I never knew much about street basketball. Luckily, NBA Street has taught me a few things and enlightened me on the finer parts of street ball. Did you know that all street basketball games feature a guy with a mega phone announcing each game? Have you ever realized that tall Chinese guys who go by the name "Takashi" are regularly seen playing street ball? Did it come to your attention that at irregular intervals throughout your average street b-ball game the nets are often seen exploding? These are some of the many things I have learned playing NBA Street. OK, maybe the nets don't explode in real street ball, there are no players named Takashi, and the quickest you'll ever get to an announcer in a street game are people on the sidelines yelling "Wow! That was sweet!" But, hey, stuff like this happens all the time in NBA Street.
After playing NBA Live 2001 I began to feel that all basketball games were the same old, same old. Each had the same graphics, same game play, same dunks, same courts, same gimmicks, and even the same "innovative never before seen new features." Live 2K1 was a great game, but I needed something new. I was tired of what I was getting from b-ball games, and luckily Street gave me a good breath of fresh air.
You know a game is going to be good when you first turn it on and a movie involving a Jamaican guy with dreadlocks is the first thing you see. That has to be the pinnacle of coolness. Well, a short midget who talks Australian could be a close runner-up. I don't know, a lanky, tall guy with a huge afro as big as his head is a pretty cool too. Seriously though, this game has got to have the most personality I've ever seen in a sports game. No other video game involving physical recreation captures personality quite like this one. What other game do you know features Michael Jordan as a host or lets you "get your roll on" on top of a building? Not only does NBA Street have style but it's also got the game play and graphics to back it up.
One thing that keeps the game from not getting old is that it puts the emphasis on defense. Blocks and steals now matter just as much as a 2-pointer or a lay-up. Defense determines whether you win or lose. The amount of blocks and steals per game usually makes a big difference in the final score.
Remember that game called NBA Jam? It's probably the closest thing comparable to NBA Street. NBA Jam might be a 2 on 2 game rather than 3 on 3 and is played on regular courts instead of streets but the influence is still there. Just like NBA Jam, dunks are big and stylish and the ball physics seem similar to the old Acclaim arcade game as well. Fortunately though, it's a big step up from Jam. Whereas Jam featured your basic arcade game play with a few cool options tossed here and there, NBA Street features your basic arcade game play with a lot of cool things tossed everywhere.
Some of these cool things just beg to be discussed. NBA Street, unlike any other basketball game, features a trick meter than goes up by the number of tricks you perform. You may scratch your head and say, "What's that doing in there? I thought trick points were in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2," but the trick system actually does work very well and functions about the same as the one in SSX. When you have worked your trick meter up high enough in SSX you got a boost, right? In NBA Street when your meter reaches a set point you get to use what is called a "gamebreaker." Gamebreakers are basically shots that you can't miss, unless blocked, which gives you the points for the shot as well as takes the same number of points from the other team. This allows you to catch up in a game even when you're behind by a good number of points.
What's cool about NBA Street is that not only can you create your own team, but you can go through a whole mini-season with them in the City Circuit mode. As you progress, your team gets better and better. How? Because when you beat a team you can actually take one of their star players and add them to your roster. Heck, you can even add the bosses to your team once you beat them. The ability to add new players really helps in making the game not get stale by only playing as the same three players through the entire game.
You can also add players to your team by creating them. The create-a-player mode is really deep and allows you to customize your player any way you want. Once done you can add him/her to your City Circuit team. As you progress through the game you get more styles to choose from in this mode and there's no telling how many bodies and shoes you'll have by the time everything is all said and done.
But how does the game look? Fortunately, I can tell you that it looks absolutely beautiful. NBA Street's style is very similar to SSX's amazing graphics, and like SSX, NBA Street's atmosphere always feels so alive. Cars move in the background, people at the sidelines comment on your mad skills, paper and bags blow across the court in The Windy City and in "The Yard" you can frequently see a train come by in the background. The players are also well animated and move very fluidly.
It's so nice to hear the satisfying "whack" of the ball when it's blocked. Yes, the sound is also great. The players trash-talk each other during the game, the cars honk in the background, and the announcer isn't even half bad.
All together, NBA Street is a great original effort, and adds a different flavor to the basketball game genre. It's pretty much created its own street basketball genre. It's filled with personality, the atmosphere feels alive, and the game play is just plain fun. In the end, that's all NBA Street really is: fun.
-Sam
Company Line
Take basketball back to its roots on the street to face off against the biggest and baddest ballers in the land with EA SPORTS BIG™ NBA STREET. Throw on your kicks and hit the asphalt in the first over the top arcade-action streetball video game for the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system. Show off your mad hoops skills and make your opponents buckle with "ankle-breaking" moves and fierce dunks. Drain treys from deep beyond the arc or bang around down low and dominate the post with your inside game. With "off-the-backboard" no-look passes and dizzying crossover dribbles your opponent will be beggin' for mercy as you pump up your power meter. Stop...Pop...Drop -- Count it, baby! If your game's weak, you don't have to go home, but you've gotta get off the court. It's not basketball. It's streetball. You got game?
Features
Power up your team by taking opponents to school. Boost your momentum meter by pulling off sweet moves. The more you pour on the highlights the bigger the boost creating even bigger moves and more points for unlocks.
Would you like a little mustard with that hot dog? Monster dunks, high-flying rejections and rockin' collisions. These are the ill moves you'll only see in NBA STREET. All movements are based on real-life physics, but are pumped up for over the top arcade-action!
Take on the best the street has to offer in City Circuit Mode. NBA STREET challenges you to battle the best of "The Street" on amazingly intricate streetcourts all over the USA in this unique level-based challenge. Add your favorite player from the team you just beat-you'll need him to take on the devastating level bosses: the Streetcourt Legends. Even with teammate Michael Jordan on your side, the competition will try to make you leave the court with your head lowered and your tail between your legs.
Rake in the rewards as you go court to court on a quest for the big boss. Hit the road in Circuit City and unlock NBA players, Streetball Legends, and amazing street courts all over the USA. In Hold the Court mode players can win cool accessories from shoes to tattoos if they've got game.
Holler out "Who's Got Next" in Hold The Court Mode. Play with the Street Legends and take on all comers with the baddest ballers in the land. Pick a court and hold it against mixed squads of NBA players. Play single player or against a friend. See if you can set the court record for consecutive "W's" and become a legend.
Commentary from the "Joe the Show." Court announcer Joe "The Show" Jackson calls the shots in NBA STREET and tells it like it is. You aren't bringing the noise? "The Show" will let you know that that weak stuff is not allowed! NBA STREET is not for the coy or shy ballers, only the cool and confident.
The most unique and mind-blowing animations ever available in a video game. Some of the best streetballers in the country showed off the moves that made them legends in the EA SPORTS BIG mo-cap studio. Only PlayStation 2 games can deliver these silky smooth and ultra life-like results.
Play the country's best and most intricate street courts. From the rooftops of downtown Los Angeles, to the snowy streets of Beantown, to inner-city blacktop showdowns and sun-soaked b-ball brawls by the beach, these are the toughest and hippest courts in the country.
The dopest soundtrack around. Funky beats from the out of this world DJ crew Ninja Tune add further flavor to the ballers moves and groves on the asphalt.
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