NBA Street Vol. 2

"Dropping Dimes has Never Been so Much Fun"

NBA Street Vol. 2, the seem less blending of new school and old school, flash and substance, street and pro ball. Put it all together and you have one incredibly fun b-ball game that defies any other b-ball game out there.

For those of you unfamiliar with NBA Street here’s a quick run down of the game. Essentially it is an arcade style game like NBA JAM. But to call it NBA JAM would be disrespectful. It is a 3 on 3 pickup game of 1’s and 2’s to 21. Included into the game is a trick system that allows the player to make insane dribbling moves, passes, shots and dunks, the more crazy the string of plays you pull off the more points you receive when you score. When you fill up your trick meter you will receive a game breaker, basically a play that will allow you to gain points while your opponent loses points.

Gameplay - The bulk of your time will be spent doing one of two modes. These include NBA Challenge, a mode where you pick a team and compete and beat all the other NBA teams along with legend teams, and Be A Legend mode, which includes creating your own player and team and playing on the streets, to become, well, a legend. If you’re new to the game, like I was, there is no need to jump into either right way, because there is a Street School session where you can learn to ball it up with style. Once you start though, the game will take a hold on you and not let go till it is over. I’ll go into depth of Be A Legend mode. First you get to make your character; you can edit the jersey, shorts, shoes, face, skin, and facial hair, along with skill points and moves. Your baller starts with a group of weak generics in the early going. But as you progress through the game, you will be able to add much better teammates. The games consist of pickup games, skill challenges, and tournaments. By winning games you will win development points, which can be spent on new clothing, skills and moves, along with more reputation. It is a blast to be able to ball in Pete Maravich duds, alongside, Wilt the Stilt and Magic. The games are fast paced, filled with finger twisting combo moves and insane dunks. Some of the players can literally jump over the backboard, and some of the moves and dunks are almost humanly impossible (especially the game breakers), this is what gives it its arcade flavor and I wouldn’t have it any other way. To make it plain and simple, this game is ridiculously fun to play.

Sound and Graphics- “Stick a fork in the meatball or stick the sandwich in the garbage,” courtesy of DJ Cucumber Slice. Well let me say this, the commentary during the game is the best I’ve ever heard during any sports game, period. DJ Cucumber slice is quirky yet sophisticated, dramatic yet relaxed, and best of all; his love of the game is shown in the emotion that he puts into the play calling. He never gets repetitive either. Over shadowed by him is a decent track of rap songs. I never really paid attention to them cause I was to busy listening to Cucumber Slice. The sound effects are dead on, but needless to say are over shadowed by Cucumber Slice. Like the sounds, one can’t help but notice the rich graphics. This is one game, even though it probably was a playstation 2 port, EA did a tremendous job of utilizing the Xbox. While there might not be much graphical prowess involved in a basketball game, this is one game where there is. Each court is modeled to a T after its real life counterpart, from the cage to the gym, they are perfectly represented. The character models are also extremely well done, with a special eye for the uniforms. No more are uniform colors blandly blended together; each line and each tone of color are shown to their truest, right down to the sneakers. While the NBA ballers might not be wearing actual outfits, the legends are, and represented perfectly from their playing days. If I were to have to point out a graphical flaw I would say that some of the motions seem a little stiff some times, just get a game breaker 2, or insane dunk and you will see what I mean. In the grand scheme of things, this doesn’t subtract from the game.

Multiplayer and Replayability – Well there is not a whole lot to the multiplayer aspect. Basically pick up games and participating in the NBA challenge. No Xbox live support either. Still, props for being able to play with four people instead of two. EA struck it rich with unlockables and replayability though. Throughout the game there are a myriad of options to unlock, these range from new street courts, new clothing to wear for your created player (shoes and outfits), new legendary ballers to play as, new music tracks, and more. Based on unlockables and play modes and the fact this game is a blast to play, it will take a healthy amount of time to complete it all, I can’t give a concrete number of hours cause I lost track playing and frankly don’t care, but the point is that you will be playing it or a while.

Overall – 9.5/10 – I deducted a half point simply for the fact that I don’t give 10’s to sports games, however, this is the premier basketball title out there, even over simulation games. There is so much to unlock, and a bunch of modes to play, along with those a high enjoyment factor. At $20 I can’t see why anyone would want to pass up this title, a recommended purchase.

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