ESPN NBA Basketball

"This is improvement, but still needs work"

Introduction
This game is a good basketball game, it has almost everything you would want in s basketball game, a good franchise, a new 24/7 mode, and a ton of unlockables add to the fun, but still, minor problems are noticed, like when you play the game, you'll notice first off the camera, the view is actually pretty bad, the court is hard to see and the other team gets way to many offensive rebounds, and you will notice the high scoring, but all in all it's one of the best basketball sims out, read on...

Sound 7
I'll start with the sound since that is the first thing you'll probably notice. The sound is all right I guess, for the first time ESPN NBA Basketball has actual songs on the soundtrack, but none of them are really any good. It's mostly just some annoying rap music that will just annoy you. The crowd is pretty good, not enough chants though. The play by play is good, but a little repetive.

Gameplay 9
The Game play is the best part. The new 24/7 mode is a mode where you create a player, and train him and play against opponents for unlockable outfits for your player,
you will be faced with different challenges depending on the time you play, for example, if you play at 12:00 PM on a saturday, you might face Iverson in a one on one game.
Also, don't go too long without training your player, if you do, his stats will go down, remember practice makes perfect.
If you want to play a NBA Style game, then go try a quick game. That is a NBA styled game, it is smooth and fun, and the new Isomotion move is used like EA Sports NBA Live, use the right analog stick to throw crossovers together, a problem is, move then half the time you'll get a charge called on you. Another problem is that the camera is so high it's hard to see, kind of like the nose bleed seats of a real basketball game, and the scores are a little too high, but yo can adjust sliders to your customization, much like NBA 2k3, so that's good.
Maybe you would like to try the franchise mode, you can draft rookies, hire and fire coaches, assisants, trainers and scouts. you can go up to 30 years...will you rise to a championship? or go down like the clippers? it's up to you.
Also, check out the street mode, play pick up games and one on one, and try the All New 21, play a game of 21.
And by doing certain things like winning a championship in franchise and by playing a certain amount of games, you can unlock stuff like new courts, new teams and even new uniforms.

Graphics9
The graphics are very smooth and nice, Player's shorts swish as they run up court, and the crowd looks real...also there are new cut scenes that are really nice.
The graphics are really well done.

Replay?8
high, you have the 24/7 mode and franchise mode, so the replay is high. Or call over some of your buddies and see whos the best.

Rent or Buy
Depends, if you like Basketball alot, then buy, if not, try and see for yourself. I would say buy it.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/29/03