This year’s Playstation 2 college basketball games have finally broken free from mediocrity and given passionate fans a way to experience March Madness, even during these cold days of February.

The spike in graphical and gameplay quality is a reversal from previous years, where much was promised in terms of recapturing the college game’s pageantry, energy and school rivalry, but little was delivered.

In some unfortunate cases, like last year’s version of EA Sports’ March Madness, the game was essentially NBA Live 2002 with college uniforms – a video game hand-me-down. Naturally, many frustrated fans over the years have blamed the companies – each of whom also make NBA games, which traditionally outsell their sister NCAA versions – of loafing in their effort for the sake of revenue.

The 2004 batch of amateur hoops consists of three games: NCAA Final Four 2004, made by 989 Sports; ESPN College Hoops, Sega Sports; and NCAA March Madness 2004, EA Sports.

The games are a few months old now, but with the college basketball season heating up, sports gamers will surely desire to snatch a virtual version. Here’s some guidance in spending your $40 or $50 efficiently.

Two of the three games are very high quality. Similar to other sports games, the Sega Sports and EA Sports college basketball titles outclass 989 Sports, who traditionally release games with inferior-looking graphics and spotty gameplay. The three games do tailor to their intended niche market, ranging from the realism geek (ESPN), the graphics geek (March Madness) and the online geek (Final Four).

In terms of gameplay, March Madness has the smoothest and flashiest. The EA Sports game steals the impressive selection of mid-air lay-up and dunk animations found in NBA Live. Scoring 100 points has never been easier, as even on the harshest of difficulty levels, three-point shots swish with high percentage – play a few games with Duke’s SF #4, J.J. Redick, who has a perfect rating in 3-point shooting.

This weak difficulty, however, comes as no surprise. EA Sports has built its sports franchise on games like NBA Live, Madden football and Tiger Woods PGA golf, which enable even beginner gamers to amass astronomical statistics and scores often within a few hours of play.

If you appreciate the strategy of a defensive-minded game, ESPN is your choice. The game pace drags in comparison to the hyper-speed of March Madness, but I think the slower speed is the proper one. What pushes ESPN above March Madness is the sweet game modes, which include a slam dunk competition (dunks are completed by quickly mashing button combinations) and a recruiting season that spans over the entire regular season, not just another task once the season concludes.

All three games are online compatible, but Final Four is the most well-organized. Elaborate e-mail, instant messaging and league play systems enrich the online experience and serve as the game’s brightest attribute; too bad the game itself sucks.

What you gain in playing a college basketball game over a professional one (as is the case in real life, as well) is the atmosphere from the melodies of the pep band to the “Ohhhhhhhhhh!!!!” screamed by the bouncing student section. In my season playing as our EIU Panthers, Lantz Arena rocked at decibels heard only at Duke’s Cameron Indoors Stadium or New Mexico’s “The Pit.” In this category, ESPN and March Madness are at a standstill, while Final Four has the audible environment of a Saturday high school junior varsity tournament.

For a quick weekend rental, I would suggest picking up March Madness because of its short learning curve. March Madness has lasting power, especially if you have online capabilities because EA Sports games have an active online community, but ESPN is the safer long-term investment. The gameplay, while less exciting, has more depth and challenge and therefore has a higher potential of staying in your PS2 and not on your shelf.