NCAA Final Four 2000

• Release Date: November 01, 1999
• Genre: Sports
• Style: Basketball
• Similar Games: NBA Live 2000 (PlayStation), NBA ShootOut 2000 (PlayStation), NCAA March Madness 2000 (PlayStation)

Game Description

Feel the excitement of "March Madness" in the comfort of your own home with NCAA Final Four 2000. Select any of the 300 Division One teams from 31 conferences, including the North Carolina Tarheels, Duke Blue Devils, Michigan State Spartans, and Florida State Seminoles.

Game modes include an Exhibition game, Season, Tournament, or an Arcade game (Exhibition with no rules). Some special features of NCAA Final Four 2000 include: AI and playbooks designed by University of Georgia head coach Jim Harrick, motion-captured animations courtesy of athletes like Trajan Langdon, Touch Shooting (allowing you to get more of an accurate feel for your shot), analysis by ESPN's Quinn Buckner, and authentic collegiate fight songs and crowd chants.

The game includes 3D player models based on true stats, so guys that are seven-feet tall don't look like guys that are 5'10". The Season mode takes you through a full season as your favorite team, allowing you to feel the peaks and valleys any coach would throughout his first year.

NCAA Final Four 2000 allows up to eight players to compete using a Multi-Tap device. Gameplay is also enhanced by the option for a Dual Shock Analog Controller and one to four blocks of space on any memory card.

Roots & Influences

NCAA Final Four 2000 is the third edition of the Final Four series on the PlayStation. Games like NCAA March Madness 2000 compete directly with it. There are more NCAA titles on consoles and very few on the PC. This is probably attributed to the joypads that personal computers didn't use a few years behind games like this one.

Review: Overall

The latest version of 989 Sports' college basketball series is NCAA Final Four 2000. It is a deep, deep game, featuring more than 300 Division One teams from 31 conferences. The animations have been motion-captured from some of basketball's top players and then some: Trajan Langdon, Robert Horry, Jason Kidd, Brevin Knight, Bo Outlaw, Paul Pierce and Jerry Stackhouse. The playbooks have been designed with help from Jim Harrick, head coach of the University of Georgia. All of this helps to make NCAA Final Four 2000 the best version yet.

The graphics in NCAA Final Four 2000 are very good. Players move just like real humans, which is a good thing; they also look like the real thing. The reality presented by 989 Sports helps to make you feel as if you are watching a television presentation of the tournament.

The new features in this game also add to the realism. The most important change is called Touch Shooting. Here, instead of the typical "hold and release" shooting, you are given the opportunity to "feel every shot." You press the X button to start the shot, watch the red bar rise on the shot meter, and then release the X button at the yellow triangle (on the shot meter) to hit the shot. This is similar to the way free throws are shot in basketball games, and does add to the realism. You are given more of a chance to hit your own shots, taking the computer out of the equation as much as possible.

Other features that are helpful in Icon Passing, Icon Cutting, and Icon Screening. These features allow you to get direct access to any of the players on your team at any time. You can pass right to your star player without any problems at all. I like these features, especially the Icon Passing. It really helps in beating those higher echelon teams.

Instant replays are another big plus here. Whenever you make a big play, the game goes into its instant replay mode. It switches to the best available camera angle and shows you an exciting play that you may have missed. No graphic intensity is lost. Everything looks just as good during the replay as it did the first time. And, with commentary during the replay by Quinn Buckner, you will really feel like you are watching ESPN.

My biggest concern with this game is that it is way too easy to steal the ball from your opponents. If not the first or second time, I promise that you will have stolen the ball by your third try. This takes away some of the realism that the game otherwise portrays so well. I wonder whether 989 Sports was trying to give some kind of bonus to people that continuously use the steal button, or if it was just an extremely big oversight. While changing the difficulty level to a higher one does help, it's not necessarily a solution. All other aspects of the opponent's team are increased as well, and it will be that much harder to win.

Crowds really get into this game. There are full crowd chants and even fight songs during the game, making you feel like you are in the arena. With so many teams, making the brackets for your very own tournament has never been so much fun. Any team that you can think of is included here, and although players do not have their real names, you can tell who is who if you follow college basketball. With so many options and moves on and off the court, NCAA Final Four 2000 is great fun for enthusiasts and mild fans alike.

Review: Enjoyment

Playing this game is a lot of fun. The only thing keeping it from receiving a higher mark is that it is too easy most of the time.

Review: Graphics

Some of the best graphics in a PlayStation sports game.

Review: Sound

Commentary by Quinn Buckner is comprehensive and the crowd chants and fight songs are cool.

Review: Replay Value

The manual contains everything you need to get started, with an easy-to-read layout.

Review: Documentation

The manual contains everything you need to get started, with an easy-to-read layout.

Production Credits

View more Entertainment & Arts videos