The graphics do the job. They're not too flash and kinda blurry, but not blurry to the extent that they're indistinctive. When I say blurry I'm referring to facial features when players are on court. This is also due to the fact that the camera is zoomed in on them individually. The ball, backboard and court look reasonably sharp but the crowd is a poor 2d animation. Players with tattoos in real life will have tattoos in the game albeit you won't be able to make out what they are. They seem to have modelled the players well and movement for the most part is realistic, especially when players dive for a loose ball. Players wave their arms around and throw their arms in disgust at knocking a ball out of bounds. The highlights though are when players pull off spectacular dunks, especially when these are replayed from close in at slow motion.

The squeaking of shoes on a wood floor and the thump of a ball, not too much else you can put into a basketball game really as far as on court sounds go but they do capture the realism. You'll hear background music played over the courts PA System which is a nice touch, but really when we talk sound we're talking about commentary and I must say the commentary is exceptional. Steve Kerr and Marv Albert runt he commentary and provide some great comments. Some are insightful, some are entertaining. Steve Kerr provides great colour commentary and will tell you about which college and which coach certain players played for, whilst also regaling us with his NBA experience "I was told to foul Shaq but his arms were like tree trunks". He'll also diss poor foul shooters "the last time he made two free throws was in the Reagan era". Definitely a highlight of the game.

Easy to pick up and control. If you're used to playing this on a controller with more buttons it'll take a short time to get used to things but overall it's easy. Players have the option to accelerate, dribble the ball between their legs, dunk/shoot and pass. There's also the alley-oop play which requires using the L trigger and the select button (which takes a while to get used to) plus the freestyle mode. The freestyle mode quite simply is a special action that will be presented to superstar players in certain situations. When the circle round your feet lights up, you hold the R trigger and push one of the buttons. Depending whether you're a Scorer, Play Maker or High Flyer. If you're a playmaker you'll throw no look behind the back passes to team mates, if you're a scorer you may do a hook shot, whilst a high flyer may do some crazy layup (which unfortunately misses most of the time). I found that I tended to ignore this feature because more often than not the play wouldn't come off. If I was on a fast break with no defenders and used a high flyer, instead of a spectacular dunk I'd get him jumping at the basket and trying to throw the ball in one handed which almost always missed. It's a nice idea but hasn't quite worked.



One aspect that still isn't right is defence. It's hard to take a charging foul, and often you'll find that players will blow past you. The 'physical' element seem to be missing as you try and stop people getting into the key. Blocking is pretty much only possible when the opposition is in the paint and you'll see some spectacular blocks. Try and block someone going for 3 and you'll have no chance.

Of course there's several difficulty levels which range from easy (rookie) to hard (superstar). Thankfully the difficulty levels aren't stupidly impossible to negotiate or frustrate you. As you increase the difficulty you'll find that leaving opposition to take open jump shots will almost certainly lead to them scoring. Their defence and stealing skills become great too so you'll need to protect the ball a lot more.

If you like basketball then this game offers endless re- playability till the next version come out. You can play single games, short to full length seasons, playoffs, the all star weekend which includes the all star game, rookie game, dunk contest and 3 point shootout, as well as a range of challenges which require you to get a certain amount of points/rebounds/assists as you replicate great games from the past season. The challenges will unlock retro jerseys and former all star teams.

It's easy to play, fun and with endless possibilities and all the NBA teams and rosters to tinker with you'll be kept busy for a long time. It has its faults, but the good far outweighs the bad and is a great first attempt on a handheld. It won't disappoint you if you're a fan of the series or a basketball fan.

Pros:   • smooth, easy to pick up gameplay   • Good graphics   • unlockable challenges Cons:   • Players miss easy dunks   • Freestyle moves tend to miss more often than they go in

Graphics: Sound: Gameplay: Difficulty: Value: Score:

7.5/10 8.5/10 8/10 8.5/10 8.5/10 8/10