NBA Street - 5/10

NBA Street Showdown is probably the most fun I’ve had out of a basketball game in a long time. Having been a fan of EA Sports titles and previously NBA Jam (How long ago was that) I was looking forward to this title. The big selling point to this game has to be its portable capabilities, but that i mean the very cool "shot blocker" mini game and the quick games (first one to score 21 wins in NBA and 11, 15 etc in King of the courts mode), the game itself includes an autosave function so whenever you update your baller its on file, meaning this game is great to play in transit.

Sound:
Firstly I’ll talk about the sound, which is excellent. A great feature is the ability to just kick back and listen to the EA Trax listings, some of the trax are quit catching and really enhance the "street" feel to the game. In particular its the not so well known artists that shine on the trax such as Ali Vegas and co (I’ve been an Ali Vegas fan for a while...call me bias). The trash talk commentary throughout the "King of the Courts" mode can get a little repetitive at times but with such a variety of dialogue you don’t really notice, especially with the fast pace of the game. The squeak of shoes and bouncing ball are expected and are there. Overall I give the sound a sold 9, what would've made it better? A few "homies" cheering you on from the sideline.

Graphics:
Graphically, this game doesn’t slip. The frame rate maintains with the games fast pace and looks very polished. As you would expect all the stars of the NBA are in there as well as a host of unlockable former stars all doing their real life counterparts justice. The lighting effects on court are great especially around dusk, the night ones also shape out well. In King of the Courts - the ability to create and customise your baller with hundreds of variations are executed almost to perfection, would like to see some more facial detail however but its not a problem. The backdrops (i.e. parking lots, train stations) are well designed and again add to that whole street feel, as expected graffiti can be seen sprayed against brick buildings… it is street. Graphics score a well deserved 9.

Gameplay/Difficulty:
This can be summarized very quickly...controls aren’t hard to master (trick moves are easy enough and look very cool, hitting the replay will be a constant) and its very user friendly with three difficulty settings; easy, medium, hard, the game caters to all ballers and baller wannabes! Scores a 9 – no complaints here.

Game Content:
The King of the Courts mode is obviously the standout; you get to customise your baller from the colour of facial hair right down to the colour of his/her socks, then you’re off to earn catch to further improve your game and looks. There are 11 courts initially to own by completing various obstacles, but you’d want to try out the mini games to earn that cash and play some NBA street games under your profile so you can add moves and enhance aspects of your game. As mentioned the shot blocker mini game is pretty fun as is the arcade shoot-out (brought back memories of Time Zone). I give it an 8.

Overall rating: A must have for those who are after a game to play on the run or just a bit fun - 9

Submitted by MedievalOne 07/10/2005 0

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NBA Street

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• MedievalOne Review 5/10 by MedievalOne

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