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NCAA Football 2004
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 16 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 5 votes
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Game Info
Publisher: EA Sports
Developer: Electronic Arts - Tiburon
Genre(s): Sports, Football
Players: 2
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Release Date: July 17, 2003
Summary
Get in the end zone with new trick plays like the Halfback Throwback and Wide Receiver Double Reverse Pass. New animations include sideline tackles, stumbles, new over-the-shoulder and basket catches, user-controlled celebrations, and much more. See the receivers better through a new QB Rollout camera and use the Play-Action Pass camera to fake out the defense. New College Classics mode: Replay 20 of the greatest college football games from the last two decades. Take over the game at a key situation, relive the glorious victory, or change history with an upset. Over 150 new teams: Play as one of 36 new 1-AA teams or one of the 100+ NEW Classic Teams including 1930 Notre Dame, 1956 Oklahoma, 1972 USC, 1985 Auburn, and 2002 Ohio State. Continuing the dynasty: Project the season's top performers with the new Pre-Season All-American Team and revel in your weekly accomplishments with new Sports Illustrated magazine covers. [EA Sports]
Also On Metacritic
GAMES: NCAA Football 2003 NCAA Football 2005
Cheat Codes & Hints: 1UP Strategy Guide Cheat Code Central
Also On The Web: IGN Preview Official Website Trojan Update
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
GamePro
Throughout the action, the controls handle sweetly, combining the depth of a large number of moves with smooth playability.
Read Full Review >Nintendojo
If you're a "Madden" fan you are definitely going to love owning this game. It offers a faster play clock, fast pace, more action, and a lot less emphasis on possession and clock management.
Read Full Review >My Gamer
No videogame fan, let alone a college football fan, should miss the experience of this complete game. Not many sports games recently can say they have all the simulation must-haves and all the fun arcade elements that make a sports game fun to play.
Read Full Review >Nintendo Power
The basic game play is nearly identical to that of last year's version, but the College Classics feature makes the update worthwhile. [Oct 2003, p.138]
Armchair Empire
This game is so good, it's almost impossible to think that there's a possibility that the NCAA Football series can improve.
Read Full Review >Gaming Age
The real reason to pick up this version over last year's are the presentation upgrades.
Read Full Review >Nintendophiles
The option is a huge part of college football, and Tiburon has done an extraordinary job of replicating it in NCAA Football.
Read Full Review >IGN
The Cube game looks the worst of the three and the controller is a bit frustrating to tackle, so while the game is still fun on its own, if you own another system, leave your Cube for Link and hit the field on your PS2 or Xbox.
Read Full Review >GameZone
The new teams are the big draw here. The game has been tweaked and seems to be a fuller experience.
Read Full Review >GameSpy
Online play isn't an option here, and the training mode is nowhere to be found. While the core game is still fun, there is little reason to choose the GameCube version unless the little purple box is your sole game system.
Read Full Review >Game Informer
Solid through and through and the new animations are nice, but the changes for this year aren't the kind which make you alter the way you play the game. For a long-running series, this is what's needed to keep it fresh. [July 2003, p.111]
GameSpot
If you're a casual college football fan and you already own last year's game, then there really isn't a huge reason for you to buy the Xbox or GameCube versions of the game, especially since neither features online play. But if you're a hard-core fan, then you will certainly enjoy all of the new features.
Read Full Review >Game Revolution
Despite the unfortunate lack of online compatibility in both the Xbox and GC versions of NCAA Football 2004, this is still the premiere college football game and is clearly the best of its breed. If you also own a PS2, though, I'd go with that version instead.
Read Full Review >G4 TV
In many respects, NCAA Football 2004 is deeper than its NFL counterparts. In fact, it's the best football game currently available for the GameCube. However, if you own multiple consoles, the PlayStation 2 version boasts inferior visuals but rather impressive online play, and the Xbox version has noticeably better graphics.
Read Full Review >Cheat Code Central
It's so full of bells and whistles that the gameplay seems almost secondary.
What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this game is 9.6 (out of 10) based on 5 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Robin W. gave it a 10:
This the best college football game to date, the dynasty mode is better then last year and is one of the modes that distinquishes this game from the rest. Really lets be honest there might only be one other better game out there then NCAA 2004 and thats NCAA 2005!
T-Mac Andrews gave it a 10:
Man, this iz da best sports game in history, please go out and buy this game(Georgia Bulldogs#1)
