NCAA Basketball 09 – Xbox 360 Game

40 reviews for NCAA Basketball 09 – Xbox 360 Game

1. 

   Rated 3 out of 5

   RPZag – March 20, 2023

   Alot of FUN! Play by Yourself or with Friends.

   I LOVE College Basketball. My favorite time of the year. I purchase the Uber-Dish Package so I can get all my favorite games.I LOVE my xbox 360 also. So the latest NCAA College Basketball seems like it should be my favorite game to play. Unfortunately, that’s just not the case. But that doesn’t mean it’s not a fun game!As you’ve probably read, there were 2 College Basketball franchises: College Hoops 2k and NCAA March Madness . College Hoops 2k? eventually discontinued making new versions (though it may pick up again in the future). That left NCAA March Madness. They, however changed their NCAA game name to: NCAA Basketball . To make matters more confusing, in March, they released a “lite” version of their NCAA Basketball 09 game called NCAA Basketball 09: March Madness Edition.That leaves alot of confusion for fans of the 2 series, but makes things pretty simple for the average consumer (like me), who goes to the local Best Buy to get a College Basketball game: There’s only 1 to pick from.So how is it? It’s awesome. Most hard-core fans thought College Hoops 2k? was the best game of the two. I actually owned CH2k7 and enjoyed it a lot. However, the new NCAA Basketball 09 is even better. Graphically, it’s pretty a blast, and even a complete novice can jump in and win games with a good team. The hard part’s taking a bad/mediocre team and trying to win against good teams. This takes strategy, and this is where I become frustrated.As I mentioned, I LOVE College Basketball. But that doesn’t mean I understand all the X’s and O’s of the game. So when it comes time to calling plays, my skill level is pretty novice. Eventually, I find myself passing around until the the 30 sec clock is winding down or someone is eventually open. Knowning what plays to call depending on what defense is being run isn’t something I know. But that doesn’t take away from the fun of the game. That’s all part of the challenge when playing any sports game.Where I have a problem though is the documentation, menuing system, and training.The documentation is about as bare-bones as can be. All the fancy moves are confusing and are not documented. Sometimes I do a monumental THUNDERDUNK but I pressed the same button I aways press. How do I do that again? I have no idea. Sometimes the opposing team takes 3 steps from the top of the 3-pt line and dunks on me. I’ve yet to be able to do that myself. I’ve tried several combos but can’t figure it out. It’s just not well documented as to what move combos will do what I want. Alot of trial and error. That goes for so much of the game. A lot of guess-work as to what does what.The mening system is literally the WORST I’ve ever seen. Really. It’s that bad. You bring up the menu and as you drill thru, sometimes it takes you to a sub-menu. But when you click “back” (the B button), it takes you out of the menu (like a “cancel”). This means you have to click the menu button again and drill down to where you were again. If I knew every menu and submenu tree by heart this wouldn’t be a big deal, but when trying to find the right option screen, you will often find youself drilling down and finding that’s not where you want to be, but when you try to go “back” you get kicked out of the whole menu tree. Very frustrating!There’s no training system that I can find in the game. In College Hoops 2k7, there was a training section, where the coach would ask you to do various training exercises to improve your skills. You would get asked to post up, practice 3-pt shots, practice various plays, etc. Not here. You want to practice a specific offensive play? Play a game, wait till you get the ball and then try it. If it doesn’t work, go back on defense, wait till you get the ball, get the ball to the main person, setup like you did before and try it again. It’s a pain. I want to work on a play, I should be able to practice over and over until I understand it better and can execute it.Summary: For the college basketball fan who’s an average-skilled game-player like myself: This game is alot of fun. It’s not perfect, but it’s alot of fun. Since there will always be a new game out each year (sometimes I think they put the year in the game title to constantly remind you you’re playing a previous year’s game), you can always find the previous year’s game in the bargain bin. Is it better than CH2k?? I have no idea. They’re both fun games, but I’m having more fun playing NCAA Basketball 09 than I do playing CH2k7. And it’s graphically superior as well. When NCAA Basketball 10 comes out, I’ll be gettin it!

   3 people found this helpful

2. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   james bergen – March 16, 2023

   Epic

   Love it.
3. 

   Rated 4 out of 5

   Johnny – March 14, 2023

   Hold on a second E.A. Haters.

   I can only assume the guys who reviewed this game on here either never played the game or they’re just mad 2K doesn’t have their college game anymore. Considering this is the only game on the market with no competition this year, you’d think that E.A. would skimp. Well I have news for you guys, this is a good game and if you guys would actually play the game, you would see that it’s just fine. Working with the Live engine of 09, NCAA 09 is a good game. It’s got some issues here and there, but any self righteous fan of hoops should give this game a shot. The game has tons of goodies. The ability to also download rosters right off XBOX Live is the icing on the cake. People can upload their rosters and people can download them for free with the E.A. locker online. So no more no name guys on the court. You’ll see your favorite team with their names intact. Even better, this has legendary teams like the 82 TarHeels. You can finally play as Michael Jordan! The game plays smooth for the most part. It’s not perfect, some hitches here and there, but the game speed can be altered. What I also like is the smoothness online, it plays great with no lag as far as I’ve seen so far and I’m a month in.Audio is great, Vitale is awesome and back in full force! Good college reaction and nice college fight songs. I would have liked the ability to use my own music like they offered in NCAA Football, but that’s just a minor gripe with the audio.People complain about rampant steals, but I’ve not had this problem. Even the critics mention it, but I don’t have a problem. And if it is a problem, there is a handy dandy thing called Game SLIDERS where you can adjust anything! So quit whining! So for those of you reviewing this game without playing, don’t waste your energy typing how bad this game is, because it’s not.Good graphics, smooth gameplay, plays great online, classic teams with real names and players, downloadable rosters and sliders, it’s got the goods. Give it a try if you haven’t played it. It’s just fine. Thank you E.A. for not skimping this year.

   4 people found this helpful
4. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Keith B. – March 14, 2023

   Great game

   This was my second time owning this game, and it is still better than 2K in my opinion. Great game.

   One person found this helpful
5. 

   Rated 1 out of 5

   Jack – March 10, 2023

   Bring back NCAA 2K.

   This game is horrible. I’m glad I only rented it and didn’t spend $[…] on it. I feel bad for everyone who did. I really would like for Sega Sports to bring back their 2K series. It was so much better. If only there were away to for Sega to re-release their NCAA 2K8 game with an update game engine. They technically wouldn’t be releasing a new NCAA game. It would just be a rerelease of the old one. I still play my NCAA 2K8 game all the time. EA has a long way to go to even come close to becoming as great as that one.

   2 people found this helpful
6. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Elaina Martina – March 6, 2023

   Great Game

   We purchased this game for our grandson. He loves it and wants to play it all the time. His sister also loves it and enjoys playing. This was a great gift with loads of action for some fun-filled hours!
7. 

   Rated 1 out of 5

   Thomas – March 4, 2023

   Didn’t work.

   Did not work. Fortunately, the seller did great at returning my money.

   One person found this helpful
8. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   musiccollector – March 1, 2023

   Five Stars

   great on dilivery
9. 

   Rated 2 out of 5

   Joseph A. Cristofalo – March 1, 2023

   Could be Better

   This game is absolutely terrible. Game audio is repetitive and annoying. Gameplay is completely unrealistic, especially when you find yourself missing 20 layups in a game. Game also encourages cheating, which is a huge turn off while playing on-line! I got the game for free and I still feel cheated! I tried to sell the game on craigslist for $10 and there were no takers! I finally filed it in the circular file, where it belongs! Stick to 2K Sports games! EA games are getting better but are still not up to par with Sega and probably never will!

   One person found this helpful
10. 

    Rated 1 out of 5

    Jim Petrov – March 1, 2023

    Not 4 XBOX1

    Sadly, this game is not backward compatibleIt was listed, or I was sure I saw it on the backward compatibility listBut alas, this was not the case