Hoops Preview

As any fan of virtual athletics knows, the Xbox® is no stranger to university-level basketball sims (see titles like NCAA College Basketball 2K3 and NCAA® March Madness™ 2005 for proof). But 2K Sports plans on scoring the most mind-blowing slam dunk you've ever seen with its latest offering, College Hoops® 2K6.

College Hoops 2K6 is heavy on the thrills
and never stingy with the razzle-dazzle.

Effectively recreating all the school-specific grudges, rivalries, and excitement that comes with sitting in the stands, sharing an afternoon with a horde of screaming, foul-mouthed undergraduates, College Hoops 2K6 has promoted predictably high expectations. Happily, as a hands-on trial with a demo version reveals, the disc looks set to deliver.

Go on … hop to it.

Enter the Ballers
Upon loading, you're given the option of generating random player names or using jersey numbers only and creating a VIP profile to save all your attributes and preferences. (Athletes modeled after real-world superstars can always be custom-configured—from muscle tone to preferred shooting hand—using player-creation options.) Afterwards, it's time to choose a school, with Pac-10, Southeastern, and Atlantic Coast conference standbys—Albany, Boston U, Georgia Tech, Pepperdine, etc.—all up for grabs. Industrious types even have the choice of crafting their own custom academic institution, right down to hometown and school colors.

Pre-game setup is as deep you'll ever find, too. Team management options include plotting rosters, making substitutions, and swapping offensive and defensive playbooks. Dig deep enough, and you can actually change coaches' entire outlook on the game. Seriously—feel free to adjust their recruiting priorities (e.g. intelligence, skill, or athleticism), preferred methods of attack, and the amount of pressure they put on opponents at whim.

Don't worry … I'll catch you!

Hit the Courts
From there, you're provided your pick of multiple play variants. Jump right in with a quick game. Compete against up to three additional ballers in your own personalized Pontiac Tournament. In Coach mode, sit back and watch the action unfold in real time without working up a sweat. (You can literally recline and let the Xbox do all the work, pressing buttons only when it's time to issue commands to apply pressure or double team adversaries as needed.) Practice free-throws and lay-ups. Or just get your kicks staging rivalries between schools like North Carolina and NC State.

Legacy mode offers the most longevity of all potential choices by far. Choose the "open" option, and you pick a team (each ranked on overall performance, offense, defense, shooting, and rebounding), then lead them to greatness while dealing with issues like injuries and configurable training programs. Pick "career," and you also get to customize a coach—adjusting such important attributes as suit and type of glasses—plus hire assistantsl. Afterwards, the challenges you face don't just revolve around winning games, but also handling the media, making the right mid-season calls, and changing athletes' focus on the fly using clipboard-driven commands during timeouts.

Still life in Spandex shorts.

Perfecting Play
Curiously, no player is simply a mindless drone … all have unique attributes like confidence, consistency, and focus. By calling weekly meetings and holding practice drills or scrimmages, you can actually improve these abilities and make athletes perform that much better. Do so, and you see obvious differences during hands-on play, and a marked improvement in terms of the number of victories you score in simulated games. Every action has an equal reaction here: If you concentrate on building team strengths, you'll actually watch squads evolve right before your eyes throughout the course of play.

The courtside action's plenty satisfying, too, with quick button presses producing instant results. Passing, shooting, stealing, posting it up … whatever your intention, it's easily accomplished thanks to ultra-responsive controls. Anyone can dive right in; lightning-quick pacing, smooth player animations, and an intuitive front end (complete with in-depth menus and one-touch commands) make the title suitable for beginners and vets alike. From detailed coaching options to intuitive free-throw activation, you'll be in hardwood heaven.

Taking it to the hole.

Pile on an amazing presentation—fans stand, scream, and cheer while mascots bob along the sidelines and players spin and backboards bounce with visible momentum—and you can't go wrong. Seriously … you're even provided Selection Sunday broadcasts and preseason prediction shows hosted by Greg Gumbel and Clark Kellogg. Don't forget a host of incredible Xbox Live® options (online leagues, stat tracking, friends list management, and head-to-head play) as well.

The sum total easily adds up to an experience that must be seen to believed. Still, that's College Hoops 2K6for you in a nutshell: heavy on the thrills, and never stingy with the razzle-dazzle.

Article by Steve Richter