IGN gives March Madness a 7.9

[kevinpars]

I have to say I am really enjoying this game. While I liked NBA 2K7, I was not in love with College Hoops this year. Personally, I like to play around with dynasty and the horrible sim engine really bothered me in Hoops. Seeing not one but two top seeds fall in the first round made me wonder what exact improvements were made to the sim engine. Plus, the gameplay has been pretty much unchanged for several years and I am tired of it and just don't find it fun anymore.

I like the way MM utilizes the right stick. I have come to prefer choosing between 2 buttons for shooting and using the right stick for dribble moves. I rarely used the combo button moves in Hoops because I just don’t retain that sort of thing. It is a lot easier and intuitive to use the right stick on offense for special moves. I also like the shutdown stick on defense. I feel more involved in the game and enjoy trying to get a backcourt or a 5 second call.

While the “impact moment” is kind of goofy, I do like the fact that you can through the game build up or lose confidence, depending on how things go. It really makes the road games tough to play – but if you play smart you can still win. I also like the way the crowds differ. Play at Duke and the noise is intense. Play at a mid conference bottom feeder and the place is half empty and you can hear a pin drop.

I also like the way recruiting is implemented. While you do some “in season” recruiting, the bulk of it takes place during the off season. From what I hear, there is an issue with recruits having higher ratings than existing players, but I have not had an issue with that yet – but I picked a team that had only 2 seniors so I could learn how to recruit and not be punished in year 1 for bad choices.

I also like EA’s choice of putting this game out in January. It is easy for a game to get lost in the shuffle in the high release times of the holiday – especially with most of the sports games coming out between the period between late July and October – it is good to get something in the winter to tide me over until baseball.

[ScoopBrady]

I Gameflied NBA Live and sent it back the next day. NBA Live was just atrocious. I was pleasantly surprised by the March Madness demo since it was a ton better than Live but it still doesn't touch College Hoops.

Glad you're enjoying it kevin.