Net Ten: E3 Scouting Report: Turf, Court, and Yard (page2) Subscribe to this RSS feed

#5 Top Spin Tennis 2K6 - [ PS2 ]

Remember Top Spin Tennis for the Xbox? Well, if you don't, 2K Games is bringing it back for you and the PS2. This is a virtual port of the original game, albeit with some minor gameplay tuning for the Sony system. That's fine, because it's an above-average tennis game (a rarity at the moment). The major change is the game's EyeToy compatibility, which lets you map your face onto players (sweet!). Add in four current court superstars, including Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova, and it's game, set, and match.

#5 Top Spin Tennis 2K6
80% average
critic
score

#4 Pennant Chase Baseball - [ GameCube ]

Nintendo hasn't had a baseball game in several seasons, but this one is kinda fun. The pitching mechanic is pretty easy to master (despite the odd button layout of the GC controller), the batting mechanic is decent, and fielding is slick. Also, reaching certain goals during your game can earn you points towards upgrading players, fields, and other items in the game. The main question surrounding Pennant Chase is simple: what's taking them so long to finish it? Maybe they're waiting for box player David Ortiz to start making some noise with his bat?

#4 Pennant Chase Baseball
N/A average
critic
score

#3 Blitz the League - [ Xbox ]

Blitz is one of the great games cut-off by the NFL's exclusive deal with EA Sports. But you know what? That hasn't slowed the game down a bit. It still pulls off the outrageous, over-the-top insane moves that you've come to expect. Blitz at its heart is like no other football game out there (except in the fact that it doesn't have an NFL license). However, this season Midway has added off-the-field drama to the game, which does seem to drain the adrenaline out of it. We need to spend more time with it, but Blitz should be about the hits.

#3 Blitz the League
76% average
critic
score

#2 NCAA '06 Football - [ PS2 ]

This will either be the best or the second best football game out this year, depending on your affinity for wishbone offenses, trick plays, college rivalries, marching band music, and cheerleaders. And like everyone else (see Madden NFL '06) NCAA will offer a career mode (called "Run to the Heisman") "where you actually have to play games to advance." And, oh boy, the Madden Hit Stick has come to the game! Turn out the lights, Stanford, my Cal Bears are coming to git yah!

#2 NCAA '06 Football
88% average
critic
score

#1 Madden NFL '06 - [ PS2 ]

Madden NFL '06 will be the first major sports title you'll be able to play after E3 (come August). In this, its first season as the only "NFL" sanctioned football game, at good to see that so far EA Sports is not going to sit on its, er, hands as far as new features are concerned. They're creating a radical, optional gameplay change to the passing system, juicing the defensive A.I., and like everyone else, adding a career mode (called "NFL Superstar") where you actually have to play games to advance. Okay, we'll start post-E3 speculatin' now: will next year's game have "Madden" in its title?

#1 Madden NFL '06
90% average
critic
score