ESPN NBA Basketball

"Best out there"

I have to say this game was very impressive and was very disappointing. Franchise mode is way more in-depth than NBA Lives Dynasty mode. You have a freedom to hire couches, assistant couches, trainers, and scouts. The CAP limit is good enough to not have all star players on your teams. You are also able to scout rookies. What was disappointing was "Iso-Motion". It is way to easy to drive through. No defensive stance. Fatigue ratings really don't matter because everyone gets there stamina back really quick. Other than that, everything is perfect.

Graphics
10/10
This part of ESPN NBA Basketball is very impressive. I really didn't find anything wrong about the graphics. Dunks and lay-ups are smooth.

Controls
8/10
The Buttons are easy to trigger, but it really doesn't match Lives controls. They have a defensive stance, ally-opp button, pro-hop button, and dunk buttons. I can really say that added a real plus on live while Espn had a shoot button to do most of those things. Something Espn had that live didn't was the special pass (behind the back, no look passes etc etc.,) buttons.

Gameplay
8/10
I would say Espn's gameplay is the best. It's more like the NBA. People look for realism in most games and this will satisfy that whether you are more into people with friends (multi-tap) or if your into franchise modes. Sliders really help because there is a crazy amount of blocks in this game. Shots are extremely easy. The ally-opp buttons (special pass buttons) can really ruin the game. It's hard to stop, almost impossible.

Online Gameplay
6/10
I have never been surrounded by so many cheaters before. The only way you can win really is for yourself to cheat also. Mavericks, Lakers, and the Kings are the only team people choose. People choose the Mavericks for the threes. Lakers for Shaq and Kobe. And Kings for threes and something else. The sliders are default so the Mavericks are pretty much unstoppable and blocking is ridiculous.

Overall
8/10
As you know the overall score is 8 most bcause of the franchise. It is perfect. It would have been higher if it had a better online or like live's

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/09/04