Fox Sports College Hoops 99 is playable, but its slow engine prevents it from competing with NBA Courtside.
Graphics: 3/10
Sound: 5/10
Value: 7/10
Tilt: 6/10
Final Score: 5.5/10 (D)
Here's one title no one's ever heard of. Fox Sports College Hoops isn't as bad as I thought it would be, but that's not saying much. My friend says this is the best game ever, but that's false. Still, when the game turns on you're treated to a awesome rendition of the fox sports theme. The game begins with a complete LACK OF FEATURES, which is unexcusable for a sports title. There's only an exibition mode, a season mode, and a options menu. Making a decent basketball game should be easy, but it seems like lots of people don't know what they're doing in the video game industry.
As far as basketball games go, this isn't bad. Scoring is easy, and the game has a nice free throw shooting system. I like how the game lets you customize your time, but I wish there was an option to set the halves to 3 minutes each, since even 6 minutes is too long. Defense is also good too, and I also like holding down the Z button to continously jump and try to block a shot.
You'd expect this game to be great as a result, right? Hell no! Two things prevent Fox Sports College Hoops 99 from greatness; a slow engine, and a lack of polish. The engine is the most deliberate engine I've ever seen in a basketball game. Man, could those players move any SLOWER?! I compared this to NBA Courtside, and man, that game moves a lot faster than this. When a shot goes up, that's when you'll get a chance to eat a snack, do laundry, or even mow the lawn. Okay, I was exaggerating there, but you get the point. I also hate the lack of realism. There's no ref to throw up the ball when the game first starts, and it seems that players are ALLOWED to go out of bounds, which is dumb in my opinion. Whenever the home team makes a shot, the most annoying drum beat plays. The crowd looks good, but is pretty much silent the entire game, which is pestering. I also hate that between halves, the team goes on the other side of the court, and then comes on the court when the 2nd half begins. The graphics are ugly, with players that are poorly rendered and all look the same, even with a color swap.
That doesn't mean there isn't fun in this game. Multiplayer is good, although playing this game for long stretches of periods is boring. Fox Sports College Hoops is playable, but its slow engine prevents it from competing with NBA Courtside. This should've been a slam dunk (which looks terrible in this game, by the way), but a lack of polish makes this title forgettable.