ESPN College Hoops

It's that time of year. Painted-up college kids, the squeak of high tops on the hardwood, and the countdown to March Madness. Yes, it's time for College hoops. I must also mention that I have my own team favorites-- DUKE being at the Top of that list. Don't hold that against me. YOUR team is there as well. 

ESPN College Hoops 2K4 by Sega is a great game. There's no sense teasing or making you wonder.... it's just a lot of fun and I don't mind saying it right up front. It feels good, plays well and keeps you interested with the high-octane playability that you'd expect from Sega. The HARD part is trying to relay some of the fun-- without writing a novel about it. This is a deep game. There are so many variances in game play, it is hard to shorten it down to a few simple paragraphs.

The moves are basic and not too amazing. It is, at its core, just a basketball video game. So, rather than waste space talking about the moves and shooting, I will try to focus more on what is different about this one; versus other offerings of this genre.

Starting with the rosters, they can be expansive. You can allow the game to supply you with some generic players and a coach, or you can create your own team with real players' names. I mostly stuck with the generics, which was odd since I am so lost without knowing "real" players. But, I wanted to play--- not spend all day setting up rosters. Maybe I will, soon. You can also create your own TEAM. Yes, start your own college! Right down to a mascot. I have never seen that in a game like this before. 

There are several modes of play. SEVERAL. You can do the standard "quick game" types... right to the Tournament play. There are also slam-dunk competitions, which personally bore me-- but I know a lot of people enjoy that. They don't just have ONE, but there are many different dunking challenges. From timed events to a variation of "Horse". 

You can SCOUT during the season, which is new to me. You can dispatch recruiters to find the perfect candidate to enhance next seasons' roster. Very unique.

One of the most interesting variations is the ability to explore the school store for fun and unlocking (earned) goodies. One of which is the chance to obtain a classic team-- which in my case was the 2001 National Champion team from Duke. Yes, there are a lot of other schools to choose, but who could pass that one up??!! You can even use an all-mascot team. Crazy. Did I mention Air Hockey?? Yes, you can play air hockey in the rec center of the store. I was terrible at it, but that didn't keep me from playing over and over. I cannot say I have ever played "video" air hockey.

Back to the real game. The game plays pretty well. I did not care for the long camera shots for each end of the court. That made it very hard to see who was in position for rebounding. I try to hold shots until I have a man to recover a missed ball, but this was tricky here-- without resorting to pushing extra buttons to highlight my players. That made it worse. The screen turns to a mess of colored numbers and assignments. 

Shooting the 3-pointer is a key to my success. To do this best, you get an open shot (duh), and try to release the ball at the exact moment the ball is highest in your hands. That's the perfect arc. Yes, you can practice this, and other moves, in another part of the game-- where training is wise. There is also a free-throw practice area, which I recommend. That is one aspect I never did quite well with. My average was below what it is with other hoops games. That's OK. The other games made it too easy, anyway. I like the challenge. 

The graphics are good, and include close-ups of the crowds being crazy-- which is new to me. I am used to seeing lifeless, generic blurry crowds. These are in-your-face rowdy students being.... students. Very refreshing. Someone has been paying attention to what we see at home when watching games! The players looked good, and except for the far away camera, the whole thing moved smooth. The players move a bit too quick for realism, but they otherwise act decent-- including being tired or injured.

The sound was great. There is stomping, cheering and squeaking. It really feels "genuine". It sounds like a real ESPN broadcast-- thanks to genuine announcers Mike Patrick and (former Dukie!!) Jay Bilas. The play-calling was great. I did not hear the typical repetition of comments and etc that make a game feel old-- quick. Despite making a ton of bad moves, I was not taunted too much by the know-all disk jockey announcers

They did a great job with this game. I found some annoyances, but overall it played well and kept me coming back for more. That's key--- with the season starting right now. I do not have to wait to see games. I can create my own! I strongly recommend it. There is so much to this game, it really has to be experienced to appreciate it. Having played so many over the years (since I 1st whooped up on Nintendo's Double Dribble), I was jaded at first. From the opening sequence, I could tell this was special. It's Xbox Live enabled, so you can go online and do a million more things such as download rosters and etc. I'd love to play in a tournament with real people like myself. Until then, I will hide away with my controller and continue to dominate the league with my favorite team(s)-- alone.   

Gameplay: 8.5
Super-easy to pick up the various moves, but there are a LOT of them. You can execute plays on offense and defense. But, that requires knowing the buttons and being able to hit them quickly. Once learned, it can really turn up your team's winning power. Getting used to the cameras can be frustrating, but did not hinder my success too much to be of concern.  

Graphics: 7.5 
The crowd close-ups were a lot of fun. The players looked good, and the courts were nice. Sometimes, it almost felt like you were playing in an empty stadium, though. They took such great care to NOT show blurry crowds, it can appear as if no one showed up to see you play. Maybe I was just too focused on the action. Yeah... let's go with that theory. 

Sound: 8
The announcers and crowd sound great. The game noises sounded like direct samples of real play, which was nice. That is lost sometimes in a digital conversion. 

Difficulty: Medium
I'd rate this Easy-- if not for some tough teams and some camera issues that hindered my success rate inside the paint. It really was hard to see who is open from so far away. But, other games have done the opposite and created a sense of vertigo with all the panning and crazy angles. 

Concept: 8 
Though most of the game plays like any basketball game out there, there were so many new, fresh things (air hockey!!) to experience... that it seems like more than just a sports game. You really feel like you have some control and goals to achieve-- other than cutting down the nets at the end of the season.  

Muliplayer: N/A
I did not play online, but Xbox Live! is enabled if you choose. You can also play at home against others. I would love to try the online fun.

Overall: 8
I want you to play this game. If you like College Basketball, you should try this one. There are so many fun extras, you'll forget for a while why you are holding the controller in the first place (basketball!!). Winning the points to unlock the extras makes it more intense. You will WANT to play legend teams. Trust me. This really was created for serious college basketball fans. They thought about what they were doing, and did it-- for the fans of the game. I applaud that. Now, stop reading and go get it.