Customer Reviews

NCAA Basketball 09

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Before buying the game, a read a couple of reviews online and most of them were pretty bad, but once I started to play it, I was really surprised by how good the game is. The graphics are amazing, better than any basketball game that I have ever played, and the arenas are all designed perfectly. The commentary is pretty good, although dick vitale does get kind of annoying. The gameplay is very fun. Unline nba 2k9 and college hoops 2k8, you will actually make open shots. The player animations are nice, it is not totally unrealistic. In terms of online play, the connection is great, and the game has never lagged for me. I havent even started the dynasty mode yet, which looks to be very deep. Another nice feature is that you can download player names online.
What prevented this from getting 5 stars was some quirky animations during the gameplay, but this is nevertheless a great sports game that is not close to as bad as the other reviews make it out to be.

Its a shame that this is the only college basketball game on the market because this game is horrible! i briefly played the demo and i purchased it because me and my friends are big college basketbal fans and enjoyed playing NCAA 2K8 last year. By purchasing this game I threw 60$ out the window! This game has hardly any special features not more than half of those 2K8 had.....You can't start more than 1 dynasty at once ( A feature that me and my friends enjoyed the most), There are no fun features like create a team or any other custimization at all...and the only custimization feature that you will end up using is edit players because the player models are soooo far off they are almost unreparible all together...Many major players are totally missing from the game...As for the gameplay don't even get me started the game play sucks! If there is a press it takes around 6 seconds to dribble past half court because when you are running with a point guard at full speed (which isnt very fast at all) you come to a complete stop and seeminly go into panic mode and often pass the ball away or drop it so that the D can pick it up....when you finally get the ball past halfcourt the problems continue no matter where you stand past halfcourt the defender doesnt stand more than a foot away from you at all times which makes it nearly impossible to get an open shot off which would be nice at times because you often finish a 10 minute half with a score of around 15 - 20. other problems past halfcourt no offensive rebounding even with UCONNS + 7 foot center. hardly any scorign with a guard in the paint because guards can't get past the defender infront of them because again running at full speed doesnt generate any momentum what so ever...NCAA did 1 thing right this season the courts look more realistic than before (too bad you won't enjoy playing in them).....bring back 2K sports!!!!

I got this for Christmas, but thankfully I had already played it so I didn't open it. The Gameplay is choppy, slow, and just flat awkward. This game has absolutely no feel. I found myself randomly passing the ball, before randomly firing a shot, because that strategy worked just as well as actually attempting to play right. I like 2k8 quite a bit (its not great, but certainly better than this garbage), I thought it was a little sluggish until I played this game. I had hopes that EA could get their act together and bring back their first gen gameplay. I can assure you they surely did NOT. I would recommend you buy College Hoops 2k8, even though you're forced to play with last years rosters. The only reason this gets a two is because of the updated rosters.

I LOVE College Basketball. My favorite time of the year. I purchase the Uber-Dish Package so I can get all my favorite games.

I LOVE my xbox 360 also. So the latest NCAA College Basketball seems like it should be my favorite game to play. Unfortunately, that's just not the case. But that doesn't mean it's not a fun game!

As you've probably read, there were 2 College Basketball franchises: College Hoops 2k<year> and NCAA March Madness <year>. College Hoops 2k? eventually discontinued making new versions (though it may pick up again in the future). That left NCAA March Madness. They, however changed their NCAA game name to: NCAA Basketball <year>. To make matters more confusing, in March, they released a "lite" version of their NCAA Basketball 09 game called NCAA Basketball 09: March Madness Edition.

That leaves alot of confusion for fans of the 2 series, but makes things pretty simple for the average consumer (like me), who goes to the local Best Buy to get a College Basketball game: There's only 1 to pick from.

So how is it? It's awesome. Most hard-core fans thought College Hoops 2k? was the best game of the two. I actually owned CH2k7 and enjoyed it a lot. However, the new NCAA Basketball 09 is even better. Graphically, it's pretty a blast, and even a complete novice can jump in and win games with a good team. The hard part's taking a bad/mediocre team and trying to win against good teams. This takes strategy, and this is where I become frustrated.

As I mentioned, I LOVE College Basketball. But that doesn't mean I understand all the X's and O's of the game. So when it comes time to calling plays, my skill level is pretty novice. Eventually, I find myself passing around until the the 30 sec clock is winding down or someone is eventually open. Knowning what plays to call depending on what defense is being run isn't something I know. But that doesn't take away from the fun of the game. That's all part of the challenge when playing any sports game.

Where I have a problem though is the documentation, menuing system, and training.

The documentation is about as bare-bones as can be. All the fancy moves are confusing and are not documented. Sometimes I do a monumental THUNDERDUNK but I pressed the same button I aways press. How do I do that again? I have no idea. Sometimes the opposing team takes 3 steps from the top of the 3-pt line and dunks on me. I've yet to be able to do that myself. I've tried several combos but can't figure it out. It's just not well documented as to what move combos will do what I want. Alot of trial and error. That goes for so much of the game. A lot of guess-work as to what does what.

The mening system is literally the WORST I've ever seen. Really. It's that bad. You bring up the menu and as you drill thru, sometimes it takes you to a sub-menu. But when you click "back" (the B button), it takes you out of the menu (like a "cancel"). This means you have to click the menu button again and drill down to where you were again. If I knew every menu and submenu tree by heart this wouldn't be a big deal, but when trying to find the right option screen, you will often find youself drilling down and finding that's not where you want to be, but when you try to go "back" you get kicked out of the whole menu tree. Very frustrating!

There's no training system that I can find in the game. In College Hoops 2k7, there was a training section, where the coach would ask you to do various training exercises to improve your skills. You would get asked to post up, practice 3-pt shots, practice various plays, etc. Not here. You want to practice a specific offensive play? Play a game, wait till you get the ball and then try it. If it doesn't work, go back on defense, wait till you get the ball, get the ball to the main person, setup like you did before and try it again. It's a pain. I want to work on a play, I should be able to practice over and over until I understand it better and can execute it.

Summary: For the college basketball fan who's an average-skilled game-player like myself: This game is alot of fun. It's not perfect, but it's alot of fun. Since there will always be a new game out each year (sometimes I think they put the year in the game title to constantly remind you you're playing a previous year's game), you can always find the previous year's game in the bargain bin. Is it better than CH2k?? I have no idea. They're both fun games, but I'm having more fun playing NCAA Basketball 09 than I do playing CH2k7. And it's graphically superior as well. When NCAA Basketball 10 comes out, I'll be gettin it!

For those of you who like watching basketball, playing basketball, and basketball video games you will find this game more than frustrating. I don't get many sports games but when it comes to basketball I am hooked. I had a basketball game for every system I have ever had, except my NES, and this game is by far the worst. My biggest complaint is that the game reaction is slow. You punch a button to make a pass, take a shot, do a move, or even steal a pass and more often that not there is a one to two second delay before the game actually completes your command. I don't know how many of you have ever played bball, but one or two seconds is a big deal. I have never had this problem with bball games on earlier systems (ie sega genesis, playstation one, Gamecube). Also, when you pass the ball it is really where the player is going to be and the player has to stop and wait for the pass allow the defense to catch up. The passes are often slow and go right to the defenders as you have little control when or where you pass the ball even you using the direct pass option. You cannot call a time out unless you have the ball. No timeouts during dead balls, after made baskets, or to freeze the opponents free throw shooter. Another of the major problems in this game is one already mentioned in other reviews. THERE IS NO WAY TO GET BY THE GUARD DEFENDERS! You can try running around them, do a dribble move, or even using a screener. You can even already be passed the defender and in two steps he has caught up and is again in front of you. The only way to get around them effectively is to pump fake and hope they jump. Even then if you don't time it right they will get back in front of you. I could write about several more things that make this game bad, like how sometimes after a made basket the players will just stand around and not pick up the ball to throw it in effectively ending the game, but it would take me all day.

Honestly, EA has officially lost me as a consumer. You are forced to spend over $[...] for the same game EVERY year. The only difference from this and 07 and 08 is they added all these new shoes and uniforms. Let's talk about what's missing.
- Game plays like it wasn't DESIGNED by basketball minds. Some rules are simply not acknowledged. I have NEVER seen an over the back/travelling/certain dead ball substitutions/etc on the game. There is only like 4 or 5 different fouls they call as a whole.
-No coaches on sideline, this may seem petty to you, but when you pay close to [...] this, I want every single dollar worth.
-All the teams, again, are not included. some teams are even missing from their conference (WSSU)
-The basketball courts aren't 100% authentic, and the look of the gyms themselves are generic. I know for a fact some of these schools (like BCC or Grambling) don't play in these hs gyms like they are portrayed on the game
- they totally missed on the presentation. The game may be nice to look at, but their is no substance.
- Their is nothing new. Nothing. Well maybe the shoes, but even that's so thrown together in the menu screen.

I hate reheated pizza, and feel EA cheated me out of my money. I been buying the college since Coach K, so this is not new to me. However, when EVERYTHING is the same on the game as the last years, and that game sucked as well, it's time to throw it in. And because they bought the license, forcing 2k out, there is no reason for them to improve the game. I REALLY hope no one else throws their money away on this.

The sad part, NCAA Basketball 10 looks like an updated 09. :-\

For everyone who plays EA Sports games,NCAA Basketball 09 is a must have for all sports gamers.From designing your coach and campus,to recruiting unlike any other EA game has allowed,to the competition and rivalry just like the real deal.I think NCAA Basketball 09 deserves a 5-star rating.

I was very disappointed with this game. The graphics are really bad and I wish I could return it.

If your looking for a graphically good game with not so good gameplay then this is for you. If you want a game with great gameplay this is not it. This game is an arcade style game. If great graphics is all you care about then spend your money. This is not for die-hard college basketball fans that play games.

This game is absolutely terrible. Game audio is repetitive and annoying. Gameplay is completely unrealistic, especially when you find yourself missing 20 layups in a game. Game also encourages cheating, which is a huge turn off while playing on-line! I got the game for free and I still feel cheated! I tried to sell the game on craigslist for $10 and there were no takers! I finally filed it in the circular file, where it belongs! Stick to 2K Sports games! EA games are getting better but are still not up to par with Sega and probably never will!