For the average American citizen's attention span to be held for more than a minute, a multitude of occurrences must take place at very frequent intervals. It's not that Americans lack the intellect to concentrate on anything (although voting Bush in for three terms says different), rather it's that they have so much choice for every genre of entertainment that their attention needs to be constantly gripped to prevent them moving onto something else. Therefore, basketball's free scoring style is the perfect sport to capture the minds of the USA's general public, making it more popular than Oprah Winfrey, sarcasm and food combined (yes they are all the same thing).

Unlike some American sports, basketball seems to have managed to migrate across the pond with a degree of success, and nowadays no city is complete without their bears, bulldogs or hamsters. Although nowhere near the popularity of our more traditional homegrown sports, which we fail to succeed in year after year, basketball has reached our shores with a little help from the likes of films such as White Men Can't Jump, Above the Rim and Teenwolf'.

NBA 2K6 is the FIFA of basketball games, one hundred percent official, with photos of every player from Iverson to Bryant (pretty much the only two players I know since Michael Jordan's retirement). From purely an NBA fan's point of view, this title looks great. However, once you start playing, you realise that the graphics behind this game go so much deeper than just accurately portrayed kits. Basketball is all about style, outwitting opponents with lighting feet movement and excellent ball control, whilst taunting your fellow players each time you manage to avoid their attempts to dispossess you. Gone are the days of motionless defending players with arms out by their sides while the offensive player dribbles into them without breaking their stride. 2K Games have obviously worked long and hard on developing as many varying approaches to beating a player as could be conceivable. The variety is so impressive when in possession of the ball, whether you want to go for pure pace when confronted by a defensive player or plant your feet with the ball held up in the air, or even just casually dribble with your body between your opponent and the ball, every style of play is catered for.

The main menu provides a multitude of gaming options, with all the possible events available that are synonymous with the NBA league, be that embarking on an entire season, or jumping straight to the excitement of the playoffs. One of the better mini-games that I enjoyed the most was the 1-on-1 scenarios; by choosing a player each, you and a friend can have hours of endless fun skipping around each other and then slamming the ball into the basket as you shout "This is my house!!!" A few unkind words about each other's mothers and you can quickly jump straight back into a rematch. Alternatively, those of you with the capability can insult the mothers of gamers around the world, by taking the game online.

With each additional NBA title, the controls become a little more complex. Shooting now involves timing your leap and releasing the ball at the right moment to get the perfect shot, although the in-game indicator advises you as to whether you were too slow or too fast and it really only takes one match before you are sinking three-pointers from all over the court. Defending always has been and still is a little ropey, as it's very difficult to achieve that infamous slap of the ball just as your opponent is laying up, usually followed by some cool hip-hop lingo and some body-popping / the robot. The real advances in controlling individual players, however, have been in the way you approach your opponents. There is a wide variety of moves available to either fend off defenders or simply glide straight pass them, many of which look good enough to get the hairs on your neck standing.

As looking good seems so important in basketball, the graphics are a major plus in NBA 2K6, from the player movement and the general appearance of any match to the customisation when creating a character to guide to the Entertainers Basketball Classic. Okay, so the version of me I created looked like me if I spent the rest of my life at the gym, but very few fat Brummies have ever made it in the NBA. Complimenting the impressive imagery is what can only be described as a kick ass soundtrack; tunes from the likes of Common, Ghostface Killah and The Roots make this title that much more enjoyable.

If you're a big basketball fan, go out and buy NBA 2K6, because it's a must and officially it's extremely accurate. But if you're not a big fan, it may be worth investing a little money in this title anyway. 2K Games have varied the format and available game modes enough to make it enjoyable to almost anyone, and if you've enjoyed any basketball movies from the past then this title won't disappoint.

Reviewed by Rob Byron for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).