basketball

March Maddness is by far the best college basketball on the market. In years past i never would have even dream of getting this game. Because of the poor quality of the gameplay and graphics. EA finally got it right they made the gameplay similar to NBA Live,which gives this game a better feel. this game just about every college program you can think of,and authentic looking basketball player, improve rebounding (both defensive and offensive), crowd goes crazy with chants and taunts, improved dynasty mode draft your players to the pros and use them in the NBA Live 2004. A must have for any college basketball fan. Enjoy

Allright, I have been an EA sports fan for quite a while now, and because of that, there have been times where I have bought crap that I thought was good because of their name. This leads to this game, I love their football games, Considering that I thought that maybe this game was going to be close to their NCAA College football game, which I cant stop playing; But its not, it's graphics and sound are a good 4/5, but the gameplay and dynasty mode are horrible, its just not fun playing, because sometimes it seems that I have no control of the outcome of the game, please, there are better games to invest your money than this game, so rent it, and learn from my mistake

I was hoping that EA Sports had taken what they'd done in NCAA Football 2004 and applied it to college basketball. I knew that the potential was there, as NCAA Football 2004 is arguably the best college football game available for the PS2 (if not the best ever). Perhaps the March Madness franchise will deliver eventually, but right now it's an OK game at best.

The gameplay itself is intuitive and entertaining, if a bit repetitive. I went to a small school back East, and decided to play them through a few seasons. I was surprised at how much tension and drama there was once I actually made the Big Dance. That the game generates a random non-conference season for you adds some excitement, as it's fun to see who you'll be playing each season.

However, the focus of my problem with this game, though, is in Dynasty mode, which I consider to be the heart of a sports game. EA Sports seems to have ported over a very basic part of the NCAA Football dynasty engine, and it just doesn't translate very well. First of all, the features in recruiting aren't as deep, so it feels like you're playing a stripped down version of NCAA's recruiting engine. Second, and more important, while it's great for football, where you can recruit 15 or so players, in basketball you can only go after 4, maybe 5 players. As a result, the energy of the recruiting process is totally different. It should be more high-pressure, but it winds up being less interesting, especially if you play with a smaller school that will run out of recruiting points.

Watching my players develop was interesting, but it never captivated me the way it did in NCAA Football 2004. There, I actually bought Madden 2004 only so I could see where my players were drafted. Haven't played a down. I thought I'd do the same with March Madness, but it just hasn't been interesting enough to go to the trouble. By the way, I don't even know if there's a trophy room in MM, but if there is, it's not as good as in NCAA Football.

The bottom line: The gameplay is fine. However, if you love NCAA 2004, and want to see how a great Dynasty mode translates to college hoops, you'll be disappointed by March Madness 2004.