Total Pro Basketball 2005 Demo

Basketball players receive a lot of praise for their results out on the court, as well as quite the generous financial rewards. Naturally, it isn't easy to make it as a professional player in this particular sport, especially since most of the action and the attention is focused on the NBA league alone. Thus, unless you happen to impress with your talent and catch the eye of a scout, not many of the other leagues come any close.

Total Pro Basketball 2005 is a sim game that allows you to experience the thrill of the basketball world and get familiar with the intricacies regarding club management, player salaries, as well as the many other things that must be taken into consideration when you happen to be at the head of the team. Almost every aspect is left for you to decide, starting from the name of the league, to the teams that participate in it and the maximum salary cap.

In the beginning, after you create your league or choose from the list of predefined ones, you must also create your alter-ego and choose a team to lead over the course of the seasons. Regardless of your choice, the tasks are mostly the same once the action starts, since your main concern is to make sure that the players give it their best on the court and that they are nicely rewarded for their efforts.

However, not everything about being a basketball manager is related to the actual sport. Behind the scenes, there are the trainers, coaches and various other staff members that must also do their job, as well as get paid for you. While the game does allow you to negotiate the salaries and reach certain agreements, you still have to carefully manage the budget, otherwise you risk losing players and vital people.

The games can also be simulated using a built-in 2D engine, which allows you to watch the matches live and see your strategies in action. Naturally, it all revolves around a few colored dots moving on the screen and a bunch of live-text messages detailing what's happening, but it can still get very exciting, especially since the players are trying to put your tactics into practice.

In the end, Total Pro Basketball 2005 is definitely a large and complex game, especially since you are given free hand when it comes to league creation. However, you can always ignore the huge amounts of information and just focus on training your next stars, in order to help the underdogs take the big guys by surprise.