Chapter 6 - Mini-Games and Xbox 360 Achievements

NCAA Football 08 features another round of mini-games and Xbox 360 achievements, though none differ significantly from last year's version. This section provides tips on playing Tug-of-War, Bowling, and Option Dash (and how to unlock the corresponding achievement in the Xbox 360 version) as well as the complete list of Xbox 360 achievements and tricks on gaining them.

Mini-Games

The three mini-games from last season's game return and the rules and strategies are essentially the same. This section covers these mini-games again and provides some tips on scoring big and unlocking corresponding Xbox 360 achievements. The most important tip to consider is to tilt the mini-game in your favor through team selection. Unless you specifically want a challenge, choose a top NCAA team to control while selecting one of the not-so-top teams for the computer.

Bowling is arguably the most challenging game, particularly regarding the achievement—which requires a perfect 300 score, scoring 12 straight touchdowns from the 10-yard line. Your team starts at the opponent's 10-yard line. Gain a touchdown on the first play and you score a strike; score in two plays and it's a spare. It scores just like real bowling; strikes carry over points from the next two plays and spares carry over points from the next play. Yards gained count as points; loss of yardage, incompletes, and turnovers count as gutter balls—zero points.

You can increase or decrease mini-game challenge through team selection. The D+ defense of UL Monroe will decrease the challenge.

You can firmly place the bowling odds in your favor through team selection. Many different strategies will work and can depend on your skills at particular plays. If you're skilled at rushing the ball, consider Arkansas and use the best running back in the game (HB #5) to plow through and spin around tacklers. If you're skilled at passing plays, consider USC, Michigan, Florida, Louisville, or other teams with top quarterbacks and varied playbooks. And if you're skilled at option plays, consider West Virginia—the fastest quarterback and running back combination in the game. And of course, set the computer up with a poor defensive team, such as UL Monroe Warhawks (sorry to pick on you UL Monroe, but your defense is rated D+).

Want to make the perfect game even easier? Choose "Freshman" difficulty and make adjustments to the "Game AI" sliders. Move all of the CPU defensive sliders to zero and adjust all of the User sliders on offense to 100. It shouldn't take long before you've bowled the perfect game. Your secret is safe and your achievement is unlocked for the world to see.

Option Dash is all about the option play. You score points with every yard gained and every touchdown scored. However, the real points arrive through the multiplier (for instance, a 5x multiplier scores 5x the points for each yard gained or touchdown scored). Increase the multiplier through special moves, such as a pitch, fake pitch, juke, spin move, hurdle, stiff arm, or break tackle.

Therefore it's important to perform as many special moves as possible, especially during long runs. Start with a fake pitch then a real pitch when your quarterback is almost tackled. When you're in the open field, do a fake pitch, a juke, hurdle, and a spin move. Perform a second fake pitch and another juke. Continue to string moves together as much as possible.

Because touchdowns gain so many points, capitalize on long yardage and big multipliers by scoring a touchdown at the end of the run. You will waste a lot of points if you're tackled at the two-yard line. Don't waste a huge multiplier without reaching the end zone! Your two-yard touchdown on the next play just won't produce the same amount of score.

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