It’s only December, but thanks to Visual Concepts and 2K Sports, college basketball fans get to experience the madness of March for the second time in only two months with the release of College Hoops 2K6.

When it comes to college basketball titles, most gamers stay loyal to their game of choice: the March Madness series from EA offers fast-paced action and unrivaled atmosphere, while the College Hoops series goes for slightly less flare in exchange for a shockingly realistic interpretation of the game.

Think of it as more of a Kentucky vs. Louisville rivalry, with March Madness representing the Louisville Cardinals, and the College Hoops series belonging to the Kentucky Wildcats. Sure, everyone likes to see the run 'n 'gun three-point slinging style of the Cardinals, but the out-of-control pace of their game and questionable defensive pressure often leads to some unnecessary losses. The Wildcats game, however, might come at a slightly slower pace, but their relentless defense and meticulous play calling often leads to more wins, and an overall more rewarding style of basketball. Thankfully, Visual Concepts (Kentucky) has implemented some features this year that will help pick up the pace a bit, and these additions are so good that any EA Sports fans (Cardinals) who decide to make the switch over will ultimately be very glad they did.

Most of these new features I speak of exist in the new control scheme, which has been taken straight from Visual Concepts NBA counterpart. Most notable of the additions is the new isomotion ball-control system. You are still required to use the right analog stick to perform fancy jukes and crossovers, but now you have to hold either the left or right trigger down as a modifier button to activate these moves. This has mainly been done in order to make way for the new shot stick, which has now been mapped to the right analog stick as well, only it doesn’t require the use of either trigger buttons.

Using the right analog stick as another choice for shooting is very simple and intuitive, but it does offer more than enough shot type variety to keep things interesting. Lay-ups and fade-away jumpers are easily performed when on the run with just a simple flick of the stick, and post moves are performed in nearly the same fashion. When backing down a defender, a combination of shots like dunks, spins to either side, and up-and-unders can be pulled off by pressing the stick in different directions. It should go as noted that this benefits different types of players in a multitude of ways, as some of the more powerful centers can use their strength to advantage, while athletic players will likely be able to spin quickly to either side of the defender for an easy basket. 

Of course spending a lot of your time playing down on the block will more than likely reward you with a few trips to the line, and thankfully, the right analog stick is used for free throws as well. No annoying shot meters or cross hairs here, just simply pull the right analog stick down to start the free throw motion and then press upwards on the stick to release the ball. This all happens in a very fluid motion that really makes you feel like you are actually shooting the basketball.  I highly doubt that we will ever see another type of free-throw system, at least not for a long time, as this type of shooting mechanic is nearly flawless and easy on the eyes.

Shooting the basketball isn’t the only area that has seen an upgrade, thankfully. The new “coach’s clipboard” helps make in-game coaching decisions more efficient and less of a chore. During each stoppage in play a coaches menu will pop up onscreen where you can change everything from your lineup to your style of play. This lets you make individual defensive assignments on the fly, adjust your rebound pressure, and even set up different types of traps that can cancel out your opponent’s style of offense at that moment. This will have to be done frequently of course, because as I mentioned earlier, College Hoops practically requires you to use your brain on both sides of the ball in order to be effective.

Each team usually plays very similar to their real-life counterpart, so learning a bevy of different plays on both offense and defense will certainly be to your advantage. If a team is playing 3-2 zone for instance, you’re not going to have much luck down low, so overloading one of the corners will help open up a shot more easily. In addition, the same goes for trying to score against a 2-3 zone as well, only this time you will want to go down low for a 1-on-1. To make things easier each team has numerous plays at their disposal, many of which come from that respective team’s real playbook. Some offensive sets work well against man-to-man defenses, while others work well against zones, but it will ultimately be up to you to memorize these plays in order to succeed. This may seem like a lot of work, but much like the complicated isomotion freestyle control, taking the time to learn it will pay enormous dividends in the end.

If the intricacies of play calling are a little too overbearing for you, you may want to explore the new Coach Mode feature for a little help. This lets you call all the shots, and then lay back and watch the computer do all the dirty work for you. This lets you grow accustom to some of the various plays without the burden of actually pulling them off. This will be somewhat boring for veterans of the series, but for newcomers this just might be the perfect training tool to help you get started.   

Of course, the main reason people love to play college basketball games is for the extremely deep Legacy Mode. This lets you experience all the ins and outs of year after year as a college head coach, where you must fulfill contracts, recruit players, and hopefully make it to the big dance or possibly get fired for not doing so. New to this year's Legacy mode is the ability to watch a season preview video along with the coveted Selection Sunday special, which is hosted by Clark Kellogg and Greg Gumbel. The season preview highlights all the pre-season's top-rated teams along with the most highly touted players in the league. And the Selection Sunday is of course the D-day of college basketball, where teams are shown waiting in anticipation as all 64 spots of the playoff tree are slowly filled. This is especially fun when playing with some of the smaller schools as you really never know you have received a bid to the big dance until your team's name is called, which is extremely fun and tense at the same time.

Recruiting in this year's game has also seen some improvement, and is probably the most realistic it has ever been. You no longer have to recruit players just based on their skill level, as now you can examine other attributes such as athleticism, intelligence, and potential. This really helps you land the appropriate kid for your program, so if you want to opt for hard-working intelligent players instead of a couple blue chips who will be gone in a year or so you can do that. You also aren’t restricted to just high school seniors anymore, as you have the option of going after the younger kids now. Be warned, though, that just because a particular kid is having the year of his life as a junior, it doesn’t mean that he will play that good as a senior. The total opposite can also happen, because if players that you think you’ve locked up for commitment play really well and start to receive a lot of attention from the bigger schools, they may become a big-shot all of the sudden and abandon you completely. The only problem to this system is that if it seems a bit too in depth for your taste, you may be out of luck. The computer does very little to help you land recruits, so if you don’t stay on top of it throughout the season, you may not end up with a very good recruiting class at all.

With College Hoops having many features from its NBA older brother this year, one would think that the presentation of the game would have also seen the same facelift, and although it has to a degree, an overall lack of polish keeps it from being what it should’ve been. The most notable of things missing is the ESPN license, so all you Jay Bilas and Mike Patrick fans will have to grow accustom to Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery. This isn’t necessarily a downgrade to say the least, but despite the duo’s great job, they just don’t seem to match up to the wonderful job done by last year’s team, but hey … at least it’s not Billy Packer. I did expect the player models to receive the same amount of attention that the NBA players have, and although they don’t really look bad per se, they just appear slightly blocky and lack the progression that we’ve come to expect from the 2K series.

Despite the lackluster presentation, College Hoops 2K6 is still the most enjoyable college game on the market. What it lacks in flare is more than made up with its depth and realistic take on the sport. Therefore, if you prefer a brain over beauty then this is the college game for you, if not, you may want to go elsewhere.

Gameplay: 8.5
The new isomotion and shooting mechanics are welcomed indeed, and teams that play like their real-life counterparts add to the personality. The action isn’t perfect, though, so hopefully the next iteration will have more animations on both ends of the ball.

Graphics: 7.9
The overall package is nicely done, but what’s up with the player models? They are in no way comparable to the NBA series at all, which is a shame because it could’ve elevated the experience to the next level.

Sound: 7.9
Appropriate crowd chants and fight songs help make the atmosphere come to life, though I did think some of the music selection was a bit questionable. In addition, a few major schools fight songs are MIA as well, but yet other smaller schools are spot on.

Difficulty: Medium
Tons of gameplay sliders exist to help customize the experience that’s right for you.

Concept: 7.9
Tons of new features in all aspects of the game. If only the presentation could have been upgraded a bit, this game would be nearly perfect.

Multiplayer: 8.0
Leader boards, leagues, and tournaments are all available, and work like a charm. There was also very little lag to be found in nearly all matches I played.

Overall: 8.1
The new gameplay features and impressive depth make this year’s College Hoops the best so far in the series.