When EA struck the exclusivity deal with NCAA for college hoops, you could hear the tears falling from the cheek of every March Madness fan nationwide. Not only does competition increase quality in a product (i.e. NBA 2K9 vs. NBA Live 2009) but it also gives gamers an option when it comes to spending their hard-earned money. Yet, EA went ahead and bought the rights and now present the only college basketball game in town. On a side-note, EA only bought the rights after 2k Games cancelled all of their college basketball developments in the future. Still, it’s a sad day for basketball fans when there’s only one game left in town.

Ever since the switch to the concentration of next-generation of consoles, the NCAA Basketball – formerly known as March Madness – series at EA hasn’t particularly shown it’s ‘A’ game on the court. They’ve been produced nothing more than mediocre games and this year’s iteration is no different. The game doesn’t play or feel anything like a college basketball game.

For starters, the computer AI in NCAA Basketball ‘09 is as dull as a butter knife when it comes to offense. Sure, they opposing teams will steal a lot of your passes and play an overwhelming zone defense where they just sit in the lanes and do nothing on defense but beg for you to shoot threes, but their offense is even worse. Majority of the time, your opposition will try to drive and often throw up low-percentage shots while winding down the shot clock. While this may sound somewhat like college basketball – winding down the shot clock that is – in all honesty, NCAA Basketball ‘09 is plagued by more than just gameplay issues.

Many of the animations feel broken when passing among your teammates. What occurs is when you are within a fast break and want to pass ahead to a teammate, who has a chance for an open lay-up or dunk, they’ll often catch it from behind by turning around and stopping in their tracks rather than continuing their momentum towards the hoop for the easy two. This allows the defense to catch up and only increases the frustration with the NCAA Basketball ‘09.

Another thing that perturbed me among my sessions with NCAA Basketball ‘09 was the shooting. When you are trying to throw up a shot quickly before the defense readjusts or the shot clock is about to wear down, many players won’t react in time and cost you the wide open look. They’ll hold onto the ball as you repeatedly press the button to fire off the shot. Also, don’t expect to play like, say, Richard Hamilton in the NBA where you come off screens and shoot nice little jumpers on the run. Instead, be prepared to play like Ricky Davis from the NBA with circus shots that are off-balance and have no real hope of going in beyond the odds of Chevy Chase winning it big in National Lampoon’s Vegas Vacation (a.k.a. no luck at all).

If you’d rather not play the actual game and just simulate through your dynasty/season modes, then you should have more fun there recruiting players and trying to make it through March Madness to be proclaimed the No. 1 team in the land. There’s also the inclusion of a Tournament of Legends mode where you can finally determine who is the best college basketball team of all time through a 64-team bracket; but the fun in this mode only lasts for long before you become bored of either simulating the tournament so many times pitting different teams against each other or playing the game in its entirety.

Gameplay: 5.0
This sadly doesn’t live up to today’s standards for a basketball game when it comes to shooting and computer AI.

Graphics: 7.2
If you can look past the screwy shooting animations then it doesn’t look half bad.

Sound: 7.4
The commentating is best attribute to take away from the whole experience.

Difficulty: Medium
It’s not an extremely hard game to play, but when you are constantly throwing up circus shots rather than jumpers, it makes it much more challenging to perform well within the game.

Concept: 5.2
It’s unfortunate that there’s no inclusion of any type of “Be A Pro” mode where you can create your own player and get them on course to being the best in the nation.

Multiplayer: 5.5
Next time around EA needs to more unique multiplayer options.

Overall: 5.6
There’s no excuse for this pathetic release by Electronic Arts. Sure, they refined a few things but when push comes to shove, gamers shouldn’t have to endure mediocrity within their favorite sport since there’s no other alternative. If you’re a huge fan of college basketball, it’s best to rent before buying because you may not be able to overlook all its faults to find enjoyment out of the title.