NBA Courtside 2002

"Courtside stands as one of the best B-ball games ever!!!"

When NBA Courtside was originally released one the N64 it had some stiff competition with NBA Live and NBA Jam. Even up against the established franchises Courtside was a Player's Chioce million seller. Left Field Productions decided to give gamers more of the great basketball action with Courtside 2. All the good stayed and all the bad was replaced with more of the good stuff. Now Nintendo's new system get it's own dose of Courtside and the newest addition, NBA Courtside 2002 is one top-notch baller.

Beautiful graphics, realistic AI, complete roster, smooth player animations, a variety of moves and jukes, and plenty of options all contribute to make this a great game. Take your favorite team to the NBA Finals, smoke your friends in some sweet street ball, or kick back with a three-point contest. Amazingly, even though all saves take up only 7 blocks on your memory card, all season stats, game scores, and created players are saved.

The graphics are some of the best in any basketball game. Ultra-realistic facial scanning makes every player look so much like the real guy, you might forget it's a game(but probably not). Silky smooth motioned captured player animations and a solid 60fps framerate bring the action to new levels of realism. Players on the sidelines move around and when you want to make some subs at the next whistle, your players will get up and go to the scorer's table. Even the crowd moves in a somewhat realistic manner, standing up and clapping after a big play. The only drawback is some transitions from one move's animation to the next are awkward. Graphics-10

The controls are also very sharp. GC's controller puts more functions in less buttons giving you complete control on exactly what jukes, spins, cross-overs, shots and defensive moves you want to. Control-10

The sound is on of the games weak points. The somewhat comical announcing(for about 10 minutes) makes you want to scream. The two announcers seem to be more into commenting about each other's comments than moving onto the next play. The crowd on the other hand has been done much better though. Cheering for the home team, booing the visitors. Sound-6

Courtside has so much to do that you'll be playing it for a while to come. Complete seasons will last for a long time, not getting boring, but keeping you working for that NBA title. In between season games you can take a break with a solid version of 3 on 3 street ball. Three-point contests and and Practice mode allow you to perfect your skills. Lasting appeal-9

Just because Courtside is the only basketball game on the Gamecube market doesn't mean it can't compete with other systems. It does a great job competing with the veteran b-ball games. If you're a basketball fan you owe it to yourself to pick this up today.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/18/02, Updated 01/18/02