ESPN College Hoops

"ESPN College Hoops is the best Basketball title, period."

Intro:

I'm sure everyone in America knows what Basketball is, so I won't go into depth. In a nutshell, players try to put a basketball in the opposing team's basket. This is a very shallow description of the sport, but then again, Basketball is well known in this country, so I won't be giving a lecture about the ins & outs of the sport.

Graphics: The graphics is ESPN college Hoops are very good, a notch below outstanding. It doesn't look as good as it's NBA counterpart, ESPN Basketball, because face mapping wasn't used. & all of the teams courts look authentic like their real life counterpart. The crowd looks better then average during the game play & much better during the cut scenes. I'll get to that later on in the review. The frame rate dips at times, but nothing that effects the gameplay.

Gameplay:

The gameplay is different then Sega's pro version. It plays like a college game should. Passing is essential, using strategy, & changing Off/Def formations frequently is a must if you want to compete with the better teams in the NCAA. The player animations are smooth for the most part, but a bit robotic at times. The dunks in the game are very cool, but the different types of dunks seem to be random. You can't choose what kind of dunk you want, but dunks do leave an impression. The rim & backboard bends & sometimes the player hang on a bit before letting his feet touch the ground again. The passing is the main problem I have with the gameplay. The ball seems to have a mind of it's own. You can throw the ball to another player & watch it curve like a baseball. This happens about 25% of the time. It happens less when you keep your passes short & lock on to the player you want to pass to. Other minor gripes. Too many Back court violations & out of bounds problems. You will usually see 2-3 court violations in a game. This should seldom happen. & your player will be called out of bounds when he's clearly not. Doesn't happen often, but in a close game it's very frustrating. The cut scenes really add realism to the game. Teammates on the sideline giving each other a high five, coaches & players arguing over bad call, fans cheering wildly etc.. This really puts you in the game.. The Free throw shooting is very challenging, especially with bad FT shooters, but with practice & patience you will be able to get a high FT %.

The Off season is just as fun. You can fire your assistant coaches to get better ones. Each coach is grade from A to F in 3-4 categories. These can effect your scouting & recruiting ability. The higher the scouting grade the more info you get on the opposing team & HS player you want to recruit. If you win enough other teams will send you job offers via email. This is cool. You are rewarded for your accomplishments.

There is year around recruiting. So have a certain amount of points per yr to scout HS players. You can invite them to a home game, or watch the player you want play live. If thats not your thing you can send your assistant coach to the game & he will email you his own thoughts on the player & give you his stats for the game. There is polling, to see where your team ranks & a option to see how tough your schedule is compared to the other schools.

Sound:

The sound in the game is really good. The commentary is grade A. Mike & Jay do an excellent job at calling the game. Some comments get s bit repetitive, but you can play a game without hearing the same thing over again. But when you play the game for awhile, you'll notice the same old comments.. They call the game just like they call real life College games. No reading from a script sort of thing. If they did, they did a great job of hiding it. The Cheers, boo's, players chatter, team chants all sound great, especially in surround sound. My only complaint is the sound of the basketball hitting the floor. It sounds like a basketball hitting a tub or something..

Replay Value:

This game will last you hours upon hours of fun. The Slam session is a really cool idea that should have been done yrs ago. You pick a player from any team that you would like to dunk with. There are a variety of different modes. Horse. Style. Points. Dunk of war. Championships. To perform a dunk you must press a certain sequence of buttons. This is easy on the easier dunks but gets frustrating trying to pull off Hard & difficult dunks. But the better dunks get you a higher score from the crowd (along with more cheers) & more points which you need to win. There is a adrenaline meter that you can use to deliver more powerful dunks. Great Idea. the slam contest consist of 70-80 different dunks, so to do every dunk will take you quite a while. It's not addicting like 24/7 mode, but it's still fun none the less.

The campus store is like ESPN Footballs crib mode, just not as depth. You can in game challenges that gets you points. These points can buy you Alternate Jerseys, Mascot teams, Pro courts, Fantasy courts, & classic teams. What better then seeing a young Michael Jordan in a Dunking contest!!

The Create a player/team is pretty deep. There are around 40 different tats to choose from. But only 4 tats a player. Theres 6 different shades of various skin color. Quite a few different face models. You can change their look with mouth, nose & ear sliders.. You have different hair styles & hair colors to choose from as well. I like the fact that you can give your player cool looking glasses. You got to look cool when you score you know. There are tons of names to choose from, & the PA announcer will say your name in the game. The create a team mode lets you name your own team, lets you pick a arena & change it to your liking. It's a mini version of Madden's owner mode in that regard, without the pricing of hot dogs. You can choose your teams mascot & fight song. Pick your team color etc..

Final thoughts:

This game has it all.. It's a College Basketball junkies dream come true. Casual basketball fans & hardcore fans alike will love this game.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/11/03