“NCAA Final Four 2000”

Sony Playstation

There is a bit of a war going on in the world of sports video games between 989 Sports and EA Sports. Who can make the better game?

“NCAA Final Four 2000” from 989 puts it in a dead heat with EA for the college basketball game crown. “Final Four 2000” is a fast-paced game with lots of dunks, offensive fouls and annoying commentary.

You can choose from a large variety of teams, including Drake University and the University of Northern Iowa as well as the University of Iowa and Iowa State. But, unlike EA’s “March Madness,” there are no specialty teams to select from.

The animation on “Final Four 2000” is a bit on the unrealistic side, with bulky players that look more like linebackers than basketball players.

The game is considerably fast-paced, and it’s easy to drive the lane and dunk over someone — one of Iowa State number 53’s specialties.

This isn’t always realistic, obviously, but it makes things more enjoyable when playing with a friend.

When you mix fast-paced sports games with Playstation, the announcer, who in this case is basketball legend Quinn Buckner, tends to go a little slower. You can be at one end of the court but hear play-by-play calls for what happened at the other end. It’s humorous at first but gets annoying pretty fast.

“Final Four 2000” isn’t better or worse than EA Sports’ latest effort, but it is certainly far from a must-have.

2 1/2 Stars