March Madness 06 Impressions

[MaddenLivER]

sweet keep the impressions comin, but do u get to play wit ur edited rosters online this year?

[sirjam]

After playing it some more it may not be as bad graphically as first thought. I wouldn't suggest playing on press box though. The defense is what is keeping me into this game. The lockdown stick is awesome. I love the defense this year.

[MaddenLivER]

yeh i dont play press box for madness anyway cuz i cant see the full play diagram

[sparker]

Some possible negatives:

1. I played as the Auburn PG and got several steals near the end of the game against Alabama. This is first I had seen this, and was alert then to the expectation we all had that the lockdown defense would be overdone. I checked and the AU guard had a decent steal rating (80) while the AL player had a low offensive aware rating (56 I think). If anything in this regard is overdone and I just haven't really seen it yet, sliders can address that I suppose. The lockdown stick is making defense fun to play.

2. At the beginning of the AU-AL game Nessler asked Vitale if the basketball knowledge of college players is increasing. Again Vitale's answer was long-winded, but good and natural sounding. Though natural, I'm not sure how these interchanges will play out once the repetition factor kicks in. They do come at the beginning of the game, making them natural. They also seem to parallel the (new?) NBA Live 06 dialogue that involves longer stories about things like Dwyane Wade's history at Marquette and Shaq's move to Miami. We'll see. I can say that Nessler is overusing the phrase "V-cut" this year. Having said these things, there are some new phrases added that are quite good.

3. There is some ice skating, but not as much as in the past. I think they slowed down some of the micro moves this year, so that the IS is toned down also. (I know that this issue is a gamekiller for some people, and there are some that don't want to see any of this at all.)

More good stuff. I like the menu screens and music, etc., like others have posted.

[dave360]

I think I'll pick this up in the morning and then get College Hoops for the 360 when I get one. It sounds fun, and after having my dynasty freeze several times last year on CH2k5 and being a little gunshy this year, I'll give this a shot. Thanks for the great impressions folks

[sparker]

Playing a rivalry mode game as Indiana and hosting Illinois. I may have spoken too soon about the research team. I believe Marco Killingsworth is lefthanded, but he shoots right in the game. Someone may want to check this.

I can't say enough about the announcing --- I like it, though I remain unsure and the longwinded discussions when repetition hits. Nessler just asked Vitale about the importance of recruiting good students and Vitale gave a long answer about Duke's advantage in getting good players and scholars, etc. Again it sounded natural, but with repetition??? Two points: (1) Nesslers play-by-play calling is spot on, and (2) they added some new lines for he and Vitale that are really good (some of the last years' lines are still there too). Nessler has the right inflections at the right times, etc.

I haven't mentioned the transition game. It looks improved, as they listed in their game features list on their gamesite.

[MaddenLivER]

man ur selling the crap outta this game to everybody keep the impressions comin, cuz u've sold me already on gettin it and the guy above ur post as well, are there alternate jerseys this year or at least a code section?

[BigBR]

You're getting my attention, I was wondering about this game since its only 39.99...