System: X360
Dev: EA Canada
Pub: EA Sports
Released: Jan. 17, 2007
Players: 1 - 4
ESRB Rating: E
Review by Brad McMahan

---

Review Rating Legend
1.0 - 1.9 = Avoid
2.0 - 2.4 = Poor
2.5 - 2.9 = Average
3.0 - 3.4 = Fair
3.5 - 3.9 = Good
4.0 - 4.4 = Great
4.5 - 4.9 = Must Buy
5.0 = The Best

Where EA comes up short is in the actual game itself. The in-game options menu allows you to choose a variety of camera angles and, after going through each camera and it's various modes, I found that you're just not going to get a good seat for the game as you are playing. I tried on both standard def and high def TVs to get the appearance to look the way I thought that it should, and was left highly unsatisfied. Player detail is rough and jerky and oftentimes I would lose sight of the ball completely. Aside from that, EA has done a great job with getting their arms around very realistic indoor lighting and lighting effects. I was happy to see that it really felt like I was playing ball on the nation's biggest stages and not in the local high school gym.

Anyone that has every experienced college basketball knows that there's nothing like the roar of the crowd to get your blood pumping. EA has done a pretty good job in capturing the raw intensity that is the college basketball crowd. When your team is on a roll, the crowd noise can reach deafening proportions. When you can't throw it in the ocean, you can hear crickets. Two things that you can always hear are the voices of sports personalites Brad Nessler and the one and only Dick Vitale. While they're entertaining at first, these two guys can get pretty repetitive. Even throughout the course of one game, it's not uncommon to hear Brad Nessler sing Antipation two or three times. With the exception of a few new comments, it seems that we have to grin and bear listening to Dickie V spout out the same "Vitaleisms" that he's made in previous editions of this game.

The online element of the game is pretty much what you'd expect. The modes are pretty standard and they perform like everything that we all know and love about EA. The great thing about playing online is that you can not only invite your friends over and dominate them in the comfort of your own living room, but you can now make your presence felt all over the world. The first thing I did was hop online and remind some people that I meant business.

From top to bottom, this EA's March Madness 07 is a decent game. While I think that we were all hoping for a blow out type game, EA has found itself in a dog fight with 2K in the world of college basketball. March Madness 07 definitely swishes on a lot of aspects but misses the goal completely on others. EA has made some great strides in the right direction with March Madness 07, but when it comes to being able to hit the clutch shot in overtime to win it all, March Madness 07 falls short.

By Brad McMahan
CCC Freelance Writer

Features: