Reviewed by Russell Bass Shooting hoops and slamdunks have never had it so good until NBA 2K5 came along1 This latest offering from EA's closest rivals in the sports games arena offers superb graphics and my first impression was that I was actually watching a television broadcast of a basketball game.

This latest version in ESPN's series offers new features as all yearly updated sports games do. The best of these is the Association mode where you take charge of a team over multiple seasons and even have to deal with the concerns of your star players coming to you with their questions.

Another of the main new features is Reactive Court Sense. Computer-controlled players have the ability to decide how they can best help the team and react based on each players' actions I found the graphics to be particularly appealing, as I'm not very aware of American basketball, I'm reliably informed that the players and courts are particularly realistic, the detail is such that players even have sweat on their shirts.

On the down side it's a difficult game to get the hang of the controls, as the game is rated 3+, I can't imagine any 3 year olds mastering them, although nowdays they probably could better than I can.

For the retail price of £19.99 there is plenty included in the game. A wide variety of teams and courts to choose from, current or retro shirts to play in and an incredible amount of hidden bonuses including Bobbleheads and classic All Star teams to unlock which can be achieved by completing tasks within games.

Overall 4/5