March Madness time, baby! I can't wait! It's going to be dunking madness and all sorts of upsets all over the place! Awesome, baby! OK, there, now that I've gotten my Dick Vitale impression aside, I can move ahead with a review of College Hoops 2K6, 2K Sports' latest attempt at next-gen sports gaming. This time around, the focus, as you might guess, is on college hoops, and just like the PS2 and Xbox versions before it, the action is just as frivolous and frenetic as always. However, the game doesn't quite live up to its promise of next-gen genius, like NBA 2K6 did.

The main problem lies in the form of the game's visuals. Since NCAA players can't legally be used in an NCAA video game (conflict of interest, I guess), players basically had to be randomly generated instead of based on real counterparts. NBA 2K6 obviously didn't have this problem, as Shaq looked like Shaq and not, say, Dirk Nowitzki. But here, it's hard to really reflect with the personality of a team as most of the faces are unrecognizable, or even swapped from NBA just for the sake of time constraints. Also, there's something to be said about the whole next-gen appearance altogether, which seems a lot fuzzier here than it was in NBA. It's still solid and plenty of detail still indicates you're on the college front, but it hardly spells out next-gen like the previous basketball effort did. Decent-looking, I guess, but it could've used touching up.

There's also something to be said about the audio side of the game. The sound effects from the crowd are terrific, and there's some decent fight tunes thrown in to capture the atmosphere and excitement of the sport, but it's a limited supply. A lot of the memorable fight songs and chants are clearly missing, leaving only the typical crowd noises and sound effects to round things out. Furthermore, the game still possesses an average commentary from the likes of Verne Lundquist and Jay Bilas, who fail to really get excited about the game, unlike Vitale. I swear, if 2K Sports got a deal to enlist him, their future college b-ball games would be a lot more interesting. The word "baby" would probably get used so much, you'd think you were in Sega Rally or something.

The game, I feel, also has a big problem in terms of the timing of its release and its price tag. Had this seen a release back in January, as it was originally scheduled, I would understand more feverish demand for it, as that's typically the start of the NCAA madness that eventually leads into March's tournament bracket. But to release it now, mid-tournament, is going to kill off some of its potential sales. After all, college fans probably already own a copy of the PS2 or Xbox version as it is. And the price tag- $60. Why not $40? 2K Sports has obviously given the idea of a push for a cheaper price tag on sports games, as Top Spin 2 is going for that budget price, so it probably would've been better to give college fans a break along the same lines. As is, it may be asking a bit much.

And that's too bad, because the fundamental gameplay that the series is known for remains perfectly intact. Not only are the offenses and defenses differentiated by each team that's involved, but the general gameplay alone is dunk-worthy. You'll find yourself doing all sorts of great shots with the Shot Stick, and the passing/defense games remain on target as well, complete with the ability to pull off dramatic steals for that last-second upset in a tie game, just like the real thing. Here, Visual Concepts continues to know their business, although nothing's really changed, aside from some tweaks with the free-throw system that makes it a little easier to view.

The Legacy mode also deserves a noteworthy mention, as you push to drive your school to a championship. It's in-depth and really makes you feel like you're part of a college hoops program, whether you're recruiting to make yourself the next legacy along the lines of Duke or checking out the likes of your stats and playbooks trying to give yourself the edge to winning some games. There's also regional preseason tourneys to take part in, practice rounds that shows your players either getting better or showing where they need improvement, and even emails that keep you in constant contact with your team and staff. There's even the likes of a little TV specials hosted by Greg Gumbel and Clark Kellogg talking up pre-season hype, although they were present in the previous version. Hey, at least all of this is still intact, although not entirely a push for next-gen.

I suppose if you've never encountered the glory of College Hoops 2K6 before and are just curious to see its push onto the 360, it's worth a look. But everyone else has easily gotten their fix on in an earlier version of the game, and with little to justify its boost in price into the insane category, I can't give College Hoops 2K6 a full-on recommendation. Its timing, its presentation, and the fact you've done it all before are clearly working against it. "It's not-so-awesome, baby, with a capital...um, NSA!" Wait, that didn't sound right...