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This game is great until you run into roster bugs. Make a change to your line-up and you run a 75% chance of losing a player and filling his spot with a duplicate of another. Very frustrating.
First, the right toggle stick (I don't know the exact name for it) is the death of offense, cause even with a marginal ballhandler, you have a 50/50 shot of getting around your defender. The game may be unfair, but still very winnable. You scout them, invite them to home games (which you'd better win), send your assistant coach to their high school games (and he emails you back with their game stats), and offer them scholarships. You have a pool of 1500 or so recruits to plow thru, sortable from position to region to quality of recruit to interest in your school. If you would like to keep reading, here's two words to describe the game - BUY IT. As mentioned in an earlier review, you take a small school (Cal State Fullerton, Army, Centenary, Richmond, etc). Get my drift.
Gameplay, overall, is great, realistic, and absolutely real, because your shooting guard, rated 85, will go 15 for 23 one game and 3 for 18 the next. The only guy I could get a commitment from during the regular season was a SF ranked 1300 or so, but once I went to the title game, there's the final, intense recruiting session that follows, where I was able to beat out University of Florida for a four star point guard ranked 89. But the recruiting is absolutely ten times as in depth as any dynasty mode I've ever seen in a game. I got it used for $17.00, and I've been playing most of my free time since.
First of all, it's from ESPN, so that may just be all you need to know. However, even with this cheat move, the chances are high that someone has slipped into the paint to pick up a charge on you. are good, but for gameplay and intense dynasty mode, you've found all you need here. Gameplay is excellent, although, as with every game there are a couple of minor flaws. Slick passing to the low block and kick-outs for wide open threes work. It's the most amazing feature of any dynasty game I've run into yet, and, by the way, I had two players all conference first and one on all conference second. and make it into a contender.
All this is on All-Conference, where I went 31-5 with Cal State Fullerton, won the conference, and lost in the Final Four Championship Game to Cincinnati. AI is excellent, and although there is a certain point in the game where the computer starts hitting everything while you miss almost all your jumpers, contrary to other reviews of this game, you can still take the game. Big men and rebounding is the key to winning here.I am now brought to the true gem of the game, which is the legacy mode. The All-American teams are from schools that were in the top twenty five all season, not no-name schools like the Cal State Fullerton team that I eeked into the top twenty five the last week before the regular season ended.The other game modes, Slam Session, Rivalry, Gym Rat, etc.
This game has many great aspects. I don't understand why all the sports games never consider things like training camps. The recruiting is top-notch and the game inside the game of getting hired as a coach and doing better then being offered or applying to better schools is pretty awesome.I would like to see more effort put into the team itself aspect. If your into gameplay and you don't like to loose, then your probably going to be frustrated for a while. However, if you don't mind reading the book that comes w/ the game and learning how to dunk/layup you will be fine. Everyone knows that when you land a 2 star recruit and luck of the draw turns him into a machine once he goes through training camp you feel good.But overall I think the game is really worth owning.
Features - 5 StarsGameplay - 2 StarsOverall - 3.5 Stars Finally, I am not a huge fan of the way the award selection turned out. If you ever get bored with the many single player modes, there is always someone available to play you online. What makes this mode so much fun is that you literally control all aspects of the team.
First of all, the gameplay is not the best. I have yet to try out All America, but I don't ever plan on it since All Conference is ridiculously frustrating. He was not even on the All Conference team (as a matter of fact, NO one was on my team was on the All Conference team). You have to take this small program and try to make them a winner. It definately makes the season more interesting. The gameplay found in the EA basketball games is a lot better in my opinion - it is smoother and you have much better control of your players.
I do not like that you are given only three skill level options (Starter, All Conference, and All America). Another frustrating aspect to this game is the fact that it is a crapshoot when attempting a layup or dunk. There are so many great non-gameplay attributes that make this game a winner. A few more things I do not like: the commentary is annoying, the replay selection is poor, and the cutting to the home crowd is unneccesary. Just absolutely frustrating.
The option I really enjoy is the Legacy mode, where you start off coaching a non-powerhouse (like Dartmouth among many other choices). Overall, despite its many shortcomings, ESPN College Hoops is still a fun game. If you are an EA Basketball fan, this game will do little to convert you to the Sega side. If you enjoy lots of features and Sega's 2K style, you will love this game. In addition, it is impossible to drive to the hoop (you somehow can get pushed to the other end of the court in two dribbles, yet the computer has no trouble getting around you) and the computer starts to make every shot when a certain point in the game is reached. ESPN College Hoops is both awesome and mind-numbingly frustrating at the same time. The presentation is simply astounding.
Starter is way too easy, while All Conference is rather difficult. You have the game modes and options that can be found in most basketball games, such as Quick Play, Season mode, etc. Finally, the fact that this game is XBox Live compatible adds a whole other dimension. It just seems that the awards and polls are not very accurate. Your goal is to build your school into a an NCAA powerhouse, and when this happens, you can apply for the coaching job at larger and better basketball schools (ie: you control that particular team). I find myself missing open 5 footers with absurd frequency in All Conference.
Luckily, you can turn these off in the setting mode. You hire assistant coaches, you do the recruiting and scouting (I especially enjoy this feature), you can apply for new coaching positions, and so much more. How is this so. It is a lot of fun following your team as the season progresses. In my legacy mode, I had a guy who was the leading scorer in the country with great rebounding numbers for an undefeated team, and he was not given a single award. Let me explain.First of all, I will discuss the positives. list.
It seems that literally half of the time I am on a fast break and open, it refuses to let me do a layup or dunk. Essentially, this is the NCAA version of the franchise mode. In addition to these great attributes, the features listed in the Amazon description are right on the money and make the game very versatile and enjoyable for the most part (I will not go into them, as Amazon has done a good job showing what they are). There are also awards for both the NCAA as well as each Conference. I will be wide open with absolutely no one in the way, and it makes me pull up for a 3 foot fadeaway shot, which you usually miss in the All Conference mode.
This alone makes this game worth the purchase.While this game is great, it is not without its flaws. I especially like the two different Top 25 Polls, the RPI Poll, and the Bubble Watch (). It is downright frustrating at times. It is almost perfect excluding the game play, which is a whole different beast.
This game is Awesome any game that you can play or watch a highschool team play has to be nice,not including the gameplay is better than any NBA game out.The A.I. is very smart the gameplays so smooth that if this was first person it would be the best period.I have not liked SegaSports since they left the Dreamcast but this brought back some of that great Dreamcast gameplay.
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