NCAA Basketball 09 Impressions

[Mos1ted]

Quote: Originally Posted by Jason2112

Let me tell you I was a DIE HARD 2k8 fan. I rented this game, played it for a couple days, then went back to play CH2k8. I proceeded to sell 2k8 along with Halo 3 just to BUY this game. After playing this and going back to CH2k8, it was just too last generation for me. I am a very picky person when it comes to college basketball, and for the most part, EAs game is the most realistic simulation. If you get the game, request me as a friend RAGZY2112 on XBox Live and get my updated fully named and rated roster and you will love this game. I have spent hours correcting the ratings of the rosters using credible sources such as espn.com, rivals.com, and athlon yearbook.

Unfortunately, my 360 is 6 feet under so the PS3 is the only system I can get this game for. But I am a bit more confident in this game coming from a die hard 2K8 guy. I hear a lot of people complain about the dynasty mode. Is it really that bad?

For me, as long as you can play your schedule, recruit, and have end of season awards that's pretty much all I require. Does NCAA '09 at least capture those 3 aspects pretty decently? What do guys mean by 'lack of depth in dynasty mode?'

[countryboy]

Quote: Originally Posted by Mos1ted

Unfortunately, my 360 is 6 feet under so the PS3 is the only system I can get this game for. But I am a bit more confident in this game coming from a die hard 2K8 guy. I hear a lot of people complain about the dynasty mode. Is it really that bad? For me, as long as you can play your schedule, recruit, and have end of season awards that's pretty much all I require. Does NCAA '09 at least capture those 3 aspects pretty decently? What do guys mean by 'lack of depth in dynasty mode?'

Yes you can play your schedule, recruit, and the dynasty mode does give out end of season awards. It also has a yearbook to track your status over multiple seasons and has a record book that shows you the NCAA Champion and conference champions from past years and from this point forward.

Dynasty mode isn't as shallow as people are making it out to be.No, its not as deep yet as 2k8, but it is very solid. My biggest gripes with dynasty mode is how difficult it is to navigate through some of the menus and how they don't have all the in-season tournaments yet. Thats about it.

[arichzona]

Quote: Originally Posted by countryboy

Dynasty mode isn't as shallow as people are making it out to be.No, its not as deep yet as 2k8, but it is very solid. My biggest gripes with dynasty mode is how difficult it is to navigate through some of the menus and how they don't have all the in-season tournaments yet. Thats about it.

Thx for that info. for those of us who can only find time to play when you get home from work and have maybe an hour or so to play, yet still love building a team - 2k8 was maybe too deep. I still own it but have to go rent this today.

[DrUrsus]

Quote: Originally Posted by K_rob11

No, I didn't save a video. Let me tell you what made it even more exciting. I was playing with some serious pressure from my wife...I had 15 minutes to get ready for a wedding we had to go to (her boss' wedding!) and she was calling me from upstairs to tell me that i better get ready soon and that we better NOT BE LATE TO THE WEDDING! Put it this way....if he would have made the shot and put the game into overtime, I wouldn't be able to play the OT period and would have to shut the game and lose all that hard work . I don't re-play games so if i would have had to turn it off, i would have just simmed the game and i know it would have probably been a loss. Right after I blocked the shot i threw my hands in the air and saved my franchise, turned off the xbox, got ready on time, and managed to get to the wedding on time! I think it was one of my better moments!

A few years ago I was playing a game, and my pregnant wife claimed her water broke.
I proceeded to tell her she just had just peed herself because it happens to alot of pregnant women (and it was like 2 weeks before her due date).
I just wanted to get back to my sports video game. Needless to say, it didn't go over too well, I was threatened with bodily harm, and her water did indeed break , so off to the hospital I went . So I can relate to the pressure.

[arichzona]

Since my previous post I have left the house and rented the game.

maybe I was expecting more since I really, really trust this site to get all my info but I was kind of let down... maybe my expectations were too high.

There are surely parts of this game that are very, very well done. A very fine effort by EA as I have not picked up an EA bball game in 4-5 yrs.

Granted, in two hours of play with minimal adjustments and figuring in "un"learning the 2k button layout I cannot fairly bash the game. I do feel that I can fairly say that it does not feel good enough to warrant me dropping $60 when I have a game that plays wonderfully in 2k8. I know that if I dumped $60 for this thing, I would be wondering what else I could have spent it on.

Visually, it is a nice game. IMO it does look sharper than 2k8. Does it make 2k8 look "last-gen" as I have seen posted? No. I am liking the arenas, player models are good, and IMO the unis in this blow 2k8 away.

Ball movement is well done once you get the hang of how the game flows. Is it light years better than 2k8? I dont think it is. Is it nice that the cpu does not run the same handful of plays each time up the court like in 2k? Hell yes!!!

There may be a fix for all the incorrect charging calls but as of right now I have not seen or read it - but this is awful.

Shooting motions seem very jerky to me, simply not smooth enough and those wacked out shots in the paint (learning curve on my end but I see the cpu do them as well) just look bad. Once I better learn take-off points, etc I am sure it will get better. I do very much like the smart cuts that I see guys making which is not in 2k8.

Too many pump fakes end up as real shots (again, probably learning curve)

Hate. HATE, the way crossovers/dribble moves are handled. Makes me miss the isomotion method that I thought I disliked.

Too many "all net" shots. It seems as if the net supplies no resistance to the ball and reminds me of playing on an old court with no net. Did that go in?

This game is very nice graphically and as our only "new" option I really, really want someone to let me know of adjustments that can be made to fix what I have listed because I can see a ton of potential here. Potential gets people fired though.

I really do not want to sound like I ma bashing the game. I want to like it but I seriously had more fun with 2k6,7, and 8.

Nice shiny paint on a junky car is still a junky car. If I must go back to sub-par graphics, I will.......... but I want the shiny car that runs like it should. Does this game seem like junk, no. But $60? I don't think so (now).

[Jason2112]

Yo arichzona. Go to EA Basketball sliders and check the thread labeled Jason2112 sliders. I promise you man at first, I was a little bummed about this game, but after my slider adjustment and bustin' my chops getting to know the game, it is definitively better than 2k8 as far as gameplay. Dynasty options need a little more depth, but to recreate real life stats in a simulation on the court......this is the game for you!

[K_rob11]

Quote: Originally Posted by arichzona

Since my previous post I have left the house and rented the game. maybe I was expecting more since I really, really trust this site to get all my info but I was kind of let down... maybe my expectations were too high. There are surely parts of this game that are very, very well done. A very fine effort by EA as I have not picked up an EA bball game in 4-5 yrs. Granted, in two hours of play with minimal adjustments and figuring in "un"learning the 2k button layout I cannot fairly bash the game. I do feel that I can fairly say that it does not feel good enough to warrant me dropping $60 when I have a game that plays wonderfully in 2k8. I know that if I dumped $60 for this thing, I would be wondering what else I could have spent it on. Visually, it is a nice game. IMO it does look sharper than 2k8. Does it make 2k8 look "last-gen" as I have seen posted? No. I am liking the arenas, player models are good, and IMO the unis in this blow 2k8 away. Ball movement is well done once you get the hang of how the game flows. Is it light years better than 2k8? I dont think it is. Is it nice that the cpu does not run the same handful of plays each time up the court like in 2k? Hell yes!!! There may be a fix for all the incorrect charging calls but as of right now I have not seen or read it - but this is awful. Shooting motions seem very jerky to me, simply not smooth enough and those wacked out shots in the paint (learning curve on my end but I see the cpu do them as well) just look bad. Once I better learn take-off points, etc I am sure it will get better. I do very much like the smart cuts that I see guys making which is not in 2k8. Too many pump fakes end up as real shots (again, probably learning curve) Hate. HATE, the way crossovers/dribble moves are handled. Makes me miss the isomotion method that I thought I disliked. Too many "all net" shots. It seems as if the net supplies no resistance to the ball and reminds me of playing on an old court with no net. Did that go in? This game is very nice graphically and as our only "new" option I really, really want someone to let me know of adjustments that can be made to fix what I have listed because I can see a ton of potential here. Potential gets people fired though. I really do not want to sound like I ma bashing the game. I want to like it but I seriously had more fun with 2k6,7, and 8. Nice shiny paint on a junky car is still a junky car. If I must go back to sub-par graphics, I will.......... but I want the shiny car that runs like it should. Does this game seem like junk, no. But $60? I don't think so (now).

That was a good honest and fair "initial impression" arichzona. I agree with some of the things you said...I bolded what I disagree on.

-As for the charging, there is an abundance of charging calls, but this has alot to do with learning the game (controls) and getting the 2k way of thinking out of your head. We are all so used to just backing down our man in the post until the CPU will not just let us back down anymore. Hell, at first, I kept backing down with the LT while pushing the L-stick towards the basket wondering why I always had a guy come and try to set a pick! It took me a while to get used to using the R-stick for all my post moves. You have to control your agression when it comes to backing someone down in the post. Sliders also help with this. Max out the Charge/Blocking foul frequency slider and you will not get as many charging calls (you will get more blocking calls). The only real problem I am having is when I am called for a charge when my guy collides with the defender IN THE AIR. I don't see why I am being called for a charge when both of us are in the air.


-The pump fakes.....again, as you said this has everything to do with getting used to the controls of the game. I never have this problem.

-The Crossover dribble moves....here is where I totally disagree, but everyone has their own preferences when it comes to this. I love the quickstrike control much better than the isomotion. It just flows much smoother to me. It does take some time to get used to after using isomotion for years....but I have always HATED isomotion (it was just too complicated for my simple mind).

I really think that this is NOT a game that will WOW anybody...nobody is going to get blown away after their first COUPLE of games (especially against the CPU). This, I think, is a game that takes time to get used to. Once you master Dynamic Post Control, once you get used to the shooting motion, and the play-calling system (which is great btw), it is a really fine game. This is a game that will have to grow on you, so for some , that means that it requires more patience than what we are used to (from 2k). Me personally, I am having a blast with this game (but it should be said that I just love college basketball period)....


I agree with you that the potential is there and that is what has alot of people excited about this game. Sometimes we see potential because a game has all the little extras (like CH did) and if they could just tweak this or that with the gameplay, it would be a great game. Well, with NCAA 09, its almost the opposite. The core gameplay is really good, but we are missing all if the little extras.....which seems like an easy fix for next year.....or atleast you would think so

[ehh]

With the crossover moves in this game you need to have a lot more space than in 2K. You can't bust out an isomotion move when the defender is all up your grill which I like. No one IRL does a cross over when the guy is right up on you. Jab step or do the explosion move out of the triple threat and you'll be fine.