NCAA College Basketball 2K3

"Ncaa 2K3 - All Hype?"

Introduction - If you love college basketball as much as I do, then you were very pleased to hear about all of the prospective basketball games this year. NCAA Final Four, March Madness, and NCAA 2K3 were all previewed favorably. As this is Sega's first college basketball game, they had to market against two already-established competitors. Let's put it this way - Sega fared quite well.

GamePlay/Story - NCAA 2K3 offers excellent gameplay. The controls are responsive and easy, and there are a variety of moves and tactics one can employ. Posting up is fun and effective, but the best option are the plays themselves. Each team is offered an array of plays, both defensive and offensive, to help trample their opposition. Plays vary from isolation and the triangle offense to full court pressing in a 1-2-1 zone. Also, it is easy to choose your plays during games.

Shooting is the one aspect of this game that elevates it tremendously. It is essential to take advantage of easy baskets in transition and get good looks in this game. Why? Because there is a ton of defense. Try throwing a pass to your inside player while he is double teamed and see what happens. He will either get stripped while dribbling, get blocked, or miss the shot.

Also, expect many turnovers in this game. Your player will lose the ball if he is dribbling for the sake of dribbling, and if you pass to a player who is being closely guarded, expect the pass to be intercepted. One way to overcome this is by using the right analog stick to pass, and hit R2 to pass to the closest player near the basket.

Defense is actually worth playing in this game. You can block with relative ease, and stealing is the best way to score easy baskets. Rebounding is also very effective, but you must know how to do it.

As aforementioned, NCAA 2K3 features a variety of tight, responsive controls and options. The best part of the game is perhaps the different modes of gameplay. In this case, I am referring to Legacy mode. In Legacy mode you choose a coach and his attributes (how he ranks defense vs. offense, game pacing, etc.) and you can name him. You can even have the computer randomly name the players, or you can customize names that the announcers will actually say in-game. Legacy mode allows you to chose a coach and his starting school (if you choose Career Legacy mode) or choose your favorite school and try and build the top team.

Once you have chosen your school, you have 50 points to divide up among your players to make them better. For instance, you can make your point guard the best three-point shooter possible or make him the leading stealer on the team. You could also make a superstar out of one player by dividing the 50 points solely among his attributes.

Another important aspect of your team is scouting. During the course of a season you will be able to scout top players across the nation, contact them, and try to get them to come to your school. Be aware that each player is ranked according to a 5-star system - 5 being the best and 1 the least. Perhaps the most innovative aspect of the game are the High-School All Star games. You will be able to play as the best high school players in the nation as they go head-to-head, or just sit back and watch them play. This can be useful when scouting.

At the beginning of the season you, as the Head Couch, are given specific goals to meet in order to keep your job. Your job security is also given a rating. To keep you current coaching job, you must meet these goals. If you are successful, you will then begin preparing for the next season. Be aware that players you did not use often may leave your school to get better playing time, some players may leave for the NBA, and your seniors will need to be replaced. You can then begin meeting prospective new recruits, players that will have biases you much be aware of. For instance, the number one player in the nation may want a school close to home and live in Texas, and you may be coaching in Cincinnati. Other players may just want to play for one year and go pro, while others may want a ton of playing time.

Graphics/Sound - The Graphics are actually pretty good. The crowds can look sub-par at times, but the players themselves have no flaws. The Sound is excellent, but the announcers can get annoying. Overall, I would rate the sound with a 7.5 out of 10 and the graphics receive an 8.5.

Play Time - This game is highly addictive. I could play it over and over and over....
Play time, well lets just say lots of it! ^_^

Final Recommendation - If you love college basketball, this game is for you! If sports is not your thing it is worth renting. If you just plain like sports games, you might just have to pick this bad boy up! Go Bearcats! ^_^

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 01/01/03, Updated 01/01/03