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16 • THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VIDEO GAMES
THURSDAY, FEBUARY 6,2003
Don't march out to buy March Madness
REVIEW
It's been a while since I tried my hand at a sports game. The days of NBA Live 95 seem to have passed me by. I decided to try my hand at EA Sports NCAA March Madness 2003 for Playstation 2.
Chris Moore
cmoore@kansan.com
The opening for the game is hilarious. Footage of dedicated fans supporting their teams screaming the EA Sports motto, "It's in the game." I even saw the Kansas cheerleaders and a Jayhawk giving a shout-out right in front of Strong Hall. But once that ends, the game starts to go downhill.
The graphics for the game aren't up to par with the other games for Playstation 2.
The characters are created as close as they can to look like the actual college players, but they still could have done better (for example, Jeff Graves is white with red hair and Moulaye Niang has an afro). The
facial expressions for players never even changed.
Contributed art
The controls for the game are another bump that players have to get around. The basic controls aren't the problem, but the combinations are tough to use sometimes. For instance, trying to execute a decent spin move after faking out a defender can be an irritating experience. Before I can even make it to the basket, I either lose the ball in the process, or run smack into another defender and get called for charging.
The alley-oop system for the game was frustrating. You have to quickly change to the teammate receiving the alley-oop and
put the right amount of pressure on the button to make it successfully. I never even made one.
I remember one play when the computer was on defense and all of the defenders just moved to the side. I found that odd. Why aren't these guys doing their job, like good players?
The computer also gets bullish with the intentional fouls when they are behind. I understand when you want the guy to go to the line, but you need to make sure he gets a shot off first. An intentional foul every second is not something players are looking forward to.
One of the main features this game bragged about in commercials was the freestyle control. Players had the option to use crossovers to fake out opponents and spin moves to get by the opposition. However, the freestyle control had no reason to be a hyped feature for this game.
For starters, if a player wanted to utilize the freestyle control, they had to use the right analog joystick. I found it to be a lot easier to just use the buttons to pull off freestyle moves. The freestyle controls are only
NCAA MARCH
MADNESS 2003 ... D
Now available for Playstation 2
Rated E for everyone
Sells for an average retail price of $50
used to showboat. It really doesn't get anything done for the player.
The ability to use the directional pad to change plays came in handy to find a defense that suited you. Being able to change from double-teaming to half-court man press can be useful when you need to find a defense for different teams.
Overall, this game is a waste of time to even play. There isn't a lot in the game that will keep a player interested for a buy. A rental or perhaps just borrowing from a friend is all a person needs.
Moore is a Tulsa, Okla., freshman in journalism.
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