Visual Concepts and 2K Sports have brought the exquisite NBA 2K6 to the Xbox 360 and in grand fashion! Not only does it play exactly like its Xbox and PS2 counterparts but it's been given a sweet graphical facelift, and while it's not exactly the best looking sports game for the console it's still very striking. But is it worth purchasing if you already own one of the older games? Well, that all depends on whether you enjoy owning the best of everything.

The Xbox 360 version is clearly the most superior because of its enhanced graphics. All of the player models have been given a kick ass next generation boost that looks quite stunning on an HDTV. Most of the players look like their real life counterparts and they not only sweat as the game wears on but their jerseys move as they would in an actual game. Plus, the animations have been tweaked and the result is a game that features less jerkiness and flows realistically.

Unfortunately, this next generation boost is more like a medium strength shove. The majority of the game's superstar players (Shaq, Dwaye Wade) look all right, but Stephon Marbury's face is seriously messed up. Plus, the only time the graphics are really shoved into your face is during replays, so the in game action looks marginally improved but not as much as NBA Live 06's, mostly because the developers didn't bother to give the crowd or the courts a proper Xbox 360 overhaul. So we've got fantastically detailed player models running up and down a court that's surrounded by decent looking fans. It still looks pretty damn nice, but EA wins the graphics war by a slim margin.

The biggest noticeable gameplay improvement in this year's edition is how speedy the game is. Long criticized for being too slow, the 2K series has choked on Live's dust, but this year, the developers kicked things up several notches by injecting their game with several gallons of rocket fuel. Even the slowest teams are capable of zipping by the competition, so fast breaks will now, more than ever, burn the hair off your face. Coughing up the ball has some serious consequences, but that leads to the second coolest gameplay improvement.

Unfortunately for yours truly, who just loves making cross court passes, the AI has been sent to the Larry Brown clinic for the defensively impaired and it's graduated Suma Cume Laude. They're so hungry and in tune with what you're doing that almost every bad pass will be picked off. This includes miracle cross court heaves, bad tosses to the post, and atrocious bounce passes that in the past would've found their way to a target even if it meant going through two defenders. What this basically means is you'll get away with less shenanigans. However, this defensive pressure is the most important element to the entire game because it contrasts the new and improved up tempo style. You can't raise the bar in one area without tweaking the other, and the result is a product that forces its players to think smarter and ultimately play better basketball.