Ah, college basketball, there's no sport more intense and exciting throughout all 40 minutes on the floor. College Hoops 2K6 captures all the intensity of the game while keeping things realistic. The game shows some significant improvement over last year's edition, but is still showing the growing pains associated with the loss of the ESPN license. 2K6 has got the fundamentals, but lacks the razzle-dazzle of an NBA superstar.
On the surface there isn’t a whole lot in terms of new content for 2K6. The Legacy mode returns, allowing the player to take a small program to the top, along with other modes such as the Pontiac Tournament, Practice, Rivalry and whatnot. There is a new “coach” mode, but there's really nothing new about it since a similar mode appeared in College Hoops 2K5. It’s not until you get into the meat of the game that 2K6 starts to differentiate itself from last years game.
The most prominent addition to the on-the-court gameplay this year is the shot stick. It is still possible to shoot using the square button, but the shot stick does a great job of mimicking a players shooting motion. Now, in order to shoot a jump shot, you pull the right analog stick down until the player reaches the height of his jump and then release the stick. It takes a while to get used to, but is truly one of the more ingenious control components once you get the hang of it. The shot stick isn't only limited to jump shots though and controls lay-ups and dunks as well. In general, it shot stick gives the player more control over what is happening on the court.
One of the drawbacks of the shot stick system is that the iso motion moves have now been shifted over to the left analog stick and are only executable when the R1 button is held down. This makes things a little confusing at first since the left analog stick is still used for player movement, but after a few hours it isn't hard to adjust at all.
On the defensive side of the ball there are a couple of huge additions as well. The new 'defensive stance', which a player can take up by holding down the L1 button, really improves on-the-ball defense. It's now a lot easier to get in a shooter's face and shuffle sideways while still facing the ball handler. Also while in the defensive stance, your player will make attempts to shut off where the ball handler is attempting to go. It's nice to finally be able to guard someone realistically, one of the few fundamental things 2K5 was missing.
Another defensive addition is the strip & rip feature, which is basically the shot stick on defense. What this amounts to is using the right analog stick to swat at the ball, with the direction of the right analog stick corresponding to the nature of the strip attempt. For example, pressing up on the right analog with result in the player swinging upwards at the ball. When an opponent is in the act of shooting, it’s also possible to press up in order to jump in the air and contest the shot. Of course, just like the shot stick, the old alternative remains, so it’s still possible to attempt a steal by pressing square and to jump with the triangle button. Once again it’s nice to see that 2K accommodates those who aren’t so hot on the new ways of playing the game.
A rather minor tweak that really stood out to me was the increased amount of physical contact between players and the increased frequency in which shooting fouls are called. A problem I had with 2K5 was that players used to repel around each other, there was almost a complete lack of animation for player collisions aside from post ups. 2K6 mimics the more physical side of the sport and players react to each other more naturally. Therefore, when in the defensive stance, it’s possible to bump into a ball handler as he’s bringing the ball up the court, making things more difficult for the offense.
Shooting fouls are also called more often in 2K6 and there are less charging calls against the player. It was really annoying when attempting an iso motion move in 2K6 would almost always result in a charge against the player. This year, it’s much harder to draw charges and makes that just that much more satisfying, as in real life.
Even timeouts have been overhauled for 2K6. Now, instead of just being allowed to sub players during timeouts, you can also change matchups, double-teams, pressure, and give your team a point of emphasis to focus on. You can also sub players during stoppages in play by holding down L1 and R1 at the same time. It’s nice not to have to pause the game in order to make substitutions during free throws.
Finally, there are a couple of additions to the recruiting aspect of the Legacy and Career modes. The first of which are recruit camps, which basically allow the player to complete various minigames and scrimmages with the nation’s top prospects. Secondly, it is now possible to recruit high school underclassmen so if you spot a talented freshman, you might be able to get the jump on other schools by contacting him early.
It’s pretty obvious that 2K sports took a major blow in the presentation department when it lost the ESPN license. The new 2K Sports presentation is acceptable, but many of the screen overlays and the game’s menu’s themselves seem a little more sloppy than last year. I’ll address the commentating later on, but it really is tough to see the ESPN license go to EA because there is no way they will be as willing to embrace the license as well as 2K did.
In terms of the overall graphics in the game, things haven’t change much since 2K5. One problem I have with 2K6 is the blur that is placed over fans and various other people who aren’t on the court. While this certainly looks cool on the Xbox 360, on the PS2 it ultimately just makes things look grainy. It’s quite difficult to describe, but anyone who played 2K5 will notice the change right away and it takes quite a while to get used to. Now that I’ve been playing 2K6 for a while though, I’m no longer bothered by it.
There are also a couple of other graphical issues with 2K6. Most notable is the fact that Greg Gumble looks nothing like he does in real life during the various in-studio portions of the game. These include the Pre-season, Tournament, and Pontiac Game Changing Moment segments in which Greg Gumble and sometimes Clark Kellogg are shown back at the studio. Greg and Clark also seem to have the same blur effect applied to them and therefore look less detailed than the players do. The desk behind which they sit also jitters around, due to some sort of graphical glitch, which actually looks quite amusing.
The commentary in 2K6 is certainly an area where the game could have tanked. It’s really hard to match the ESPN announcers from 2K5, but thankfully 2K Sports has done a great job of acquiring a new team. Verne Lundquist leads the charge along with Bill Raftery and Bonny Bernstein. Judging by the trend I’m seeing, 2K Sports is doing some dealings with the people at CBS. More CBS integration would be a really good thing for the franchise since CBS has some of the best college hoops coverage in my opinion. That might also help to fill the ESPN void in terms of overall presentation.
Nothing has really changed about the sound other than the new commentators however. Players and coaches still chatter on occasion and the crowds are very well duplicated. It’s great to hear the crowd ramp up when the home team starts to go on a run. Playoff crowds are also non-partisan, which may have also been the case in 2K5 although I’m not entirely sure about that. Players are still addressed by their names throughout all aspects of the game, whether it's by Greg on the preseason show or by the arena announcer. Verne and Bill also do a whole pregame shpeal about the two coaches and the top players from each team. Which serves as a nice segueway into another feature that 2K6 has, real coaches. Granted, teams like Hampton are still going to have the generic ‘HAMP coach’, but all of the noteworthy coaches in the NCAA are included in the game.
All in all, College Hoops 2K6 does a great job of replicating the emotional roller coaster that is college basketball. The loss of the ESPN license makes the overall presentation suffer, but 2K Sports deserves a lot of credit for picking up equally good voice talent from CBS. Additionally, the changes made to the game’s gameplay mechanics serve as great additions to the franchise.
