Every year, EA Sports tries to outdo its sporting event games from the previous year.

It adds features not found in the previous years' games, but the playability of the game rarely changes. With NCAA College Football 2003 for PlayStation 2, game play is much like EA's other football counterpart, Madden NFL Football.

I never played NCAA College Football 2002, but I did play multiple versions of Madden and I had no problem picking up a controller right away and playing.

In NCAA College Football 2003, players can be any of 144 Division I-A and I-AA schools, including the one and only Penn State.

Yes, JoePa is on the sidelines, even though it looks like a cubic Joe in his younger years. Also, there is the life-like Nittany Lion, with hair that looks soft enough to touch. And as most Penn State fans would agree, the gamer never tires of his antics.

Over 200 fight songs abound and gamers have the option of playing as an "All-Mascot Team." The graphics in NCAA 2003 compete with all other current football games, and playability is smooth and efficient. The stadiums are life-like; one can actually catch the ambience of Beaver Stadium on any given Saturday.

Playbooks are extensive for both defense and offense, with the possibility of using the infamous option.

Play modes include exhibition, season (in which a player controls a team's destiny in its yearly schedule), and dynasty mode (in which the gamer can create his/her own school and schedule, recruit star athletes and redshirt players in order to build an elite squad).

The main problem with the game is that it is much like every other football game. So, unless the gamer is a die-hard for having a complete collection of football games, the bang is really not worth the bucks. Plus, gamers always have 2004 to look forward to.

-Reviewed by Caleb Sheaffer