Like most of EA’s storied sports
franchises, their college basketball efforts have seen their fare share of ups
and downs. There have been some standout years that were great entries, and
there have also been some years with plenty of shortcomings. Last year’s game,
NCAA March Madness 08, was disappointing entry, feeling like a rehash of
previous entries without much of an improvement and leaving many wondering
whether or not the series would grow or remain stagnant.
The latest college hoops title from
EA Sports, NCAA Basketball 09, represents a bit of a clean slate for the series.
Featuring more than just a name change, NCAA Basketball 09 changes out the
gameplay mechanics from last year’s title in favor of more fluid play
reminiscent of NBA Live 09, and introduces a new tempo element, with changes up
the pacing of the game in order to make for a more dynamic gameplay experience.
While these additions are nice, the game still suffers from a dearth of gameplay
options and a few on-court foibles.
NCAA Basketball does away with many
of the features in last year in favor of creating more emphasis on the on-court
mechanics. A new tempo feature has been added, which allows you to change the
pace of the game on the fly, having your teammates act quickly or slow down the
pace of the game to run the clock. Each team will get their own special boons
for utilizing their ideal tempo, gaining ground on their opponents for swinging
the game in their favor. This can be pretty fun, as the gameplay can get pretty
frantic when you have two up-tempo teams gunning for points.
While the tempo element feels pretty
fun with faster teams, there are still some problems when it comes to this
feature. Playing as a half-court team (lowest tempo) is not nearly as fun as an
up-tempo one. You’ll often find yourself forgoing openings just to keep the ball
moving around in your possession, otherwise you’ll lose points from your ideal
tempo and get a negative comment from your coach. This can be pretty frustrating
and mostly disrupts the flow of the gameplay.
The game’s new coaching feature is a
hint system that appears in the top left corner of the screen. As you progress
through the game, you’ll receive advice from your team’s coach, telling you
where to focus your efforts, when to substitute players, and so on.
As far as gameplay modes are
concerned, the game has a few new features, including a new 64-team Tournament
of Legends mode and a Rivalry mode. The Rivalry mode is basically an online
feature that takes your chosen team and pits them against their school rival
online against a player that has chosen them as their favorite team. The
Tournament of Legends is a bit more fleshed out, having you play as one of the
top 64 college teams of all time in a tourney. There is a wide representation of
teams throughout the decades, offering a nice and diverse mix of some of the
best college hoops teams ever.
As the game still doesn’t feature
any real players (even in the Tournament of Legends mode), the Dynamic DNA
feature from NBA Live 09 doesn’t appear in NCAA Basketball 09. As constantly
updated stats would be an awesome touch for a college basketball game, it’s
sadly not the case with this year’s NCAA Basketball entry.
Another problem with the game is the
lack of modes. While the Dynasty mode makes a return and it does feature the new
Tournament of Legends feature, there is a real lack of other modes throughout
the game, making the gameplay options feel pretty last-gen.
Graphically, the game features the
NBA Live 09 engine, and looks pretty solid. The player models look great and
feature realistic effects like sweat, and the animations are smooth and
impressive.
The sound effects also are done
pretty well. The music is a blend of various fight songs and marching band
interpretations of songs (as in other college sports titles), and the commentary
sounds pretty good. One demerit is that Vitale and the commentary crew would wax
on about the tempo feature a bit too much and not focus on the game itself.
NCAA Basketball 09 is a noble
attempt at wiping the slate clean from previous disappointing entries to EA’s
college basketball games. However, the game doesn’t quite hit the mark, due to a
lack of gameplay modes and some flawed new features.
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Gameplay: 7.0
The on-court mechanics feel a lot like NBA Live 09, and the new tempo
feature can result in some frantic games. However, the system is pretty flawed,
as the slow tempo teams can really disrupt the flow. Additionally, the lack of
gameplay modes is pretty disheartening.
Graphics: 8.5
The player models look great, with great details like sweat, and are very
well animated.
Sound: 8.0
The music effects are done pretty well, and the commentary sounds good.
Difficulty: Medium
Concept: 7.0
The new elements are a nice, if flawed additions, but there aren’t really a
lot of new gameplay modes to get excited about.
Multiplayer: 7.5
The new rivalry mode is a pretty basic matchmaking feature, but adds a nice
element to the game.
Overall: 7.0
A nice attempt to reboot the franchise, NCAA Basketball 09 adds some new
features and revamps the on-court play, but ultimately feels like a flawed and
barebones college basketball experience.
