NCAA College Basketball 2K3

"Great College Basketball with a few irritating flaws."

This game is a simulation. If you're looking for a high-octane, fast-paced experience, then look elsewhere. This game is for serious fans of the sport. If you include yourself in this category, you need this game, but be reminded that if you're the type to get irritated with loads of little flaws, then you're in for some frustration. I'll list the great parts of the game in the first half, and then the cons towards the end of the review.

Graphics
(PROS) This game is beautiful in most regards. The players move realistically, the frame rate stays consistent except for a few hiccups which only occur once every 5 games or so, and the crowd looks good unless zoomed in on. A section of fans will actually hold up signs from time-to-time, which will spell out things such as ''ESPN,'' or in the case of my Idaho State Bengals, ''IDST.'' If the away team lines up for a free-throw, dozens of fans will hold up signs that say ''BRICK'' or actually hold up a picture of a brick. It's a nice little addition that they managed to throw in. The way the courts are all accurately represented was a big plus in my eyes. It doesn't just use a few gyms to spread around the teams. Every single team has THEIR gym, from the court to the stands, to the lights in the parking lot that you can see through the windows. As a nit picky person, I loved this.
(Cons) There are a few things that irritate me about the graphics. For one, the jerseys are pretty accurate, but the numbers are way too small. I don't know why they couldn't fix this, as it would seem to take minimal effort. This is something that I've notice in many of SEGA's basketball games though. One more thing is the abundance of clipping down low. Especially when someone pulls up directly underneath the goal. Their entire body will go through the backboard. Nasty, but not unbearable.

Sound
(Pros) College basketball has twice the emotion that the pro game has. SEGA has attempted to recreate this, and succeeds in most regards. No matter which school you play as, you can feel your fans pulling for you. When I won an upset game against Memphis (this tells you how bad my team is), the fans reacted accordingly, filling me with pride over my accomplishment. They taunt the opposing team, and start to rumble the building when I gain some serious momentum. All the gratuitous ball-bouncing and rim-clanging sounds are all here. Great job all-around.
(Cons) I only have one minor complaint about the sound, and that's the way that the larger crowds don't sound quite loud enough. If I'm playing in a massive stadium in the Big Dance, I want to hear tens of thousands of fans going berserk. I can understand the difficulty associated with recording that though. Oh well. The commentary is well-done, but they're obviously using outdated technology, because the comments will lag behind so badly that the basket has been scored, the teams are already set-up and a play has been called, when the announcer screams, ''Number 33 hits the wide open jumper!'' Weird.

Control
(Pros) The control works just fine. Square to shoot and block, X to pass, circle to juke and steal, triangle to bring up a box to call plays, R1 for ''turbo,'' L1 to back a player up or get into defensive position, R2 for passing to the closest player to the basket and signaling to foul intentionally, L2 to call for a pick, and the right analog stick as an alternate way to pass. Pretty standard stuff.
(Cons) The free throw shooting system has got to go for PS2. Sure, it works just fine with XBox, but the analog sticks are too difficult to line up. I'm sure not everyone has this same problem, but I can guarantee than everyone in this house shoots about 50%. They need something new for PS2. That's the bottom line. The second and final problem I had was the control is the passing system. Sometimes, I'll try to swing it back around to my guard by pressing down, and he'll through it all the way to the opposite corner or down to my center, usually resulting in a steal. This needs to be fixed somewhere down the road.

Gameplay
(Pros) Simulation. The word enticed me so to draw me away from the NBA Jam attitude that's obviously taken over EA Sports. CB2K3 drew me over, and unless EA makes some serious changes, I don't plan on going back. Defense is tight. The zones work just as they should, and require some thought and skill to break them. You won't see hundreds of dunks in this game. *coughEAcough* A wide open shot doesn't guarantee a basket, but it's the best choice, and it's realistically difficult to come by. I played basketball nearly every day from 4th grade to my senior year of high school, and the defense we played most (the 2-1-2) has the same strengths and same weaknesses as it does in real life. I even watched the opposing team run the same play that broke the defense as they did in my old games. It brought a small tear to my eye. These defenses are tough! The plays on offense are the best way to break up the D, and you have many to choose from. The same goes to the defensive sets. From man-to-man, to 2-1-2, to full-court presses, it's all here, and I couldn't be happier about it. Deep and addictive.
(Cons) Here's where some serious problems come in. I don't know where to begin. First of all, there's a serious problem with players missing wide open shots with 3 feet of the goal. I don't care what his position is, or what his inside scoring rating is, players do not miss 70% of these kind of shots in real life. I would say they make 90%. This is incredibly frustrating when you make a beautiful pass, get excellent position, and miss a 2-footer with your shooting guard that ends up losing the game for you. I understand that it may be a way to keep the scores realistic, but it's a cheap way of accomplishing that. Another problem is the ''unseen hand'' that forces your players into moving in a certain direction at times. If I'm at the top of the key, and try to run up a crack that's been exposed in the defense, most of the time some force will stop my player, begin moving him towards the out-of-bounds line, and not let him stop until he's standing a foot from the line. All this happens without me even touching the analog stick after I realize that the animation is in progress. Why, Visual Concepts? Why? Another problem is the questionable AI with teammates setting a proper pick. It seems to work at random at times, and the players usually get around the pick within one half of a second. The last complaint I have with the gameplay is the goaltending calls. I don't know what causes it, but while I'm getting a rebound under the goal, even if the ball is rimming out and launching away from the basket, I get a very frustrating goaltending call.

Dynasty Modes
(Pros) Unbelievable. First of all, you have the option to pick open mode or career mode. With open mode, you may choose to start with any school you wish. The career mode, however, is more rewarding and challenging, and will probably be what keeps me coming back. In it, you can only choose from randomly-selected small schools. The kind of schools that you may never hear of unless one of them wins their obscure conference and gets a number 16 bid to the Big Dance, where they get squashed by a Duke or Arizona. You have to build your reputation with good records and several post-season wins in order to receive a better job offer. I can't even begin to go into all the detail included in these great modes, but I'll mention the scouting system briefly. You begin scouting after a few weeks into your season. It's obviously better to try to go for guys close to your school, but even then they're not guaranteed to come, especially if you're coaching Idaho State. Another great feature is the opportunity to play or watch the High School All-American game for additional scouting information. These sports games are getting better and better every year with their dynasty modes. This is where the meat is.
(Cons) No complaints here. *gasp*

I know that I pointed out quite an amount of flaws, but I am by nature a highly-critical person, and most people won't even care about some of them. As much as I had to criticize, this is still my favorite basketball game of the year, and by far the best college basketball game I've ever played. It's deep, fun, and realistic. It may seem strange to give it such a high score when I seem to find much to hate in it, but the game has a quality about it that makes me want to play over and over again. I'll be playing this game for months, and you should too if you're into College Basketball. Go LSU!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/02/03, Updated 01/02/03