NCAA March Madness 2003

Grateful I was able to find this game so cheap and in good condition. This was 1/3 of the games I needed to complete my NCAA Basketball series collection. Thank you

NCAA March Madness 2003 for the PS2 is really NBA Live 2003 in disguise because this game plays like NBA Live 2003 of this 'so-called' EA Freestyle Control. I call it the EA Freek-style Control because it can mess your player up.Another con is the Roster Manager. Even when you try your best to put your names over the "Position and Number" sentence in the stat overlays in the game, your name will never show up! Brad Nessler and Dick Vitale will never call you by your last name like Nessler did in the successful NCAA Football 2003. EA Sports has made another dumb move.My third con is the lack of scouting reports and halftime stats at the intermission. All you get is the bunch of funny intros and cutscenes ala NBA Live 2003, and where's the tipoff official at the beginning?My fourth con is the jerseys. One number font? C'mon, EA Sports! You can go back to watching the NCAA and double check on the designs! Also, my gripe is that your last names never seem to appear on the jersey's back!My only pro and my single one is the Season mode, Dynasty mode, and the NCAA Tourney mode, not to mention the Maui Invitational. But these modes can go out of style quickly, because of my cons I've mentioned.As far as I'm concerned, I'm gonna have to wait till Sega Sports comes with NCAA College Basketball 2K3. It WILL be better!But before I go, I made up a new slogan for EA Sports:EA Sports: It's NOT in the game...and EA Sports knows it! Take it from Sega Sports!

This was on my son's Christmas wish list. It was hard to find since it was an older game. I have no complaints. It was in the original wrap and delivered in a timely manner.

Love college basketball and playing the video games too. This one did not disappoint.

I made the misake of buying EA's March Madness 2003 because I love college hoops and EA's NCAA Football 2003 is the best college football game on the market.Boy was I wrong. MM 2003 is not even close to being on the same par as a game. The detail to the arena's is not even close (they are all pretty much the same except the courts), the play by play doesn't say the players' names and more importantly the gameplay is not realistic.This game is all about streetball. Every player just double pump slam dunks and you have to do that to keep up in the game. If you don't run n' gun, or isolate and double pump slam you're done. The computer rarely, if ever, misses a shot and there are 20 or so blocked shots every game. Also, the cut scenes of the players stealing the coach's seat and tapping their teammate on the shoulder are funny the first 6 - 8 times you see them in every game, after that they are just annoying.After being dissapointed I went and bought Sega's NCAA College Basketball 2K3 and it is MUCH better! The game still doesn't have the amount of correct detail for all arenas as EA's NCAA College Football 2003, but its better than MM 2003.In NCAA 2K3 the game is much more realistic. The shots (including slams dunks) are more realistic and you have to play as a team, run your offense in order to win. There are isolations and fast breaks and slams, but if you don't run your offense and play as a team you will lose. The shooting percentages are much more real for both teams and it is just more like real college basketball than a video version of street ball.Rent both first then buy the one you like best, but for the money Sega's NCAA 2K3 is MUCH better and more like real college hoops. I must now try to convince someone to buy my MM 2003 so I can cut my losses while I enjoy Sega's NCAA 2K3.

I checked out a conversation on Operationsports.com, where an editor picked up the game and played it through and answered questions. March Madness 2003 is graphically appealing and has a good style to it, but it's much more arcade gameplay than the real college basketball fan might want.It's very comparable to NBA Live 2003, in that offenses are one on one isolation and high scoring affairs. The freestyle control is there, so it will be very fun to breakdown defenders off the dribble with all kinds of sweet moves. Also, there are A.I. sliders to tone the game to what you really want to play it at.Still, the game will play more arcade than simulation. While that may be something more appealing to others, it's just not really what I want to see. I want to see ball movement, screens, and even motion on the offense, and that's something I dont think you'll get too much of in MM2003. The crowd is decently intensive and the announcers (Dicky V and Nessler) do a pretty good job, but there isn't the ability for Nessler to announce player names, so there's already a bit that detracts from the presentation.You're not going to have one of those 53-50 games, where it's good, hard college basketball. Also, you're only going to be able to play with the major conferences. sure there's 100 something teams, but where's the Missouri Valley, or even WAC?No Kent State? Denied!If you're interested in a good simulation that you want to play and thorougly enjoy, check out NCAA College Basketball 2K3 by Sega coming out 12/3. It's got 300+ teams, a more team oriented gameplay, a better presentation with the ESPN style and the broadcaster's ability to announce players names (which you can have the game randomly generate and then go in and edit the ones you know), and an outrageously deeper dynasty mode. Not only can you keep track of one team for a long time, but you could also stay with a coach in his career as he switches schools trying to build a program. Also, there are over 50 different arenas/stadiums/fieldhouses and courts for every team in the game. There's only 3 generic arenas in MM 2003.Overall, I think MM 2003 is a good arcade game to rent and play amongst friends for some outrageous scores and sweet, ankle breaking, crossovers. However, if you're interested in a deep dynasty, running offenses, recruiting the next conference player of the year, etc... you should really check out NCAA College Basketball 2k3 by Sega.I'm not an editor, have any relation to either company, but I have heavily researched the two games and have read or talked to people who have played BOTH games and weighed a well-informed opinion accordingly.