Speaking as a sports fan, a college cheerleader and a hardcore gamer, I can truthfully say that there aren’t many college hoops games that really make me believe this is the ultimate college basketball title.  I’ve played many a great EA Sports game and was even captivated by a few stellar 989 Sports titles on the PS2, but this year the ESPN College Hoops 2K franchise has blown me away.  ESPN College Hoops 2K5 on the Xbox joins the ranks of the recent ESPN sports titles that are priced at twenty dollars and are well worth the money.  Please, grab a seat and come see why.

The NCAA March Madness game has brought its game together this year and that’s saying a lot for a franchise that has, in the past, shown us a solid basketball game.  Yet, much like the amazing Madden NFL 2005, many football fans have been drawn in this year by the ESPN franchise’s fantastic gameplay and visual presentation that‘s made it a complete package worthy of rivaling EA’s game. The same can be said about College Hoops 2K5, a game that possesses a solid basketball game using this year’s NBA 2K5 engine and a far flashier ESPN-styled televised presentation.  The result is a college basketball game that rises above the competition.

Allow me to start with the game modes.  You’ll be able to pick up the controller and start playing with Quick Match and you can also play a few one-on-one half-court games with Gym Rat mode, yet it’s all about the Legacy Mode this year.  Legacy Mode puts you in the shoes of a promising coach you get to create and build up from scratch.  Coaching a little struggling team, you build your career on completing a set of goals (many of them as simple as having your team win at least five games to completing far more challenging goals like taking that team all the way to the championships) and winning a few games.  Once your reputation as a dependable coach is advertised via ESPN News (that goes on in incredible detail about each game and season, including some highlights and some very impressive sidenotes chronicling your every managerial and on-the-court decisions), you’ll might find yourself coaching one of the Big Ten teams like Michigan.  Yes, it’s that in-depth and yes, you’ll find it very hard to put down once you start this mode.

Then there’s the mode college basketball fans love: Rivals Mode.  Who doesn’t want to pit rival schools against each another (e.g. UCLA taking on USC)? There are more than enough college teams present and accounted for in this game that range from the Big East Conference (Georgetown, Notre Dame, Rutgers etc.) to the Big Ten (Purdue, Penn State, Ohio State, etc.).  Or you can create your own school and players with Management mode and pit them against any school.  The best feature this year (aside from Legacy mode) is the Xbox Live multiplayer mode that supports online tournaments and leagues.

Team strategy is necessary if you want your team to make effective offensive and defensive plays because this year the computer-controlled opponents are a lot smarter.  Thankfully the game uses the NBA 2K5 engine and its best features - most notably IsoMotion.  You’ll pull off hop steps and spin moves with the right or left triggers and you can perform neat alley-oops.  You can call for a pick if you can’t get free from a defender and call in an intentional foul, which comes in handy when you’re behind a few points.  The best feature, though, has to be the new Free Throw system that no longer depends on the awkward lining up of icons.  Instead, you’ll release the ball when you feel the player lined himself up for the shoot . . . it’s so much better that you’ll wonder why Visual Concepts hasn’t thought of this before.

Here’s more great news, you’ll earn points by completing certain challenges and these points can be used to purchase unlockable goodies like buying classic teams (like the 1975 UCLA team) plus classic uniforms for your favorite teams.  You can even play Air Hockey and listen to the game’s tunes.  The bad news, your team is sometimes still prone to some really questionable fouls.  You’ll find players running out of bounds for no apparent reason and sometimes they’ll even throw out of bounds.  This isn’t bad but we could have done without this.  

Much like ESPN NBA 2K5, College Hoops 2K5 on the Xbox looks amazing.  We’re talking sharper visuals with much attention to the player models and their surroundings.  The players show more emotion out there and their expressions reflect that - especially when they make a foul or a great shot.  Sure there’s some clipping here and there but it’s nothing that’ll be considered an eyesore.  As for the animation, it’s great to watch players move so wonderfully realistic.  The arenas look like they belong in a campus and so do the crowds of fans wearing their school colors.  College Hoops 2K5 will dazzle you with its ESPN-styled presentation (complete with oh-so good replays), but it’s the little things like cheerleaders pumping up the crowds during half-time and school mascots doing, um, what they do best that gives this a true college basketball feel.

Marching bands pumping up the crowds and cheerleaders enthusiastically spouting off cheer after cheer as the sounds of sneakers squeaking across the hardwood can clearly be heard before a player dunks it into the basket.  The ESPN Game Sound feature allows you to test the 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround because the sound effects are not just detailed but true to the college b-ball experience.  The soundtrack is a neat mix of instrumental club music but it seems to fit the game like glove (you can always add your own soundtrack on the Xbox).  Mike Patrick and Jay Bilas make up the two-man commentary team that are pretty spot-on with most of their commentary, but thanks to some glitches certain remarks come up at the most unusual moments.  For example, playing as Georgia Tech my losing team suddenly got the drop on Stanford and won the game by three points.  Jay’s remarked directly after the game: “Georgia behind by three.”  Flaws aside, the commentary is actually pretty informative and witty at times.

ESPN College Hoops 2K5 has Fan Favorite written all over it.  It not only looks great but also plays just as excellently as its big brother, ESPN NBA 2K5.  With a Legacy Mode so deep and so wonderfully addictive, fans of the sport will love sinking their teeth into the game.  Really, if you’re a fan of college hoops or the sport in general, you can’t go wrong with this one especially since it’s priced just right.

Gameplay: 9.2
Riddle me this, Batman: What plays just as good as ESPN NBA 2K5, tightens the moves just a tad better on the Xbox, has a Legacy Mode that absolutely rocks and features a new Free Throw system that’s an absolute dream come true?  Did you say ESPN College Hoops 2K5?  You’re good . . . really good.

Graphics: 9.0
A few clipping problems aside, this is a gorgeous-looking basketball game with flashy ESPN-styled televised graphics, great player models and even better animations.  It’s all about presentation and College Hoops 2K5 does a terrific job of bringing us a game true to the college basketball scene.

Sound: 8.5
The game makes full use of the Dolby Digital Surround especially when it comes to the atmospheric sound effects.  The soundtrack is pretty good, although you can add your own tunes thanks tot he Custom Soundtrack.  The two-man commentary has its share of glitches, which is too bad since a large portion of the play-by-play is decent.

Difficulty: Medium
Smarter AI means you’ll really have to hustle and come up with rock-solid defensive plays when going up against powerhouses like North Carolina. This is a challenging hoops game alright but that’s just the way us fans of the hardwood love it.

Concept: 9.0
Legacy Mode will knock your socks off and so will the fact that you can create your own college, team and players and put them in the game (Management mode, we love you).  The inclusion of IsoMotion is something to really cheer about and there are plenty of unlockable goodies.  And, to top it all off, it costs $20.  Somebody pinch me!

Multiplayer: 9.5
Trust me, as a hoops fan that has logged countless hours on the Xbox Live sports games, this one will replace your much-used copy of ESPN NBA 2K5 as a new favorite.  Complete with leagues and tournaments who wouldn’t want to play against rival colleges using your favorite team?

Overall: 9.0
Visual Concepts has struck gold again.  ESPN College Hoops 2K5 is not only a gorgeous-looking game but also one of the sweetest college hoops game to come along this year.  Even if you’re not die hard follower of the college sports scene, this is one basketball game that won’t disappoint and at the low retail price this is definitely a purchase worth making.