NBA 2K6 Review

Destination: Dunk

I can't look at him without being reminded of Shaq Fu.

Sitting somewhere between the nice new defence moves and the not-quite-up-to-it offence moves is the Dual Player Control system, where the d-pad is used to set up another player in place for alley-oops and other two-man moves. It works to some extent, but is dependent on your team-mates' AI behaviour, which, although good, isn't always in tune with your intended play style and can sometimes decide to take its own course of action. It feels like there are too many variables in relation to the rest of your team and your opponents for it to be really effective. We can probably expect that both the Dual Player Control and Shot Stick will feel much better in next year's inevitable update, once it's been better integrated into the overall game, but right now it needs more work.

That the new control methods are both unwelcome and unnecessary is a shame because the majority of Visual Concepts' package is still very impressive. The gameplay has always been solid and continues to offer the professional basketball feel - this isn't a casual game, nor a flashy show-off like Midway's NBA Ballers or EA's NBA Street. You will not be pulling off comedy moves on the court - it's a sport, not a show.

Players look very realistic, and even if you don't know your Dwight Howard from your Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, you'll appreciate how lifelike faces and figures are. Animation and motion capture is top notch too, at least in terms of what you'd expect from the PlayStation 2, as players swivel, fake and drive left and right like their real-life counterparts. In contrast the crowd and some of the management team are blocky and rough, making for ugly backgrounds when replays highlight the skills of your team. They're as out of place as an oil painting on a woodchip wall.

While The Association mode is your 82-game deep career, crammed with coaching and team chemistry concerns, hiring and firing, scouting and trading, the 24/7 Road to EBC mode is the closest we've got to a sports RPG. Create and customise your players and compete in a series of mainly one-on-one and street ball games, as well as taking on a bunch of 'celebrities' including Public Enemy clown Flavor Flav, and Redman and Method Man. It's a nice alternative to the 'real' game, and effectively gives you two different games on one disc. Although true hip-hop and basket ball nerds might wonder at the omission of rapper J-Zone as an opponent.

Backboard jungle

Any references to 5ive's Slam Dunk Tha Funk will meet with a punch to the eye.

Without last year's ESPN branding, there's the same ugly menu presentation found in 2K Sports cousin NHL 2K6 - it's almost brutal in its broken-sofa looks. Honestly, it makes us wonder whether the principles of simple, clean design were ever considered. Menu system and stat sheets should be easy to understand and instantly navigable, not bundled, overcrowded and confusing. Compared to the cool style of EA's NBA Live series, 2K6 is dressed in a tank top, nut-clinching shorts and market stall fake sneakers.

At least the licensed soundtrack is excellent. Yes, it's rap; b-ball and hip hop go together like gravy and mashed spud. But it's the conscientious and positive sound of lyricists such as Jean Grae, Little Brother, The Roots and Aceyalone instead of the shouty barking of next year's pimped-out wannabes (hey, I might be a thirty-something, pudding-necked white bloke from the midlands, but I know my hip hop).

Overall, while the new Shot Stick isn't really necessary, it doesn't hamper the gameplay, and the rest of the mechanical additions are welcome and easy to learn. That said, NBA 2K6 isn't for the faint-hearted, and there's no shame in being attracted to the more arcadey feel of other b-ball titles from EA or Midway.