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NCAA March Madness 08 has a plethora of rich details that brings the college game to life, including new authentic arenas, new player models with form-fitting uniforms, breakaway basketball hoop rims, and the ability of players to slap the backboard on layups. The game also features custom playbooks for each team through the Floor General Playcalling system, the EA SPORTS Lockdown Stick that enables your players to pressure the ball, force turnovers and harass opponents on the court, a deeper Dynasty Mode that lets you build your school into a national powerhouse, the Pre and Post season NIT and the McDonald’s High School All American game and an online feature set that includes customized leagues and ESPN on Demand.

Also included in NCAA March Madness 08 has created a strategic new gameplay experience called Dynamic Post Play that enables you to take complete control over running your offense through the post, and defending your opponent in the paint.

Genre: Sports

Publisher: Electronic Arts

Developer: EA Canada

Online Play:

Local Play:

December 11, 2007 –
The college basketball season is like a locomotive shooting down the side of a mountain. It starts slowly, pushing off from a fully stopped position then continues to build speed and momentum until it reaches its terminal velocity, symbolized in college round ball by the tournament to end all tournaments, otherwise known as March Madness. Each year EA Sports’ collegiate contender of the same name goes through a similar process of releasing to little fanfare and then gaining popularity as the suspense and excitement for the NCAA Tournament builds. For basketball gaming diehards however, their fix for college b-ball has just arrived for the ensuing season. Does it perform under pressure or crumble at the first sight of adversity?

Each year NCAA March Madness focuses on one new feature that will hopefully help to deliver a more complete basketball package to fans. This year that one focal point of development attention is low-post play, both on offense and defense. EA Canada has said that they intended banging on the block to feel like a mini-game of sorts and in some respects it does as most of the mechanic’s features fit right in with the natural ebb and flow of basketball. On defense players can flick the right stick to switch their defensive stance around to give the offense different looks and on the opposite side of the ball there is a whole list of moves that can be pulled off once you get the rock. Your big banger can pull off pump fakes, up and unders, spin moves, and a few other moves, all of which are portrayed fairly well by the game’s animation system.

Our only concerns with the low-post play are that if your favorite squad doesn’t have a dominant big man then the game can feel much more similar to last year’s effort than EA would like to admit. Then there’s the set of animations. While they do look realistic, you’ll notice repeat movements a bit too early on, especially the spin and up and under moves.

The rest of the changes and new features in March Madness 08 are mainly aesthetic, without much that alters the way you’ll play the game. The dynasty mode features the same deep recruiting complete with challenges and school pride unlockables but it now has a shiny new ESPN.com display. It’s a sexy paned style of information delivery that certainly ups the presentation value, but does little for the package as a whole. Don’t get me wrong, the dynasty mode is as solid as ever, there just aren’t many truly new features to be found.

The arenas really come alive.


The gameplay on the court feels a bit finer tuned than what we saw earlier in the year from NBA Live 08. Animations seem to link together with more fluidity, though it’s still not up to the level that we see in College Hoops 2K8. Ball physics is something that needs to be rewritten and retooled for next year’s game. The animations of the spherical piece of leather just don’t look quite right which then takes away from the overall realism.

Offensively you’ll notice that the right analog stick still governs your four basic fancy dribbling moves, and while the list isn’t as expansive as what you’ll find in College Hoops, they still serve the gameplay well enough. The shooting mechanic is still way over-simplified. Simply hold the B button (circle on Playstation 3) and the shot animation will carry out without having to worry about kind of timed release or multiple button press.

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December 11, 2007 –
The college basketball season is like a locomotive shooting down the side of a mountain. It starts slowly, pushing off from a fully stopped position then continues to build speed and momentum until it reaches its terminal velocity, symbolized in college round ball by the tournament to end all tournaments, otherwise known as March Madness. Each year EA Sports’ collegiate contender of the same name goes through a similar process of releasing to little fanfare and then gaining popularity as the suspense and excitement for the NCAA Tournament builds. For basketball gaming diehards however, their fix for college b-ball has just arrived for the ensuing season. Does it perform under pressure or crumble at the first sight of adversity?

Each year NCAA March Madness focuses on one new feature that will hopefully help to deliver a more complete basketball package to fans. This year that one focal point of development attention is low-post play, both on offense and defense. EA Canada has said that they intended banging on the block to feel like a mini-game of sorts and in some respects it does as most of the mechanic’s features fit right in with the natural ebb and flow of basketball. On defense players can flick the right stick to switch their defensive stance around to give the offense different looks and on the opposite side of the ball there is a whole list of moves that can be pulled off once you get the rock. Your big banger can pull off pump fakes, up and unders, spin moves, and a few other moves, all of which are portrayed fairly well by the game’s animation system.

Our only concerns with the low-post play are that if your favorite squad doesn’t have a dominant big man then the game can feel much more similar to last year’s effort than EA would like to admit. Then there’s the set of animations. While they do look realistic, you’ll notice repeat movements a bit too early on, especially the spin and up and under moves.

The rest of the changes and new features in March Madness 08 are mainly aesthetic, without much that alters the way you’ll play the game. The dynasty mode features the same deep recruiting complete with challenges and school pride unlockables but it now has a shiny new ESPN.com display. It’s a sexy paned style of information delivery that certainly ups the presentation value, but does little for the package as a whole. Don’t get me wrong, the dynasty mode is as solid as ever, there just aren’t many truly new features to be found.

The arenas really come alive.


The gameplay on the court feels a bit finer tuned than what we saw earlier in the year from NBA Live 08. Animations seem to link together with more fluidity, though it’s still not up to the level that we see in College Hoops 2K8. Ball physics is something that needs to be rewritten and retooled for next year’s game. The animations of the spherical piece of leather just don’t look quite right which then takes away from the overall realism.

Offensively you’ll notice that the right analog stick still governs your four basic fancy dribbling moves, and while the list isn’t as expansive as what you’ll find in College Hoops, they still serve the gameplay well enough. The shooting mechanic is still way over-simplified. Simply hold the B button (circle on Playstation 3) and the shot animation will carry out without having to worry about kind of timed release or multiple button press.

• 1
• 2
• Next