March Madness 2005: Another Mediocre Basketball Title
Written: Dec 17 '04
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Not extremely bad
Cons: Not very good either
The Bottom Line: A good rental just to try out the new dynasty mode, but don't waste a lot of money on this mediocre title.
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| pavona21's Full Review: March Madness 2005 for PlayStation 2 |
College B-Ball is Neat
Let me let you in on a little secret. "The Pav" likes almost everything about college basketball. That's right, I love conference rivalries, the crazy student sections, the fairly team oriented play, and of course, March Madness. Yes, I love betting on, watching, and breathing the March Madness tournament. What I don't like, however, is the March Madness video game titles, or any other college basketball sim, to be honest. I've really been on a never-ending quest to find a college basketball game that could live up to the NCAA Football series, which I'm beginning to find near futile. Each year, both EA and Sega release a college basketball title that does a few things right, but far too many wrong. This year, EA is trying to "rebound"(hah, a basketball term) from a fairly poor effort last year with a revamped dynasty mode and use of the NBA Live engine. How did they do? Read in to find out...
Gameplay
Yeah, normally I'd start out telling you all about the game modes here, but since I've already mentioned the game's use of the Live 2005 engine, I'll start there. Those that read my review of NBA Live 2005" know that I didn't enjoy the gameplay mechanics of the game too much there, and sadly, most of the problems are just as bad here. The game is still a bit too arcadish for basketball realists, and the pace just seems a tad too fast.(In contrast to Sega's games, which I feel are just too slow) Also, there are still a lot of fast break problems as well. Even with a fairly fast player, like UNC's Raymond Felton for example, the defense will constantly beat you down floor. Now I know that it's a little bit harder to run while dribbling, but to see MSU big man Paul Davis come out of no where and catch Wake's quick sensation Chris Paul on the fast break is a bit ridiculous.
EA's famed "pro hop" feature is also way off here, essentially resulting in a loss of ball or foul anytime that you try to pull it off with a defender within 30 yards of you. Along with that, the fouling system and post play still need a lot of work as well. With fouling, you'll see a lot of calls on basic mid range and long range jump shots, but you'll see very few calls made inside the paint, where 80% of fouls occur in real basketball. As for post play, ball swats are way too common. If you come into the lane with a player shorter than 9 foot 11 inches, expect to get rejected. And don't be surprised to see your team(along with the opposition) end up with 20 or 25 blocks for the game playing 10 minute halves.
Luckily though, the gameplay does still include some fun and games. EA's new "floor general" system is a nice feature, allowing players to quickly call 1 of six plays on offense or defense just by using the D-pad. You can also change your playbooks to add more or less zone or motion sets, depending on the way that you like to play. EA's freestyle dribbling and air systems are also back for more in March Madness, and still work pretty well. Freestyle dribbling allows you to pull off some sick ballhandling moves just by using the right analog stick, while freestyle air enables you to easily turn an offensive rebound into a score. I was also glad to see the intervene simulation option return from NBA Live, which will let you jump into a game that you chose to simulate midway through the competition if the game is close or if you’re losing. I'm still looking for that to show up on Madden and NCAA as well.
The only reason that this game is going to get as many stars as it will though is because of its new, deeper dynasty mode, that although it is filled with various bugs, is actually very fun. Like most dynasty modes, you take over the reigns as head coach where you try to recruit, schedule, redshirt, and manage your way to college basketball powerhouse status. This dynasty mode is set up much like that of NBA Live, with most of your options and abilities running off a PDA given to you by the AD. Recruiting is pretty up to par in this title too, and you have the ability to scout, watch a potential recruits game, and send them official visit and scholarship offers during the season. It is, however, way too easy to get quality recruits with mediocre teams, and I found a couple times where I virtually replaced my less than optimal roster with five 5 or 6 star recruits in one year. Also, you'll get constant nagging from your AD to "get on the recruiting trail" even if you have no scholarships available to recruit with. Speaking of nagging, the NCAA also proves to be a nuisance during the season talking to you about various team discipline problems. For some reason, the NCAA has big problems with players doing things like skipping classes and getting drunk, things that real players like "Insert name of Buckeye Football player" get away with all of the time. And, you only have so many points that you can use to discipline players(yes, it costs something to suspend a player), and once you run out, it’s very likely that you’ll end up with NCAA sanctions. Regardless, the overall dynasty mode is set up pretty well, and will give you plenty of replay value. Other game modes included are quick play, rivalry game, college classics, and online mode.(PS2 and XB only) The online play though was disappointing as it was extremely choppy on the PS deuce.
Graphics
For some reason, it just hit me this year; the graphics in March Madness 2005 are extremely outdated. The player models are blocky as hell, featuring only about half the polygons that they probably should. Along with that, the stadiums and crowds aren't very detailed at all, and the lighting system needs some sort of re-adjustment. Most of the views(camera angles) in the game also don't do justice to the little amount of detail in the game. They're actually so far away by default that it almost feels like you're playing a PSX or N64 basketball simulation. This is pretty surprising especially considering the fact that NBA Live 2005's graphics were one of its strong suits. The good news though is that it March Madness 05 runs faster on the PS2 this year than it has prior. Everything from gameplay, to simulation, to off-season tasks are faster loading than they have been in the past, which is certainly something worth noting. Overall though, the graphics are decent at best.
Audio
I'm not sure what they were thinking here, but EA decided to put licensed music in the game, but instead of the music being played by the real bands that performed it, the music is being played by random college bands. Songs like Lifehouse's Hanging by a moment and Jimmy Eat World's "The Middle", and also an additional song supposedly by Elvis(or so the game tells me, but I’m a young guy, so you know…) are all in the game, in marching band form. Now, these are songs that I personally thought were good 2 years ago(or 40 years ago in Elvis' case), but they are just horrid when being played by a marching band. Either put fight songs in the game, or stick to EA tracks, because this just isn't cutting it. Luckily though, the commentary is top notch, featuring the voices of Brad Nessler and Dick Vitale. I love him, but for the few out there that hate Dicky V, you can turn off in game commentary in the options.
Overall: 6/10
There's not really much else I can say about it, but March Madness 2005 just isn't very good.(something you would know just by reading the review) Actually, just about every single aspect of the game screams mediocrity. In terms of gameplay, it has good control options, but bad mechanics. In terms of game modes, the dynasty mode is fun and deep, but is full of problems, and the playing online is simply too choppy and laggy to be bearable. On the graphics front, the game is faster than ever, but polygon for polygon, MM is outdated. Audio wise, the commentary is as good as you'll see in any sports game, but the in game music is also just about as bad as possible, especially comparing it to most EA trax lists. If you want a mediocre basketball sim, go ahead and pick up March Madness. If you, like me, are looking for a good College basketball game, you'll have to wait until next year. Because believe me, College Hoops 2k5 isn't anything special either.
Thanks for reading,
-Pav
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
pavona21
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Member: Eric Pavona
Location: Scenic Michigan
Reviews written: 105
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