NCAA 10 may very well be the closing chapter in a very good series. Is has since been discontinued and now, in 2012, there is still no indication of it coming back. In my opinion, the biggest downfall of NCAA Basketball 10 and the entire series was the lack of advertising and distribution in lesser markets. EA Sports does not seem to understand the scope of March Madness' popularity and itNCAA 10 may very well be the closing chapter in a very good series. Is has since been discontinued and now, in 2012, there is still no indication of it coming back. In my opinion, the biggest downfall of NCAA Basketball 10 and the entire series was the lack of advertising and distribution in lesser markets. EA Sports does not seem to understand the scope of March Madness' popularity and it was incredibly difficult to find this game in Canada of all places. I had to drive four cities away back in the day to purchase NCAA Madness 10 for a full sticker price of $59.99, and the only place to find the 09 or 08 games in their respective years was on Ebay.
But unless you are a diehard hoops fan who is drawn to the Create a Player style gaming, this game will not disappoint. And even a hardcore fan may want to take the plunge now that the price has done the same. The game only has two major flaws and I will start with those because the pros heavily outweigh the cons. Firstly, this is the only modern sports game that does not have the Create a Player mode where you play a single player and rise the ranks. The second is a messy at best post game where players will often find themselves doing up-and-unders and fadeaways completely by accident. To sum it up, the controls are too clunky to risk getting fancy and you will often find yourself limited to backing down and throwing up a hook shot or pulling faceup because that is the only play that will do what you expect it to do when you press the corresponding buttons.
On the other end of the spectrum you have excellent graphics and commentary for its time. EA Sports has added CBS broadcasts and commentary for teams who earn the right to play a televised game. In the past even when your team earned the honor of match of the week, the game looked and felt the exact same as any other. The NCAA Tournament environment has also been improved drastically, but those who prefer to simulate with Hoopcast and intervene halfway through will be disappointed. The Tournament is the only fixture where you cannot do that. It only offers play now and straight sim.
AI difficulty is great with some sliding tuners. I personally play on All-Conference with beefed up player sliders so my shots go in more frequently but the defense is much tougher. There is no cheeseball shots. Even at 100%, if you're not open, it will not go in.
And finally, Dynasty Mode has seen drastic improvements. You cannot simply take a D+ team, go undefeated and get the #1 rank anymore. Things like strength of schedule and TV exposure influences your rank. I went 31-0 with Wichita State, with three wins over top 25 teams, and only managed to be ranked as high as #12. It is more realistic. Overall a very solid game. And if this is infact the last game of the series, EA Sports has done a good job of leaving people with a fond memory and something that they can play for a long time.… Expand
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