are entirely where NCAA Football 2009's heart lies. Dynasty has been around forever, so I'm not going to mention more about it than the fact that you can take your favorite team to the house year after year, either by yourself or with a group of friends. This year's game also contains an all-new Online Dynasty Mode, which unfortunately doesn't allow you to set up a public Dynasty for anyone on Xbox Live to join, and you must instead invite people from your buddy list or recent opponents only. If anyone out there wants to play, look me up on XBL.
As a Campus Legend, you'll have to choose your position and work your way up from the ranks of a High School tournament, getting recruited as either a starter or fight your way into a starting position from lower strings, depending on the team you choose to play for. As you practice, you'll gain experience and eventually become a starter, should you choose a more popular team that already has an established hierarchy of players. While Campus Legend was at first not as entertaining as running a Dynasty, I quickly began enjoying the short game times (you can skip all plays that you're not involved in if you choose) and the scenario-based play-calling, to some effect. Basically, you'll have to run the plays set before you as the play-calling is done entirely by the coach, with the option to audible out if you're playing as a quarterback. This game mode really does offer a satisfaction when winning with limited decision-making abilities, as it comes down to raw game-playing abilities.
If you get bored with the normal gameplay modes, you can also bust out some min-games. While they are all based on football, some take an interesting twist. Most notably, Bowling consists of playing "frames" where it's you against your opponent and scoring touchdowns will grant you spares or strikes, and at the same time, gaining yards will net individual points (you start from the 10 yard line each frame). Other min-games include Horse, a field goal-based "copy me if you can" gameplay, Tug-Of-War, a play-by-play battle of field position, Special Teams Challenge, and the Option Dash.
