NBA Street

Overall: B+
Violence: A
Sexual Content: A
Language: A
Drugs/Alcohol: A

Platform reviewed: Playstation 2
Publisher: EA Sports
ESRB rating: E

Michael Jordan has left the building and is waiting to team up with you for a fast paced game of three-on-three street ball. In Playstation 2's NBA Street even rank amateurs can realize their hoop dreams by hitting the black top with phat legendary ballers.

From the main menu, one or two players can select from two possible playing scenarios. In City Circuit mode, your goal is to go on tour representing one of the 29 NBA teams and play against other NBA ball players or Street Legends from cities around the country. Court locations range from rainy Vancouver to hot Miami, and everything in-between. After winning each region, you are rewarded by cheat codes, the addition of NBA players or Street Legends to your roster, or the ability to create your own elite athlete.

Hold the Court mode requires you to pick your team and defend your turf against mixed squads of the best NBA players for consecutive wins. Each court has win-streak and trick-total records. Breaking them may not lead to lucrative product endorsements but they will earn cheat codes, new teams, appearance enhancements, and items like clothes or shoes.

Unlike previous arena basketball, games go to 21 and must be won by two points. There are no quarters or fouls; only shot clock violations are enforced. General game-play features basic offensive lay-ups and passes, and defensive blocks and rebounds. Aggressive gamers will need to achieve a higher handling or dunking rating (or risk losing the ball) if they wish to accumulate trick points with advanced moves like Off the Chain, Reel2Reel, and Slip'n'Slide or advanced dunks like Backbreaker, Groundshaker, Wake Up Call, and Dinner's Served, to name a few.

Tricks build your Gamebreaker meter. Once it is full, you have a limited time to complete a special shot that will add points to your teams score and subtract points from your opponents. This dramatic, wide-screen, slow motion sequence allows you to end the game in shock-wave, breaking-the-rim style.

For rusty wannabes like me, there is a Street School tutorial staring Joe "The Show" and his megaphone, who teaches everything from basic to advanced moves, while the amazing dynamics of the music's hip-hop loops reflects how well you're playing. At first, Joe's rap slang was amusing but I was soon grateful for the ability to turn his voice down (off), besides, the low-key music kept implying my starting out skills were equivalent to a yawn.

The graphics of each outdoor court is rich with details: spectators, 3D cars and subway trains driving by, grass growing between the asphalt cracks, and player shadows (my favorite), although some player movements look a little choppy. The control schemes look scary at first, but with some practice soon become second nature even for youngsters. Offering good replay value NBA Street is definitely worth a slam-dunk in the video game rental basket, and parents may finally agree it is safe to play in the street.

Melanie Law

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