NBA Street Vol. 2

"An awesome game that is similar to the original NBA Jam"

NBA Street Vol 2 is an 'arcadey' basketball game that is a throwback to the old NBA Jam. Featuring fast, offense-oriented gameplay, exaggerated jumps/dunks, and 3 on 3 games, Street is in no way a basketball simulation. It is instead, a well-done, hectic, and often hilarious streetball game that is entertaining in both singleplayer and multi.

Gameplay - 9/10

The game features several gameplay modes that pretty much cover all the bases:

NBA Challenge - use a created or NBA team to become #1 one part of the country at a time (you can play in the Southwest, Northwest, etc).

Be a Legend - this is probably the best singleplayer mode. Essentially you create a player (customize height, body type, face, hair, shoes, clothes, moves, and skills), form a team at the local level, and work your way up from being some no-name loser to beating the best ballers in the country. On the way there you gain points which you can spend on new dunks, tricks, clothes, and skills. Although you start out as an extremely horrible player with very few allocation points, the game does a good job of making you seem more of an amateur instead of just a completely ineffective player. You can still pull off some decent dunks when you start, and none of the local ballers you play earlier on are much better than you.

Pick Up - a basic game, play against the team of your choice with a team of your choice.

The controls are easy to pick up and pretty simple, although mastering timing and the more complex moves will take a little while. If you have any trouble, you can always play the tutorial, in which you are told how to perform various moves and given the chance to practice them.

Story - N/A

There's really no story. In Be a Legend mode, you're given some background info on the courts, are told what your nickname/reputation is, and can read the magazine covers of Street magazine, which usually feature on an unlockable character that you'll end up playing against.

Graphics - 8/10

Graphically the game is very good. The NBA players look pretty accurate, although they're given more baggy streetball versions of their uniforms. The dunks, shots, dribbling and general movements all look very good.

Sound - 7/10

The commentating gets a little repetitive after awhile and can be pretty goofy, but the voice acting provides a genuinely good cliched street accent. The music is generally subdued rap, which isn't really good and isn't really awful. It fits with the theme of the game and works very well.

Replay - 7/10

There are dozens of jerseys and characters to unlock, a couple of trophies, and of course just playing to improve your created character. It won't keep you going forever, there's no big franchise mode like in more traditional NBA games, but it's more than adequate. In addition, multiplayer is an absolute blast, so that aspect has a practically infinite replay value.

Final Recommendation

If you were a fan of NBA Jam or a casual basketball fan, NBA Street is definitely worth your time. More serious basketball simulation players would be advised to rent before putting down $40.00

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/01/03