SEGA Sports ESPN NCAA Basketball

NCAA College Basketball 2K4 reproduces all of the action of collegiate hoops and blends with the excitement of ESPN style presentation.

	Version PS2 / Xbox	Developer Visual Concepts	Publisher SEGA	Genre Sports

By Joseph Jackson

NCAA College Basketball looks set to provide high quality gameplay, just as great (if not outperforming) its NBA 2K series brethren.

It features realistically redesigned school arenas complete with over 100 fight songs and mascots along with team specific chants and 3D crowds getting all psyched up and totally into the game.

The game boasts all-new player models, an expanded Legacy mode, and the ability to create teams and players, among other options in its already rich feature set. And to cap it all off, players will be able to take the battle online with both versions.

Similar to the Create a character feature of other games, NCAA College Basketball features a Create-A-School mode that enables players to build a basketball dynasty. From the multitude of options at your fingertips, you'll be able to select a team logo, mascot, team colors, and memorable fight songs as well as deciding on the look and name of the arena of your choice. You can even get down to the nitty gritty with details by even selecting the floor types of your arena and a coach and to help realize your dynasty.

The gameplay is still as hot as its older professional B-Ball sister title, complete with unique ESPN styled presentations that feature exciting commentary and detailed overlays.

The gameplay features real college b-ball styled gameplay routines. Warping players back to their college days of taking it to the court as you'll break out of the locker room with quick fastbreaks, crunch time inbound plays or make use of the pivot mode to create open jumpers.

Making ample use of the enhanced passing system will allows for some swift, tightly controlled passes that can help set the groundwork for open jumpers and easy lay-ups.

You can also perform some mid-air shot adjustments such as clutch double pumps and other mid-air fakes to fake out your opponents and still score that much needed shot despite the aggressive defense of the opposing teams. There's also a Rivalry Mode that allows your team to go up against their nemesis in some ultra competitive bouts, as well as revisiting some of the most memorable College B-ball rivalries in the world!

All in all, NCAA College Basketball 2K4 could be the most complete and comprehensive College Basketball game to date. Watch out for it as it hits US stores this fall - although European gamers will have to import as no release is scheduled as yet.