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Product Description Along with an enhanced EA SPORTS Dynasty Mode, now you can rewrite NCAA history by replaying classic match-ups between some of the greatest teams ever assembled. With mascots, cheerleaders, arenas, crowd chants, fights songs, and Dick Vitale and Brad Nessler calling the action, NCAA March Madness 2005 continues to deliver the most authentic college basketball experience.Run the floor with an enhanced playcalling system; As your teams point guard, call out team-specific plays and lead your sch ... Read more Reviews (22) 
Solid gameplay with a (mostly) realistic feel
If you're looking for a game that makes you feel like you're actually playing or coaching college basketball, this is a pretty good game to get.The game is, for the most part, accurate:
* The arenas all have the right names (as far as I've checked), and if you're playing in a high- or mid-major team's arena, the court is a good facsimile of the real thing, but teams from low-major conferences are generally given generic courts with the team's logo at center court.
* All 31 Division I-A conferences and their teams are in the game, but if you're looking to play as Savannah State or TAMU-CC or any other independent, you're out of luck.
* Season schedules are set up randomly (of course, nonconference games can be changed, although teams can reject playing against you).The number of times you play against each team in your conference is correct, at least (i.e. if you are in the SEC East, you play each team from the East twice, each team from the West once).
* You can edit each player's physical features, name, jersey #, and so on, but the hair choices are very limited (no afros, Adam Morrison hair, etc.).Also, you can only save about 275 player's names into your roster file (at least that's the point where my PS2 would always freeze when I tried to add anyone else's name).
* The crowd noise really doesn't seem to be too distracting once you get used to it.If you play against, say, Duke at Cameron Indoor, the crowd will be fairly noisy as long as Duke is ahead, and the camera will shake a little, but after a while it's not very noticeable.Also, unlike NCAA Football 2005, there is no way to manually intensify the home crowd.They just get louder when the home team makes a shot and quieter when the road team makes a shot.
* Dynasty mode is good, with the following exceptions.1) Players commit violations way too frequently, and this makes it fairly likely that if you don't suspend players for several games for each violation, the NCAA will sanction you at the end of the season.2) The amount of recruiting points you have seems to be too small.You can set how you want to prioritize training vs. recruiting, but when it gets down to you wanting to do everything you can to land top recruits, you often have to use up a lot of points just finding out how good various recruits are and trying to get them interested in your program (especially if you're not a big-name program).Otherwise, recruiting is fun and it's a good way to make you feel more like you're a real coach with a real program that you need to develop and maintain.
* The game does include realistic conference tournaments (i.e. the brackets are set up correctly), and the locations seem to be realistic (i.e. the major conference tournaments are played in a no-name arena, while the 2005 West Coast Conference tournament is played at Santa Clara, which is where it was played if I recall correctly).The NCAA tournament has similar realism, with games in the 1st and 2nd round played in generic arenas, and the regional semis and finals played at Texas-Austin, Syracuse, The Pit in Albuquerque and DePaul near Chicago.The seedings are not always realistic, however (during one season, UNC Wilmington was able to get a 5 seed), but teams mostly get the seeds that you would expect, based on their performance through the season.Once February starts, there is an option called Tournament Watch which shows you who the automatic bids are from each conference as well as the probable at-large teams and bubble teams, and gives the RPI for each of them.
As far as gameplay, I have a few more comments:
* If you are used to the EA Sports style of gameplay, this game should be comfortable.ESPN's College Hoops has a very different feel, and it takes some time to adjust in going from one style to the other.
* It is a lot harder to score on this game than on NBA Live.If you have a very quick team and are going up against a weak opponent, you probably can run fast break after fast break, but in most games you will have to run plays from the Floor General playlist at least occasionally.You can still do basic things like posting up, running a pick-and-roll or an isolation just like on NBA Live, but they often don't work quite as well as on Live.
* If your (computer) opponent has a decent big man, expect to get blocked a lot when going to the rim.This happens particularly when you try to run a fast break.Unless you have someone who can dunk with authority, the computer will get an inordinate number of blocks (same problem exists on Live).
* The Floor General playcalling is a great thing to have, although on easier difficulty levels the plays will be successful too often.On the hardest difficulty level, the computer will sometimes not be fooled and block what should be a wide open shot coming off of a screen.The flip side of the playcalling, of course, is that once you get used to your opponent's plays, you can tell what he's going to do and try to neutralize the play.
All in all, I love this game and have played some 200 games and still going.I suppose that's as good a recommendation as I can give.
A Cane's Review
As a huge Canes fan, I really looked forward to the 2004 version of this game (Carmelo on the cover), because it would be the first with our brand new Convocation Center. It disappointed, though, as the arena in the game was clearly patterned after the Convo, but lacked its feel and was actually still called the Miami Arena.
Anyways, all that has changed for 05. The stadium looks great, the only flaw being that ACC isn't painted right below the free throw line, and our cheerleaders seem to be wearing blackish-green. But those are so minor compared to how well they rendered the building. Plus the gameplay in general is so much better than 04, and if you start Eric Wilkins at the point (instead of Okpalobi- Anthony Harris is a middling reserve) you have a fighting chance of competing, because he can finish at the rim when he penetrates. Or he can kick it out to Mo Diaz or Rob Hite for 3s.
But... I would advise against buying the game. While the Dynasty mode is great, it has one major, huge flaw. After my first season, one in which I finished 4th at 9-7 in the conference, beating UNC, GT, and Wake along the way, not only did I not make the postseason (justifiable based on my weak non-conference record), but I was inexplicably booted out of the ACC in favor of Louisville (while none of the SEVEN teams below me lost their spots).
While I'm sure that in spite of our success this year, the ACC bball fans would still love to boot the Canes, this was ridiculous. And considering how much I've come to love the conference, I just couldn't keep playing the dynasty without being a part of it.
best college game ever and best game this year
this is the best game ever i play it like 2 hours a day my dad even plays it with me!You got to get this it isn't good it is awesome.GET IT NOW!!!!
sincerly,
this games #1 fan
Want to Quench Your Thirst for a Good College B-Ball Game?
6 seconds left...you call a timeout..its the final game of the final four..your team (the team you play religiously with) is down 2 with the ball at halfcourt..2 point jumper to tie or 3 point J to win the game?..You resume action..nerves running through your hands..you press a button on your d-pad..you option to run a play to get your best 3 baller open..you want the victory..you inbound the ball..turn..set yourself up for the shot..and...you brick the shot off the side of the rim and lose by 2...Dissapointment?..Well, yes and no..I simply love this game for the fact that you dont just wildly run a rampage down court with one person, stop a little in front of the half court line, and swish the shot while being guarded by 2 defenders. I have experienced this in the other college basketball games ive played/owned and it ruins the thrill of the game..When i can effortlessly beat my opponent 150-5 at any given time, its pathetic. The controls are tight yet not too hard to learn..i've found this to be true on all three systems also. The graphics are stunning and make the game feel like a real experience (besides the fact they made Patrick Sparks black. LoL.) Everything about this game outshines its competitors. ESPN College Hoops was horrible in my opinion simply because the controls were way, way too sensitive. If you barely tap a button your player goes wildly out of control among many other control problems. At 20.00 you could waste your money on that game or for 30.00 you could purchase a game that will have you more excited than Dick Vitale at the championship baby!
Not Very Good - Get College Hoops Instead
I have played all college hoops games of 2005 (March Madness, Final Four, and College Hoops). This one is, by far, the worst.I can't stand the controls, gameplay, or camera.One of the few things in this game is the realisticness.
Gameplay 4/10: The actual gameplay is pretty bad.Unfortunately, the cameras are terrible, and out of all the games College Hoops has the best camera (2K5 Broadcast).The fluidity is rough and it seems like its one of those vibrating tables.To me, it resembles something you would see on a SNES (fluidity wise).The shots are good (the way they shoot and the way the net moves) and it does show you the plays.But one HUGE flaw, as I said before is the camera.I have tried all cameras but they all suck.
Controls 3/10: I can't stand these controls.They are poorly set up throughout the controller and could have been much better.They need to fix this, for sure.It seems like I have to go through a lot of work to shoot and rebound, etc.
Realsticness 7/10: The game is pretty realistic. Not only in graphics but also in the players actions. Such as when they are shooting, it looks very real.Also, when they are on defense it seems realistic.This is one of the best features of the game, but can't make up for the other bad features.
Overall 4/10: I really dislike this game.Maybe if they fixed the camera and controls it could come close to College Hoops.So, if you are planning on getting a college hoops game, don't get this one.Either get College Hoops or Final Four.But out of all of them I would suggest College Hoops, Definitely.
NOTE: You can see my review on College Hoops by going to my "About You" area or searching fot College Hoops.
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BIGGEST FINAL FANTASY FAN 
Much better on xbox or gamecube