NCAA Final Four 2000 (PlayStation)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 3.5 stars Very good
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 7.8 (3.5 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Ryan Donald
• Reviewed on: 12/03/1999
• Updated on: 05/02/2000
• Released on: 10/31/1999
• Originally published on GameSpot: NCAA Final Four 2000 (PlayStation) Review

While NCAA Final Four 2000 isn't by any means the best basketball game for the PlayStation, it is a sound college basketball game. It's loaded with all the modes and options you've come to expect, and it features moderately good graphics and gameplay. Though it won't wow the veteran video-game basketball fan, it should make any college-hoops fan happy.

You have your choice of several modes of play, such as exhibition, season, tournament, and arcade. Each mode lets you adjust the game's parameters, such as length, difficulty, and speed. You can also select the difficulty of your computer opponent from four settings: freshmen, sophomore, junior, and senior. At the freshmen level, the computer team is fairly competent but not very aggressive. At the senior level, the computer becomes quite aggressive and wastes little time in finding a man with an open shot. One thing that's true of the game on any difficulty is that both you and the computer can aggressively steal the ball and block shots. You really have to work at keeping the ball away from the computer when working it around the court, and you must also make sure that when you take the shot you are fairly open.

Taking shots in NCAA Final Four 2000 is one of the best things about the game, since you use this great system called touch shooting. When you shoot the ball, a little meter comes up with a bar that rises as your player ascends to release the ball. When the bar reaches the shoot marker, you release the button. The closer the top of the bar is to the shoot marker, the more likely your shot will go in.

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