One month out of each year is devoted to the insanity of the NCAA playoffs. The annual ritual of March Madness includes dozens of teams, the hottest young players, salivating scouts, chair-hurling coaches, small schools, big schools, cheerleaders, the hopes and dreams of thousands of alumni, and, of course, complete TV coverage.
With March Madness 2002, EA Sports brings its college basketball franchise to the PlayStation2 for another year. But despite fidelity to the college game, the result is more of a thud than a bounce. The problem isn't really the game itself. The Play Now exhibition and full-scale tournament modes are fine, and the game includes 150 teams all detailed down to players, uniforms, fight songs, cheerleaders, players, stats, and play styles. You even have the option of creating your own team with everything from uniforms to players. The problem is what's missing compared to the competition and to previous incarnations of March Madness on the PlayStation. About 150 teams, the dynasty mode, and even the season mode are MIA! Why are these key features missing? Disappointing, to say the least.
At least the game plays a decent game of basketball and is true to NCAA rules and quirks. It shares some problems--the computer crowds the lane too much--and a graphics engine with NBA Live 2002, but at least the previous rebounding problems are fixed. And the game looks great, too, even though most of the players don't have their real faces like in the NBA version. The audio is also excellent; the game features roughly 60 distinctive fight songs, and the crowd roars and quiets down with the action. --Bob Andrews
Pros:
- Plays and looks just like the college game
- Excellent audio
Cons: - Missing 150 teams from previous instal
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