Bill Walsh College Football
Reviewed by Stephen Decambre
Bill Walsh College Football is one of EA's first attempts in bringing
college football action to fans of the Super NES. Thanks with partnership
from one of NFL's prime coaches, Bill Walsh brings his knowledge of
college football guruism to EA Sports to make Bill Walsh College
Football an challenging game. Fans can expect some real slick action,
straight from the sidelines to the end zones. Bill Walsh College Football
has excellent features to bring home the most classic football game to date.
Graphics: 6 out of 10
Graphically, the artificial intelligence (AI) is just the beginning in this
game. While the football players on the screen give right way to their
duties, expect to see some mishaps in comparison to the scenes where
both teams tackle. Overall, the graphic are smooth and with the Bill
Walsh College Football logo looking overhand the football field, it's a
realism of modern 16-bit graphics here.
Music and Sound: 6 out of 10
You hear post-classic college football sounds throughout some scenes
of the game (Main Menu Screen, Team Select, Regular Season). The
program keeps clear of distracting music during game play, yet when
a players makes a touchdown some music will follow. Sounds from
the players when they make bone-crushing hits will be average, but not
as superb from the NFL Gameday series.
Game Challenge: 6 out of 10
Bill Walsh College Football is different from several college football
games. First of all, you don't see any licensed college teams here so
there is a sort of freedom to choose which clubs you like based on
your own preferences. Second, the challenge in this game is basically
from selecting those passing plays and trying to execute them. Probably
50% of the time any play you make will be completed so there's not much
to expect from this program. Thirdly, try out the playoff mode in the game
to see if you're really tough enough to compete for the bowl title.
Game Play-Fun: 7 out of 10
You might wonder why I put a 7 on this department, well here's why. The
game gets a 7 for having a feature for purists (or those who just hate
seeing real college football teams play it out on national TV). If you don't
want to play the teams you set up to play, just slide both controllers into
the middle, and the computer will play those teams. This feature is useful
here so if there is a huge college football game coming up on TV and you
want to make some moula off your balling' friend, then this is the game for
you. And if your friend questions why there are no real college football
names, just say they're short names for the real teams (I.E. SOUTHERN
CALIFORNIA STANDS FOR USC or better yet just tell your friend that
Keyshawn Johnson is in the game!)
Frustration
The frustration comes from choosing which receiver to send wide open
in passing plays. The defensive lines can complete most of their plays
only against teams with low offensive production.
Replayability: 5 out of 10
Play it as much as you like, but if you put it on Autoplay too much,
you'll kind of get tired. The scores will be average based on how many
points you can crum up. Only their playoff or regular season modes
bring the real challenge to lead any team you pick to be #1.
Game Value: 2 out of 10
With this game so cheap, the game would have been better off getting
NCAA license to register real team names. But even with NCAA
licensing, the game would never come close to the realism of today's
competing college football titles. Bill Walsh may be remembered for
leading the 49ers and Stanford to Victories and Titles, but his name
won't rub off to buyers of his game for the Super NES. Another example,
Mike Ditka!
Watch mode/Autoplay ranking: 2 out of 10
Why did EA Sports had to put play book screens during Autoplay games?
This is the downfall to how cheap this game can be! The play book screen
should only be used during 1-player/2-player games - not Watch mode games
Old-school Teams: 2 out of 10
While this game features some classic championship teams from
the past, the sucking part is that their are no-names to show worthy
of the old- school teams in Bill Walsh College Football. That's what
makes it undescribable when it comes to comparing the teams. A
feature is avaible before you start the game to see the overall low-downs
on the teams though.
Overall: 4 out of 10
Bill Walsh College Football might well be a laughing stock to football
video game fanatics. The graphics are not near any comparable status
with today's powerful college football games. Gameplay is only worth something if
you play it through the Playoff modes featured in the program. It's still
worth a collectible if you like slow-motion football.