December Best Bets [Score]
NCAA March Madness 2005
PS2Xbox
Developer: EA Canada
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Release Date: November 17
The one thing EA's college games do consistently well is capture all the surrounding pomp and circumstance of the events. NCAA March Madness 2005 continues this tradition with a great college band soundtrack and a tangible arena atmosphere. The home crowd literally rattles the screen with their foot-pounding and cheers which throws off the visiting teams. The game moves at a rapid, arcade-like pace that has players scrambling for effective plays. Helping you manage all the madness is the new floor general feature, which helps you call offensive and defensive specialty plays and formations on the fly. Although the Dynasty Mode in March Madness is not as deep as the one in ESPN College Hoops, it's a bit more user friendly. The big problem with last year's version, way too difficult computer A.I., has been better balanced too. A fun, adrenaline-minded style of college ball.
-- Wataru Maruyama
ESPN College Hoops 2K5
PS2Xbox
Developer: Visual Concepts
Publisher: Take 2
Release Date: November 17
If you played last year's version of ESPN College Hoops, I don't have to tell you how substandard that effort was. While the ESPN NBA game that same year was excellent, the College side felt watered down and feature poor in comparison. But all that has changed this year, and what an amazing turnaround it is. College Hoops 2K5 feels just as polished as ESPN 2K5 and incorporates new features that often surpass its EA rival. The biggest improvement is the way free throws are handled, which has always been a pain in the ass in the NBA games. All you have to do now is hold down the shot button and let go when you think the player should release the ball. It's very intuitive and not as easy as it sounds since players have several different animations for free throws. The flow of the game is slower than NCAA March Madness, meaning ESPN has a more strategic and realistic pace. Deep dynasty features and online play support round out the list. Even if you're deep into your NBA games now, you don't want to pass up this excellent college experience. -- Wataru Maruyama
