Graphically, things really seem to look the same as last year. Sure, there are some brand new dunk animations that’ll thrill the “Phi Slamma Jammas” out there, but really, the players themselves don’t look all that much better. In fact, I think the crowds got even less into the game (at least visually). You can see an attendance difference when your ball club’s doing well or not, but it almost looks like they go through the motions when it comes to crowd interaction. I will say that it’s cool when the camera shakes at a noisy arena, but you have to be either playing as/against a team whose crowd cares that much about college basketball.
The audio feels the same way. Brad Nessler and Dick Vitale are behind the mics again for March Madness 2005, but a lot of it is rehashed from the year before. Don’t get me wrong, the two definitely call a great game, and almost never fall behind the action. However, things seem to be stuck in that proverbial wheel of going through the motions. The crowd definitely sounds like it’s into the game (although it may not look it).
The new thing this year aurally is the pep band music. No longer will you just listen to the same old fight songs and such. In 2005, the band plays hits ranging from the 70’s to today. However, while the songs are good, they seem to be slow. I’m looking for songs that make me wanna get out of my chair, yet not every song did that for me. I used to be in pep band, I should know.
