NBA Street Vol. 2

"NBA Jam For a New Generation"

NBA Street Vol. 2 is the successor to the successful game NBA Street. NBA Street Vol. 2 is an over the top basketball game that is reminiscent of the NBA Jam series. The game is so successful because it allows you to pull of fancy tricks at the press of the button. Don't be fooled by the games simplicity however. Masked behind this simplistic basketball game is deep strategy that takes time and tons of practice to master.

The point of the game is to simply score more points then the other team. Most games are won by the first team to get to 21 points. There are some features that stand out though from regular basketball games. There is a game breaker meter that fills off as you pull off fancy tricks, block shots, steal the ball from an opponent, dunk, or shoot the ball. If you do a combination of say some tricks and a dunk, you get the game breaker meter filled up faster. You must mix and match your combinations because if you keep pulling off the same tricks, you will get less game breaker points. When the game breaker meter is filled you can unleash a shot that takes away points from the other team's score and adds points to your score. New to this game is the ability of a game breaker 2 in which you save your first game breaker and try to fill up the meter again. If you use it now you will pull off a cool stunt and add more points to your teams score and take away more points from the other teams score. You can also use your game breaker to cancel the opposition's game breaker.

This game also has many more modes of gameplay and features then the original. There are more basic tricks such in the game such as “off the hezey” which is basically passing the ball to yourself or to a team mate off the opponents head. New to the game is the Be a Legend mode. This is where a bulk of my time was spent while playing the game. You basically create a baller, and try to become a superstar by playing in various street games and tournaments. You must assemble a team that will help you reach the top. There is an RPG type element in here as well. You earn points by winning tournaments which can be used to improve your players abilities, buy new clothes or shoes for your player, or give your player better moves. You buy throwback jerseys of former great players. Some of the moves you can unlock are also that of great former players. Take for example Michael Jordan's signature dunk. There is a “boss” at the end of each big tournament. I advise you add these These bosses are “Street Legends” to your team because they are very good. Take for example “Stretch” the first Street Legend from New York. He is good at dunking and you can get tons of gamebreaker points by passing him the ball when he jumps towards the basket (which he does often in low difficulty settings.)

In addition the Be a Legend mode, you can play the NBA challenge in which you take a team (one of the 29 NBA teams or your created team) and try to beat the rest of the teams with them. You can also play a quick match or the great multi-player game. The only thing bad about the multi-player game is that there can only be 2 human controlled players per a team. Besides that it is extremely fun, and there are plenty of modes of play such as the first to a double game breaker or an all dunk contest. The game has plenty to offer, but the game gets boring once you have beaten it many times over in the various modes. Still it is worth keeping after you beat it for the multi-player game alone.
The control in this game is very good. All three systems (the GameCube, Playstation 2, and the Xbox) performed equally in control. The graphics are the equally good for all three systems. The sound is excellent in the game. EA put together a great list of songs if you are into Rap and Hip Hop. Bobbito Garcia is the announcer for the game. He does an excellent job at it to adding many humorous lines such as “Add the tricks and the ball magically disappears,” and “I feel sorry for you man.” It gets repetitive latter on, but it still is always funny.

There are many unlockable items in the game. There are 25 NBA legends including two Michael Jordan's (84 and 96). There are other secret characters too such as Nelly and the St. Lunatics, Bobbito, and all of the Street Legends. There are also unlockable jerseys for the created player as mentioned earlier. If you liked NBA Jam, or sports games for that matter, get this game.

Graphics: 9
Sound: 10
Gameplay: 9
Control: 10
Story: 7
Replay: 8

Overall: 8.8/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/19/04