NCAA March Madness 07 Review (360)

"This is one of the more interesting reviews I’ve ever had to write. When writing a review, I try to not to compare two games featuring the same sport, but sometimes it’s necessary. This is March Madness’ first year on the next-generation consoles and the competition’s second. Second, it’s based off of the new Live 2007 engine, which was one of the most unpopular and disliked gameplay engines in recent history. That said, March Madness 2007 would be an average basketball game even if there wasn’t any competition. The presence of the competition just makes the game look worse in comparison.

EA decided to keep the same commentary team it has used for the past few years, Brad Nessler and Dick Vitale. What is strange is how bad Nessler sounds in comparison to his performance in the NCAA Football series. It is clear from the commentary of both Nessler and Vitale that they did not spend much time in the recording booth. At times, they are both repetitive and it is a shame that after almost five years of commentary, this series has not compiled a big enough commentary database to minimize repetition. The majority of player names are not in the commentary voice database. I can understand not including lesser-known players, but how can you justify not having Kevin Durant or Greg Oden’s name? On the plus side, March Madness 2007 features some of the best crowd sounds I’ve heard in a basketball game. The crowd really feels like a part of the game, and it’s exciting when the crowd roars after a big three-pointer."