I purchased NBA 2K6 today and played it for a little bit. I haven't played it a lot so my review may not be as helpful but like the Live review if you have any questions you can post them and through further playing of the game I'll answer them.

Gameplay: NBA 2K6 is back but not that much different from 2K5. The camera angle is almost the exact same as 2K5 which is good because I like the right to left basketball games (usually I'll change the view in the Live games to center court). The game is different from last year in that it has a new feature, Live 06 has it's freestyle superstars while NBA 2K6 now has the shot stick.

The shot stick is used by tapping the right analog stick to shoot. If you want to do a fade away you press back on the right analog stick and let go when you're done as appose to the hold back on the left analog stick and press the shoot button. The shot stick also can have you choose between a lay up or a dunk. If you hold the R1 button (aggression) and hit the shot stick while in the key you'll throw down a dunk while if you're in the key and just hit the shot stick you'll do a lay up some in which are weird. I went into practice mode and was Vince Carter to see if the shot stick assigned signature dunks too certain players (I remember reading that it was going to have this) well if you hold R1 and press down on the aggression stick you'll do the reverse pump dunk, though if you're out of range instead of doing a lay up you'll do a 180 and toss the ball up backwards. I thought this was weird since if I'm on fast break and try to reverse dunk it but instead I 180 and toss it up missing I know I'm going to get mad haha.

Another new feature in NBA 2K6 is the aggression button as mentioned above this is the new turbo button basically. If you hold the button down you'll run faster, dunk and be able t do cross overs. Cross overs aren't done with the right analog stick no more such as 2K5's were or the Live's series, instead you have to hold down the R1 button and press the left analog stick right then left to cross from you're right hand to you're left, vice versa for left hand to you're right. It can get annoying though because sometimes you'll do a cross over in which you'll end up into another defender rather than that open lane.

The AI has improved a lot, when I played 2K5 on hall of fame mode I could winn by 30 points easily. In my first game I played as the Kings against the Sonics on All Star and I was getting killed. I scored the opening bucket for a 2-0 lead but then I couldn't score worth crap and I was getting killed they were getting offensive rebounds and every thing. I didn't finish the game I decided to restart and put it on pro :-o. Also there's no more post plays that are so easy to get into you're players. If you try to pass it into the post and wait too long or are at a weird angle the computer might get that front on you resulting in an interception.

The right analog stick is also used for defense I forgot about this. You can use it to swipe at the ball or intercept passes but usually you'll get tagged with a reach in foul which is not good.

Sound: Unfortunately ESPN is not associated with NBA 2K6 so there's no more Michelle Latoya, Bill Walton (a plus) and the other commentator I forget but was good last year. Instead there's 2 new ones which I'm not even exactly sure of there names but they sound like the same as the announcers in NBA 2K2. I was playing and only one commentator was talking then BOOM 2 mins into the game a new commentator started talking which was weird. The commentators call the action but doesn't seem as well as last years team. I didn't like the 2K2 commentators and yet they make an appearance in this years game . The music on the other hand is good, the songs flow well but I have to give the open song this year to Live 06 haha that Nore song is catchy.

The Flaws: My personal flaws with this game is the Shot Stick, I do not like it at all. The reason I don't like it is mainly because every basketball game uses the right analog stick for cross overs rather than shooting so it feels weird not using it to cross up you're defender. ANother flaw is the cross overs I don't like having to do the left to right on the left analog stick only to run into worse traffic and get screwed over. Another flaw that I don't like is the player fatigue, last year you could play you're starters take them off for less than half a quarter and they were at 100% energy just like in real life (players playing 41 mpg) in this one I took Duncan off at 30 seconds left in the 1st quarter (5 min quarters) with 2:30 left in the second he was only at 83% for energy. This reminds me a lot of NBA 2K2 I didn't like how you're superstar needs half the game to get back to full energy. I'm not saying Live 06 is better, they don't have fatigue on so basically you play you're starters for the whole game but come on NBA 2K6's recovery rate should be faster, luckily there's gameplay sliders hopefully there's fatigue recovery on there.

That basically sums it all up I'm going to have to play this game more though like I said I've only played like half a game in total because I was in a rush to do other things but so far it seems it'll be more challenging than 2K5 which is good. It is a simulation which I love since it's realistic. However so far NBA Live 06 takes it this year superstar freestyle is great and even though it's kind of arcady it still can be challenging. I also forgot to add that the rosters in 2K6 are from August 22 as appose to Live 06's August 4th. The loadings to the games also has a commentator announcing you're starting line up showing there points from last season and another feature such as assists or rebounds. I liked last years where they analyzed 1 player but this years is also pretty good not too bad of a difference.

NBA 2K6 rating: 8.0 to 8.5/10

Last Review: NBA LIVE 06 rating: 8.5 to 9.0/10

Don't take my word for it though I still have to play this game much more so if you have any questions just ask.