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RC2006 v Rugby06

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The Kiddie

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Sorry to start a new thread... but thought it was useful for those who are still undecided on which ***le to buy.

I have both games and at the moment I am preferring EA's version. But interestingly both have moved on slightly for the last incarnation... but each still has most of the same flaws that have been stated on here so many times!

So here's my thoughts on the two version...

Camera Angles
RC2006 - much better camera angles. Both from the side and from behind. If you notice the camera subtlety zooms from in to out when you gain possession of the ball and start sprinting making more of the pitch available to see. 8/10

Rugby06 - side angle is terrible. It makes gaps hard to find and makes defence a nightmare.

Its from behind angle is too flat, it needs to be moved up slightly so you can see the space between your back line and the oppositions. 6/10

Scrums
RC2006 â€" Nice control system that makes you feel in control, but sadly no wheel. Good pick-up and go options from No.8 or Scrum half! 7/10

Rugby-06 â€" Still terrible, the result seems rigged to me! 4/10

Lineouts
If only we could combine the lineouts from both games this element would be sorted.

RC2006 - its nice to have the option of 3/5/7 man lines, where you can catch or tap back on each variation. But sadly no option to catch and drive. 6/10

Rugby06 - Same old problem as Rugby 05, you can only catch at the front, tap back from the middle and go over the top. But you can start a driving maul which is useful 5m out.

RC2006 seems more like a lottery, where as Rugby06 seems rigged, particularly when you play again England! 6/10

Rucks
RC2006 - This system seems the better of the two, but it does get frustrating when you want quick ball and you have to wait for the ruck to complete. But turnovers seem fairer (and logical - putting one man in = lose possession, putting 8 men in = winning possession)... but the rucks are too frequent! 6/10

Rugby06 - Again this seems rigged. The amount of times I've had players piling into a ruck and the opposition has 2 men, and they turnover the ball is just plain cheating! The hands in the ruck is a nice touch, but sometimes it doesn't work! 5/10

Mauls
RC2006 - They are OK, occasionally they appear in the game, and the control system for the is pretty good. 5/10

Rugby06 - Have yet to see one in open play. 0/10

Running with ball
RC2006 - The forwards now have a place in the game, although the speed of some is a little too quick. But it just seems slicker than Rugby06. 8/10

Rugby06 - not as responsive as RC2006, but not bad. 7/10

Sidestep
RC2006 - still by far the better of the two. With the ‘Rokocoko spin’ and the Shane Williams-esque ‘Stand the defender up by stopping in your tracks’ gives a good variety. 9/10

Rugby2006 - better than Rugby05, but not quite as slick as RC2006. Its more of a swerve than a step! 6/10

Handoff
RC2006 - better than WCR, but still not great. Has little real impact. You’ll break one tackle and be gobbled up straight away by the next one. 5/10

Rugby06 - these are much better on Rugby 06 than Swordfish's version. Able to break the line and create an opening. 9/10

Shoulder charge/Tackle break
RC2006 - busting through the tackle with the sprint button is quite good, but it is sometimes hard to work out which player you are controlling, so can be a bit frustrating... especially when your trying to break a tackle with Stephen Jones when you thought it was Michael Owen. 7/10

Rugby06 - the better of the two systems. Create an opening and provides forward momentum. 9/10

Passing
RC2006 - by far the slicker of the two games, but still passes occasionally weave between players, and a lot of them look slightly forward! The ‘miss pass’ is much better on this game compared to EA's. 8/10

Rugby06 - Still slow and clunky, and the ‘miss pass’ just doesn't work effectively. Why they just don't use a double tap is beyond!

But they have introduced a quick pass (tap before you receive the ball), which is a nice touch (Excuse the pun!). 7/10

Jumping
RC2006 â€" It has a well documented jump problem. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t! 5/10

Rugby06 â€" Works fine everytime… kickoffs, cross field rugby league style kicks and going up for the bomb! 9/10

Offloads
RC2006 - Still haven't got the hang of these, not even sure what I am supposed to be doing! Sometimes I do it by accident, but more of the time it’s an interception! 5/10

Rugby06 - Quite a good system, you have an on-screen prompt when offload is available and press X (PS2) to complete the offload. 8/10

[/B]Punting
RC2006 - Better than WCR, but there's no real need to punt. And with Box Kicks you just don't have the same control as in EA. But the fullback still seems to cover most of my kicks like in WCR. 6/10

Rugby06 - Better control than RC2006, and what is good is that there is a ‘need’ to punt in defence. And even better when playing the computer AI againsy someone like Wilko he’ll kick you all over the park. 9/10

Grubbers
RC2006 - still rules the roost when it come to grubbers. There's huge satisfaction tapping one past the Fullback and ending up under the sticks! 9/10

Rugby06 - Still terrible. The opposition just turns sprints picks it up and you end up trying to tackle him. 5/10

Drop kicks
RC2006 â€" Still has the drop in the pocket to have a drop goal attempt, but the AI seems a little too quick and a lot are charged down. Also if your directly behind it can be quite difficult. 6/10

Rugby06 â€" Also has the drop back into the pocket, and the drop kicks are more responsive. 8/10

Up and under
RC2006 â€" I’ve always had a few probs with Swordfish’s system, I keep grubbering it when attempting a bomb! 5/10

Rugby06 â€" Nice simple system that is responsive, and because you can jump for the ball, it makes it worth while. 8/10

Goal Kicking
RC2006 â€" A much better system that WCR. Its logical and makes kicking fun. Also the wind has far more effect on the flight of the ball compared to EA’s system. 8/10

Rugby06 â€" A slight improvement on Rugby05, and with the nice touches of the of each kicker having his own style (Wilko hands clasp, Henson seated cruch position) it makes it the better of the two games.

But being able to choose you short goal kicker and long range goal kickers is another nice touch. 9/10

Tackling

RC2006 â€" I quite like the big hit button, so I’m glad its still there, but makes sense to make it dependable on the strength of the ball carrier. But some of the dump tackle animations are too frequent 7/10

Rugby06 â€" It all feels a little loose, it can be quite hard to master tacking. I like to press a button to activate a tackle. So RC2006 is my preferred option, but the high tackle option is another good touch. 7/10

Quick Tap Penalty
RC2006 â€" Sadly missing from this game. 0/10

Rugby2006 â€" Excellent feature, sometimes the opposition will tackle you before 10metres which again another enjoyable feature. 9/10

Quick Throws
RC2006 â€" Was on JLR but not WCR and isn’t on here, shame coz it’s a nice feature 0/10

Rugby06 â€" Works really well on here, very good for counter attacking. 8/10


Try scoring
RC2006 â€" Nice variety of dives, but poor celebrations. 7/10

Rugby06 â€" Again a nice variety of dives, but person specific celebrations (I just saw Gareth Thomas do the ‘Ayatollah’ (That’s the bit when he taps his head with both hands after he scores… for those of you who live outside Wales) 9/10

Injuries
RC2006 â€" I’ve seen a few injuries on here, but the lack of squad management makes it a bit disappointing. You can make a sub, but can’t switch players from the starting position. 7/10

Rugby 06 â€" Again injuries are present, but the ability to move players around gets my approval. 9/10

Back line moves
RC2006 â€" You see a few players run good angles from the AI, but there are no moves as such. 5/10

Rugby06 â€" A big feature on EA’s game. Being able to customise your backline moves is great! And the inclusion of the cross field kick to your winger is just genius! 10/10

Statistics
RC2006 â€" Gives player stats for the top 3 point scorers per team… and that’s about it! 6/10

Rugby06 â€" Keeps tabs of points scores and kicking % for your team through a whole tournament, but sadly there’s no top try scorer table like you’ll find in Pro Evo and Fifa. 8/10

Squad Management
RC2006 â€" Its OK, at least you can move people about before kick off (not like WCR), but it’s not great. But having star players is a nice touch… reminds me of Sensible Soccer! Picking a goal kicker is there, but that’s about it. 7/10

Rugby06 â€" EA is always the Daddy when it comes to things like this. Overall player ratings make it easier to select a team from the wide choice of players who can represent a country (even if you don’t agree with the ratings, or if EA think Gareth Delve is English!).

You can pick goal kicker (short and long), punter (short and long), kick off taker and captain. 10/10

Editor
RC2006 â€" Able to edit player names but not abilities L (Trying to work out who is who is a bit of a nightmare because of the legal issues with licences!)

Also you can’t create a player L

But you can edit team names and short names and any competition name… which for me is quite good. Not having the licence isn’t that important if you can edit it to correct it. 7/10

Rugby-06 â€" Sadly can’t edit player names or team names, but you can create a player. (Surely easier to edit existing players??!!)

I’d like to see a Pro Evo type system where you can create a player and his nationality, as well as edit just about everything that is there. Just think you may not have a licence for France, but you could create a carbon copy of Damien Traille and then stock him! 8/10

Licences
RC2006 â€" Has everything apart form Southern Hemisphere (so no Percy Montgomery, George Gregan or Dan Carter!). But some nice touches with the All Stars, Northern and Southern Hempishere Select. 8/10

Rugby06 â€" Has everything apart from French league and Celtic League (its stupid because all French team is licensed … so you’ll see Damien Traille for France and D. Trill for Biarritz!) Not sure about any unlockables as yet! 8/10

Graphics
RC2006 â€" Still the arcade-y WCR… which is fine. Stadiums are good and some player likeness ain’t bad close up. But it can be a little hard to spot who’s who when playing. 7/10

Rugby06 â€" As always with EA graphics is everything. The presentation is a little slicker… so it’s a little better than RC2006. 8/10

Commentary
RC2006 â€" Not bad, a few nice touches like Permatanned Gavin Henson, and Flowing locks of Adam Jones… but they do get a bit repetitive. 7/10

Rugby06 â€" Slightly better than RC2006, but a little more serious. 8/10

Computer AI
RC2006 â€" Better than Rugby06 IMO, particularly on Intensive care mode… which is very fast! 8/10

Rugby06 â€" Its not bad… particularly with the computer playing option of a kicking game. 7/10

Game Modes
RC2006 â€" Pretty good selection. Leagues, cups, official tournaments and Lions Tours… but the ability to create your own competition is a master stroke!

World league with training and stuff could be a real winner but you can’t trade certain licenced (or unlicensed players!)

Plus the hot potato game, survival, old time rugby and superstars make this the better of the two games. 9/10

Rugby06 â€" All the major licenses but no create your own competition L 8/10

Overall Gameplay

RC2006 â€" Good fun, particularly on two player against a mate. Easy to pick up and play, but too many rucks and no kicking game. Plus defence can still be impossible at times (Hard to select the player you want!)

It is what its meant to be… an “arcade-y pick-up n’play†7/10

Rugby06 â€" More of a serious rugby simulation, but defence is an absolute stinker. Timing a tackle is an art. But option to play a variety of games, open and expansive, backline moves oriented, forwards up the middle… or simply kick to the corners and contest the line-outs. 8/10
 
well i've stioll not played r2006 but you're rc2006 review is almost spot on.

I'd like to add that a kicking game is possible and I use it often but it's not a kicking game per se. more of defensive tactic.

Also, the lineouts are not a lottery they are spefically rigged. You make your choice and the AI basically decides if it's going to select your choice or not. This ****** me off because in general you don't lose so many of your own lineouts (certainly not as many as I lose here). You can tell it's rigged because the AI uses no logic to determine what kind of line out you will probably use and where and it's certainly not random else you would end up winning more of them. It's obviously rigged and it makes the attacking kicking game much less worth while, which is a great shame as the kicking isnt bad at all.

The box kick in RC2006 is pretty much pointless because you can't control it. The AI decides if it eithers go slightly at an angle or straight ahead and it's always recovered by the full back.

The grubber in RC2006 is good but unfortunately, it's not very easy to use the grubber to set up another player as the your AI controlled dudes don't sense this and there's no running onto the loose ball.

The only other thing i can think of are the mauls. There's not a lot of point to mauls you can't control.

Everything else you said about rc2006, I think your spot on and have criticised it correctly.
 
...ive never seen top try scorer in pro evo or fifa...must've missed it :D

great work mate. only qualm would be about the homing missile passing mechanics of rc2006.
all in all, excellent summary...worth a look if people only want to buy one.
 
nice general overall review of both games...

you made up my mind: buy earugby 2006, hire rc2006
 
Originally posted by BOKean@Feb 13 2006, 03:00 PM
nice general overall review of both games...

you made up my mind: buy earugby 2006, hire rc2006
Amen to that. Though I will hire both to ascertain whether either of them has a life expectancy of more than a year and also whether people are goin to like it multiplayer wise.
 
I now have both games (on PS2) and had trouble deciding exactly which one is better, as both have parts which I prefer over the other.
I cannot comment about multiplayer, so my comments are based solely on singleplayer.

On the whole, I agree with The Kiddie's diagnosis, but with a few exceptions - which again, obviously, are all only IMO.

Scrums - on RC2006 all you do is press a button to stop a spinning dot in a coloured bar.
It soon becomes easy to win virtually every scrum whether it is your feed or not.

Goal kicks - personally I prefer the RC2006 method, where you have time to set the power before the accuracy bar starts moving and you try and stop it - rather than the EA06 "golf swing" method.

Rucks - both games have ruck issues unfortunately.
RC2006 is a nice system, where you can see who is winning the ruck and you can add and remove players. The problems I have with it are there's no quick ball, and turnovers are very infrequent.
EA06 does seem a little less under your control, and the ball is frequently turned over in the ruck.

Grubber - maybe I'm doing something wrong, but in RC2006 the grubber seems to go about 30m when I double tap the kick button, whereas in EA06 I've had no problem knocking it just 10m past the fullback then nipping past and scooping it up.

CPU AI - EA06 suffers severely from player bunching. If you have a ruck over near the touchline and don't call a set play, you will find no players any wider than the centre of the pitch. RC2006 nails this with players using the full width of the pitch. RC2006 also seems to offer better attacking support AI, with players wrapping round outside you if you cut inside.

Rule issues - both have a few rule bugs, but not major show stoppers. In RC2006 I've had 5m scrums when I've missed drop goals (but not always), and lineouts in the wrong place (when the AI wins a lineout inside the 22m and kicks straight out). In EA06 you'll find all the defensive standing behind the tryline when you attempt a penalty kick.

Penalties by AI - EA06 gives away several each match - offside, hands in ruck, late tackle etc. RC2006 very rarely does due to the fact the defensive line (apart from when on the goalline) line up about 10m behind the ruck (probably another reason why ruck turnovers are rare as the defensive forwards are nearly always further away from the breakdown than the attacking ones)


To try and help myself make up my mind, I played through a 6 nations tournament as England on normal difficulty on both, with 5 mins halves.

In RC2006 I frequently held possession for virtually the entire match, winning most games around 20 something to nil - although the French did score one try against me.
The kicking from hand game is non-existant, due to the ease at retaining the ball in your own ruck - so although running with the ball is fun, it feels more like a game of rugby league than union.

In EA06, turnovers and scores for both sides came thick and fast, as did points. I was nailed by a determined Irish side at a misty Lansdowne Road 18-15 who were tackling as if their pixelated lives depended on it - yet I didn't feel cheated by the result.
Part of the reason for the CPU scores is the bunching issue I raised above - as a wayward kick can often result in a length of the pitch 2 on 1 counter attack by the cpu up the wing where you have only 1 player within 20m of the ball. The other reason was several scrums given away by Jonny Wilkinson hoofing the ball over the dead ball line at the Irish end, from his own try line!!!

My conclusion? I had more fun playing EA06 - just because the games were more end to end, and I felt I was playing rugby union (albeit with a high rate of turnovers in the ruck).

For a rugby newbie, or someone wanting an arcade rugby game, I would probably recommend RC2006 - the graphics are bigger, the camera angles far better, the gameplay simpler and clearer to understand what is going on, and the attacking support play is superior.
Personally though, I (currently!) prefer EA06 - although I'll try them both on Intensive Care / Elite mode and see if that makes a difference.
 
interesing observations there MQ.

Unfortunately, Normal mode on rc2006 is too one sided, while you might retain lower scores the AI are not scoring enough.

IC mode is the only way to balance out the ruck system a bit better where you really have to work to isolate the AI player in order to turn him over but it's still rare.

I just lost the 6 nations on IC winning only over Scotland and Ireland. This was pretty good for me bceause the other games were hard games with good score lines. If the lineouts werent so **** the kicking game would be much better.

I get the feeling from these posts that r2006 is either marginally better or has different flaws which isn't making the game leaps and bounds ahead of RC2006. whether that's a good or bad thing I don't know.
 
I haven't binned RC2006 yet - I intend to give it a chance on IC mode. good to hear it may balance out the "never lose a ruck" issue
 
if you ruck solidly in attack you win a lot of rucks, but it's quite easy to lose them if the wrong players hit the ruck first.

turning over the ruck in defence is very hard.
 
Please can anyone tell me if Rugby Challenge 06 is availible in South Africa?
i am so loooking foward to it.
 
Being the owner of both Games, i would have to agree that RC2006 is more like league than union - i actually hate playing it because of the ****ly problems that people are having with it. The goal line defence is ridiculous - if you're defending, guaranteed the opposition will score. The lack of variety in the back line moves is frustrating to say the least - fair enough, the sidesteps are more fun, but the sprint meter just ****** me off - i don't think there is one player that is able to spring the length of the field without running out of gas at about the halfway line! Player likenesses are bordering on the ridiculous too - the hookers look like something from the Addams family!
I just enjoy EA06 so much more as it is more faithful to the real game. It's the little things that make the big differences IMO - High tackles, hands in the ruck, collapsing scrums and mauls, quick penalties and throws, back line moves. you will see virtually all of these in almost every game that you watch. Admittedly, EA don't get these aspects spot on, but they're going down the right road. I will be trying to flog my french copy of RC2006 as soon as possible!
 
Originally posted by The Kiddie@Feb 13 2006, 10:03 AM
Injuries
Rugby 06 â€" Again injuries are present, but the ability to move players around gets my approval. 9/10




Squad Management

Rugby06 â€" EA is always the Daddy when it comes to things like this. Overall player ratings make it easier to select a team from the wide choice of players who can represent a country (even if you don’t agree with the ratings, or if EA think Gareth Delve is English!).

You can pick goal kicker (short and long), punter (short and long), kick off taker and captain. 10/10
you have made my day
 
i've played R2006 on the XBOX and while I don't like any of the camera angles (they all have something I dont like about them) it's obviously a far more complex game than RC2006. The set plays, quick rucks, better lineouts, quick tap penatlies and kicking system are better.

At the moment, i've just been running around on normal mode kicking and ruck pretty much and get beaten by most decent teams. Lost to scotland 37-31 (as england) , was a pretty decent match.

I haven't had time to analyse the features of R2006 and how it plays out on properly but at the moment it's looking like the better of the two.

I still think RC2006 is a top game and dead fun though.
 
Originally posted by stevemagoo@Feb 15 2006, 02:45 AM
Being the owner of both Games, i would have to agree that RC2006 is more like league than union - i actually hate playing it because of the ****ly problems that people are having with it. The goal line defence is ridiculous - if you're defending, guaranteed the opposition will score.
Yeah, probably is more like league. I'd have to disagree with goal-line defence though. It is intence yet a lot of the time turnovers occur frequently when you or your opposition is about to score and I think the swing here really does replicate the pressure of goal line play. The team best equipped will come out on top in the situation. Love it!
 
I'll admit it is much better on IC level - but it still has too many "not quite there" points for me I'm afraid which means I'm coming down on the side of EA's game.

The AI do provide a decent game on IC level - playing on that level for the first time I started a tri-nations as NZ. I won overall after losing my first match 17-14 - but it was fun.

My problem with RC2006 though is still the number of turnovers is very low - so there is no incentive to play any kind of kicking game. I also don't like the kicking cone in RC2006 - too sensitive for my middle age thumb.
Rucking is quicker on IC mode - but as someone else pointed out, the rare occassions you do get relatively quick ball, you are invariable tackled by an offside opposition who is ambling back to the defensive line, but with no penalty called. Also, practically the only way to turn over the opposition is with the big hit button, making the regular tackle button virtually obsolete.
 

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