EA’s March Madness series has always been synonymous with college basketball. However, although it outsells the competition, and features the voice of college hoops himself, Dick Vitale, there have always been a few shortcomings that have kept each year's respective title from making it to the Final Four. Thankfully, 06 has implemented some key new gameplay aspects that really help balance out the action, and possibly even make this the best so far in the series. The shortcomings I speak of also still exist, though, and ultimately keep 06 from being as enjoyable as it could’ve been.

The biggest addition to this year’s game is no doubt the new “Lockdown Stick,” which lets you counter the explosive offensive ability from past years. By pressing and holding the right analog stick down while playing defense, you’re able to play pressure-tight defense on the ball carrier in hopes of causing a turnover. This isn’t as easy as it sounds; however, as you also have to move your player in sync with the ball carrier or he will blow right by you. There is also a good chance that if you play tight aggressive defense that you may be able to trap the ball carrier, or force his body into a position that makes it easy for you to strip the ball.

Another new defensive ability that plays heavily into the “Lockdown Stick” feature is the option to call plays on the fly. This is particularly important for people who like to use defensive or guard-heavy teams like Kentucky that have the ability to use the full-court press and cause turnovers. By using the lockdown stick and play-calling features in conjunction, you can really set up traps and make it hard for your opponent to beat the press. I did find that this worked excessively often, and even after adjusting the sliders to the best of my ability, I was still causing around 20 turnovers a game, even against good teams. To make matters even worse, the same repetitive stealing animation is used over and over again, which becomes slightly bothersome to say the least.

The Dynasty Mode, which is no doubt the biggest selling point for the series, has been improved upon, but still manages to drop the ball occasionally. The roster problems from the past couple years are still present, as you can only have 12 players on your team instead of the usual 14. This creates a big problem for serious b-ball fanatics because at least two of your favorite team’s players will have to be left out, which is absolutely unacceptable. I’m not sure if this is due to limited disc space or what, but simply leaving out a few unnecessary things like the 20-plus intro sequences might have solved the problem and cleared enough room to get the rosters right.

Not all is bad, though, as the new Gameplan Scheduling allows for greater opponent scouting. This gives you full access to their top scorers, best rebounders, and even which type of plays your weekly opponent prefers to run, but there are limited amounts of times you can use this feature, so only doing this against key opponents is an absolute must. When the game is over you are treated to either a plus or a minus in each category that you selected, which lets you judge your coaching success for that game. This isn’t exactly groundbreaking, but it does add some much-needed variety to the Dynasty Mode, and makes you aware of the best players in the league if nothing else.

Recruiting has also been retooled as well, and now plays out much like March Madness’ football cousin, which is definitely a good thing. Recruiting is now something that takes place weekly, and so much so that not giving your recruits their much-needed attention from week to week could cause them to go elsewhere. There are really only a few options available each week and it usually pays off to do all the things on the list which include home visits, player scouting, and campus visits just to name a few. As long as your school is reputable, and you spend the appropriate amount of time recruiting, you can probably lock down all of your scholarships before the season ends. While playing with Kentucky this became increasingly easy, but in my other Dynasty Mode with High Point it was a few years before I could land a difference maker.

Another issue that hardcore college fans will have a problem with is the horrible statistic and player balancing. What I mean by this is that every time you check the leader boards, All-American, or Player of the Year race you will notice that at least half the players are noticeably out of place. The last time I checked players from Brown, Canisius, and Southern Methodist didn’t exactly light it up last year, but in March Madness 06 they’re up for the All- American list. In fact, I recall seeing one finalist list, Player of the Year to be exact, that had three teammates from the same school on it, which is just impossible in college hoops. These may in fact seem like minor gripes and are overlookable for the average Joe, but to the serious college fan, it’s minor details like this that make the game enjoyable and seem life-like.

On the bright side of the action, though, players will be happy to see that many new animations have been created this year. Most of them take place on the defensive side of the ball, which is mostly due to the new features like the Lockdown Stick. Players now run around picks, or are flattened by them. Your smarter players will now actively try to get open, and will push off to do so, which really helps the play calling aspect of the game. There is also a noticeable difference in the low post action, as players will now stop in mid-air collisions instead of going through the defender as if he didn’t exist. All of these new animations are welcome additions indeed, but there still just isn’t enough variety down low, especially on offense. It really feels as if you have little influence over the type of shot that happens, as most of the animations on the low block are insanely out of control. Drop steps and spin moves happen so fast that you rarely have time to control them, and it usually just pays off to go for a dunk instead, but some of these even look plain silly. I hope that the next generation consoles will allow for more variety, because it’s quite apparent that we have reached the end of the line for now.

The visuals in 06 are mostly improved, and are a slight step ahead over last year’s game. Player models do appear more polished, but still sport the whole bobble-head look from past iterations. You might notice that many of the big-time arenas look dead-on, but some of the smaller schools are still way off, and even a few of the Mid-Major schools have been neglected as well, which is somewhat puzzling to me.

Dick Vitale and Brad Nessler are back to headline the play-by-play, and do an admirable job. They still repeat themselves too often, but at least this year Vitale goes off on rants about other things, just as he does in real life. The major problem with the audio is mainly due to the awkward soundtrack. The typical “EA Sports Trax” is present, it is just that most of the songs are questionable at best, and to make matters worse they are all of the orchestrated variety. I know that this adds to the collegiate atmosphere, but there’s just something about these songs that make them seem horribly out of place. Thankfully, the crowds are very responsive, and react to the on-court action nicely.

Overall NCAA March Madness isn’t a terrible game; in fact, it’s quite enjoyable at times. The new defensive abilities really help balance out the action, but the game still becomes repetitive at times. A lack of roster control, and shoddy low post moves drag the experience down a bit, but 06 is still a must try for serious college basketball fanatics. Just don’t expect perfection and you won’t be disappointed.  

Gameplay: 8.1
Defensive improvements really help balance out the gameplay, but at times, the action grows a little repetitive. The outside game is pretty nice, but a lack of control down low really hurts the offensive side of things. One question though. Why am I rewarded for my National Championship, which took quite a bit of time, with a generic celebration that lasts around 6 seconds? Does this trade-off sound unfair to anyone else?

Graphics: 8.4
The visuals are a step up from last year, but the player models still look slightly like bobble-heads. Most of the arenas look very nice, but some of the smaller schools have still been neglected.

Sound: 7.3
Commentary, although slightly repetitive, is pretty well done, but the questionable soundtrack raises more than a few concerns.

Difficulty: Medium
Numerous sliders can help you set the difficulty to your liking.

Concept: 8.0
What is not to love about college basketball? Well, except for all the problems I listed above, not much. The concept is great; it’s the execution that is in question.

Multiplayer: 8.1
Various modes like Tournament, Frat Party, and the Maui Invitational allow for multiple players on one console, but single-player-only Dynasty Mode may take away the fun for some people. Playing online over Xbox Live works well enough, thankfully, as I experienced very little lag. The only problem is that you cannot adjust the gameplay sliders while playing online, which is the sole reason that I play alone.

Overall: 7.9
This year March Madness may provide you with an enjoyable game of basketball, but even with the new defensive features and improved Dynasty Mode, 06 still somehow gets ousted from the tournament earlier than expected.