Metacritic Games

NCAA March Madness 2004 (Xbox)

Features Over 320 Schools: Dick Vitale and Brad Nessler preside over the passion and tradition of NCAA basketball competition with authentic fight songs, arenas, cheerleaders, and mascots. All-new game modes including Frat Party and Rivalry let you not only punish your most bitter rivals... but also take it to their mascots as well. Recruit elite high school players over 30 seasons in Dynasty Mode and take your team from the pre-season EA SPORTS Maui Invitational all the way to the Big Dance. Watch locker room videos detailing pre-game scouting reports and strategies from top coaches including Billy Donovan, Rick Majerus, and Gary Williams. Call offensive plays taken directly from each school's playbook, then shut down the opposition and cause turnovers with a full-court press or 2-3 zone. [EA Sports]

Electronic Arts
Sports
Players: 4
E (Everyone)
Developer: EA Canada
Released November 17, 2003

Overall Metascore

This is a weighted, normalized average of all individual scores given by critics, on a scale of 0 (worst) to 100 (best).

81 / 100

Critic Reviews

90	GamePro By a fair margin, NCAA March Madness 2004 comes out on top in the showdown against "ESPN College Basketball."
89	Official Xbox Magazine Despite the inexcusable omission of Xbox Live support, this is the best college basketball game on the Xbox. [Dec 2003, p.94]
88	Team Xbox An almost perfect blend of great control and deep gameplay that will meet any college hoop fan’s criteria.
85	Operation Sports The failure to include many of the star freshmen in the game is inexcusable. With players leaving college for the NBA earlier than ever, freshmen play a more important role in college basketball than ever before.
85	GameZone From the quick-step jumper to the slicing 3-point shooting, the game had a lot of replay value.
85	GameSpy The game's Achilles' heel is its lack of any online play. But if you're more about the single-player game than about smacking some faraway Kansas or Duke fan, it's hard to find much not to like.
84	IGN While I applaud March Madness' marked improvements, it still doesn't equal "ESPN College Hoops" in terms of depth, so the game comes in a close second this year on the PS2, and a little more distant on the Xbox due to EA not supporting Xbox Live.
83	Game Informer It doesn’t have the variety of modes as Sega’s "College Hoops," but when it comes to play, I give the nod to March Madness.
83	GameNow Superior to other college games and a lot of fun to play. [Jan 2004, p.63]
82	Next Level Gaming The controls in NCAA March Madness 2004 are tight and very responsive.
80	Electronic Gaming Monthly In terms of atmosphere, no other college basketball game captures the sights and sounds of a university arena quite like this. [Jan 2004, p.116]
80	Xbox Nation Magazine A superb basketball game, with Grade-A action, intuitive controls, and more bells and whistles than an ice cream truck. [Dec/Jan 2004, p.85]
77	GameSpot While March Madness 2004 does a good job at capturing the feel of college basketball, a general lack of polish keeps it just a little short of greatness.
75	Play Magazine As always, the dynasty mode is incredibly robust. [Dec 2003, p.98]
70	GMR Magazine If you're gonna buy one college game this year, buy March Madness.
67	Game Revolution More attention to the graphics and gameplay issues would secure its place as the preeminent college basketball game. Right now, though, it’s still on the bubble.

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