NBA Street

"I'm not a huge Basketball fan, but i love NBA Street"

Even though i'm not a tremendously huge Basketball fan, NBA Street was available at 20 pounds (English money) so i decided to purchase it seeing as i enjoyed the demo. I was really, really impressed. I'm delighted to include NBA Street in my PlayStation 2 collection. Wondering if you should purchase NBA Street? Welcome to the street, here's my review.

Graphics
Sweet graphics! It totally does look like a real Basketball game on the street, and the crowd who are cheering look tremendously real aswell. How the players muscles, faces and shirts look real too, it's great. The backgrounds of the scenarios are excellent aswell. There is a court where it's snowing aswell, and for some reason it just looks like it's really cold when you're playing, i can picture the crowd and players shivering to the coldness. It's sweet. Every character looks fantastic, including Joe ''The Show'' who does the announcing in the match and you will see him before and after a game. Excellent work. There is also a level where it's dark (which is on the demo) and the lighting effects are superb, with the trees and purple lights everywhere, it's fantastic. Great graphics, nice job.

Sound
Not bad. Comments from Joe ''The Show'' get pretty repeative at times and can be really annoying. But the music is quite nice and suits the game, as it's a bit of rap and things like that. Players can also say their own lines, which can also get really repeative and annoying at times. So the character's speeches get repeative and irritating, but i don't think it will irritate you that much. It's okay, not bad.

Gameplay
Who ever the player is, the better they have a chance of getting a slam-dunk or a long shot, etc. It feels like a real Street-Basketball game, totally excellent. The controls are nice, with it being really challenging to score from your own hoop, which my cousin has done before may i add, and it was really funny. Very basic, but very effective. All the controls you need to make it your own Basketball match. Multiplayer is also fantastic, it's good to play against your friends, as it's quite a good match. In the Career mode thingy, you have your own team and players, from starting out with not-so-good players and then moving up to getting Michael Jordan in your team. It's really fun. Sometimes it's way easy to beat the computer, but i wouldn't say that easy, it depends on the difficulty level you play on. Create-A-Player is fantastic, as it's very hard to create your own Michael Jordan. You have to start with very low stats and then build him up to being the next (or better) Michael Jordan. Blocking is quite real, especially with that tall Japanese guy who is about 7 foot, i always put him to defend the hoop and he's the best at it, as he is really, really tall. Skill moves are nice, but sometimes you can lose the ball easily, depending on who you are. A Gamebreaker is sweet, it enables you to produce a super-dunk and get tons of points, and it does it in slow-motion, it's superb and fun.

Replayability
If you play a lot with your friends, it will keep you really busy, you could also hold competitions if you get tons of your friends over. It's fantastic, and will keep you playing for months and months. It's just like a Final Fantasy or Grand Theft Auto game, lots of replay value.

Buy or Rent?
Buy. Even if you do not like Basketball (like i do) you will totally love NBA Street and you will be pleased to have it in your PS2 collection. It definitely gives a big challenge to the big-boys for the PlayStation 2, and it's worth your cash. Luckily i only paid 20 pounds (English money) for it. Lucky, lucky me.

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Overall NBA Street is a top, top game. The multiplayer and graphics are fantastic, aswell as the Gameplay. I definitely believe it gives a challenge to the big-boys such as Grand Theft Auto, Metal Gear Solid and Final Fantasy, it will surely put up an excellent fight. Even if you don't like Basketball, buy NBA Street.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/24/02, Updated 11/24/02