Comment
For the first time in what seems like ages, only one college basketball game will be available for purchase this season. Not only is this disheartening from a competition standpoint, but when you consider the fact that the most highly-rated title from last year is indeed the product that's no longer available, many people are going to prejudge NCAA Basketball 09 with malicious intent. However, no matter your stance on this issue, know this; I've spent nearly a month straight with 09 and the cold hard truth is this title just isn't the impressive offering many had anticipated. There're just too many bugs, odd occurrences, and forced animations to keep it from elevating to anything other than a slightly above average experience.
For starters, although the number of animations has most definitely been increased, many of them are forced upon you at the strangest of times. The most notable problem occurs after a made basket; upon inbounding the ball a scripted dribbling animation kicks in and assumes control over your player for at least several seconds. Combine this with the opposition running a full court press, and you literally walk right into their trap. This doesn't necessarily result in a turnover, but it's downright frustrating at times. The Lockdown Stick is also fairly bothersome, and deactivating it is way harder than it should be, not to mention players can act erratically while under its control. There's a sense of 'suction' that occurs while in lockdown mode as well, where the defender seems determined to follow his opponent at all costs, even if it means facing the wrong direction altogether. Expect to spend an enormous amount of time realigning your player and struggling with this system in general.
Dynasty Mode is somewhat of a mixed experience as well. Most people will appreciate the new layout (stats, awards, recruiting, and standings are all available in one window), and the new Team Yearbook is a nice touch (this keeps track of all past seasons for instant nostalgia), but there are too many smaller issues that constantly keep you from enjoying it too much. The new recruiting database is hindered by horrendous menu navigation problems, the new playcalling system is nice but there's no practice mode anywhere in the game to help memorize plays, and once you dig deeper into the standings, RPI rankings, etc., you'll notice plenty of teams and players who simply don't belong there. Having three teammates selected to the All-American squad should honestly never happen. It also doesn't help that Brad Nessler and Dick Vitale provide very little team specific commentary, constantly spouting off the most basic of details, even after you achieve milestones like reaching the Final Four or the championship title game. In fact, you don't even get to witness your team celebrate half the time, but instead only get to hear about your players cutting down the net. Small scenarios like this will constantly challenge your will to keep playing, especially when the sense of reward is minuscule. 
Thankfully, there is some upside for those willing to give it a chance. The new EA Locker 3.0 is a nice solution for those wishing to share rosters online, without limiting the service to friends only. Online gamers will also appreciate being notified when rival fans log on, along with the option to instantly challenge them, though the fact that named rosters cannot be used during online matches will definitely detract from the experience. The ESPN Classic Tournament of Legends is pretty slick as well. Each squad having their own authentic old-school uniforms really provides a sense of time when teams from different decades are matched up, though the 64 squads chosen for this mode are definitely debatable. The Tempo Meter is also a feature that's pretty well implemented ' by keeping the meter within your team's desired style of play you'll gain extra attributes and improved team chemistry ' but even this isn't perfect. The system fails to account for coaches who adjust on the fly and for scenarios when you have to erase a large deficit by playing run-n-gun for a stretch of time. The idea is certainly novel, though we likely won't see its full benefit until next year.
The end result is a decent package, and an improvement over last year's sub-standard effort, but most of the aforementioned problems accumulate fairly quickly. A lack of new features in the online department will limit its appeal to casual players, and the hardcore audience might not find Dynasty Mode deep enough to hold their attention for long. Had the gameplay been void of any frustrations, it might have been able to carry additional weight, but as it is we're left with a somewhat mediocre basketball title.
