NCAA Basketball Final Four 97 (PlayStation)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 3.0 stars Good
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 6.0 (3.0 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Glenn Rubenstein
• Reviewed on: 04/15/1997
• Updated on: 05/02/2000
• Released on: 03/31/1997
• Originally published on GameSpot: NCAA Basketball Final Four 97 (PlayStation) Review

The past year has been stellar for videogame basketball. NBA Live 97 and NBA Shootout 97 have set the model for "next generation" full court action, giving future games shoes bigger than Shaq's to fill. But while NBA titles have the marquee value of Jordan, Rodman, Drexler, Robinson, and their heavily hyped teams, NCAA video games have yet to generate the same excitement; it would seem as if the only people who really care about college basketball are spirited students, college alumni, NBA scouts, point-shaving bookies, and ESPN2.

Let me preface my review by saying that everything I know about college basketball I learned in a fifth grade betting pool on the NCAA Tournament where, for a two dollar entry fee, I got to pick sixteen of the sixty-four teams competing. Years later my knowledge of college hoops was "expanded" by the Nick Nolte/Shaquille O'Neal film "Blue Chips," a tragic tale about the corruption of college basketball players, but aside from Nick Nolte yelling "DID YOU TAKE MONEY!!?" I didn't learn much. Needless to say, I was excited about the game NCAA Final Four 97, if just to see how this NCAA title would stand up to the NBA big boys and how my hard-earned knowledge would factor into my enjoyment of the title.

With NCAA Final Four 97 Mindscape aims to build a complete basketball title. Included are the obvious licenses: the Final Four Tournament, Collegiate Licensed Products, and the NCAA itself. The game is split into three modes of play: exhibition, tournament, and a thirty game season. The rules can also be configured to arcade, simulation, or a custom mix, which affects what fouls get called and how your players hold up during a game. You can also choose from a variety of controller configurations, difficulty settings, game lengths, and camera angles to alter the game to your tastes. And of course, everything is rendered in 3-D. It's as if Mindscape studied what makes NBA games good and went from there.

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