EA games has led a reputation for a decent amount of sports games that simulate the on field movements, game play and graphics. Sad to say, a lot of games are given less attention then others. With the turn of the new year comes a new roster in almost every sports title out there, from Madden 06 to NBA live 06 we are given an updated roster, graphics and some new but, not stand alone features to every game that makes it quite unique. With NCAA 06 March Madness, such could not be said just yet. Following the hype of NBA live 06, March Madness brings college basketball to the Xbox with plenty of features and overall enough game play to keep hardcore fans busy, but is it really worth the money?

Game play

To be honest, it’s a bit of the same setup that every other basketball game to date. There is nothing really different in the game play, it’s a bit tired and tried as well giving out the usual dynasty mode, exhibition and the sort found in every sports game. The main differences are some what minor and do not affect the overall performance but do give a standard to be expected. In NCAA 06’s defense, the college basketball title offers a lot for hardcore fans and veterans alike. With the initial exhibition or ‘Play Now’ mode, offers almost everything in the long run. The broad range of teams to select is quite impressive, not only the overall selection but a marker for which ever the team’s state is out of. Once you have your team selected, then you can take to the quick strategy before each game.

Taking advantage of your team’s strengths and weaknesses is the key to basically winning in the game since you can choose your starting line up, swapping different players between those on the bench and so forth. It’s not a bad setup and gives you an idea of what most college basketball coaches go through when making choices. Once you’ve gotten started, game play stays true to a regular basketball game, with the inclusion of a dribble stick, calling plays during the game and a large range of low post moves such as the fade away jump shot, which is quite effective with the right player. Putting aside the initial pick up and play mode as mentioned above, there are also some other modes that give the game a decent amount of life or replay value as well. The dynasty mode is the most expansive and quite similar to 2k6’s 24/7 mode. With a year round calendar prepared for multiple seasons on and off the court.

The key to this mode is keeping up with your PDA, almost every message you could get will come in through it aside from points and otherwise. Along with messages on upcoming events and staff comments, the points you make during the season can be used on specific players and the team as well. Aside from the points you can spend on the players themselves, there is also a training camp to improve the teams Offense, defense, shooting and conditioning. It’s quite possible to build a very good team in this mode, only it’s so over used from different games (NBA Live 06 being one) that even the Dynasty Central option is not a good addition to everything being it’s another large calendar. The next addition that makes this dynasty mode quite worth it is the coach options. When off the court, you can recruit local players or national players during the season, and with a nice stat tracking option you can scout players from the nations top 100, high school or other wise.