Gameplay:
NBA Street is an arcade style basketball game that hosts teams of 3 versus 3 with no standard basketball rules except for the standard 24-second shot clock. The mechanics of the game are greatly exaggerated with players jumping upwards of 6-feet high and players able to do double dunks, but it makes for a very fun, casual experience. The game incorporates some great trick moves that build up points for your team which slowly fills up the gamebreaker meter. Once the gamebreaker meter is filled, your team can enter gamebreaker mode which makes your next shot worth more points as you perform more and more tricks before the shot. However, you must make sure that you don’t get the ball stolen from you or else you lose the opportunity to score extra points.
The focal point of the game is the Homestreet Challenge mode which allows you to create your own character and specialize his skills. It is a lot of fun being able to design your own character’s strengths and weaknesses, but more physical customization would have definitely made the experience more enjoyable. As you progress through the Homestreet Challenge mode, you face different teams under different rule sets. Once you beat a team, most of the time you have access to recruit the captain of their squad, which makes for some great team customization. Unfortunately, other than the Homestreet Challenge mode there isn’t much substance to the game. There is a mode that allows you to customize a game of basketball with whatever rules you desire such as dunks only, and thankfully the pick-up-games can be played cooperatively or against a friend. Also, there is an online mode which has a leaderboard and tracks your stats, but lag can prove to be somewhat of a problem.
Controls:
As an arcade Basketball game, the use of tricks is emphasized with a great deal. By using a combination of the square or triangle button along with the shoulder buttons, you can perform tricks on your defender that generate points. If the defender attempts a steal at the correct moment, the defender may steal the ball depending on how high the defender’s steal rating is. Dunking is probably the single most important way to score in the game, and getting in for a dunk can be very gratifying. If the circle button is held while dunking, a meter will begin to fill up at the top of the screen. If you lets go right as the meter fills, the dunking player will not only dunk once but twice. However, if you let go too late, the dunk will fail. As a whole, the controls are very tight and are one of the best executions of the game.
Graphics:
As one of the first games for the next-generation consoles to support 1080p resolution, NBA Street Homecourt is a great-looking game. The player models and courts are all in rich detail and the effects of the game really add to the experience. However, the color filter used to make the game look ‘retro’ seems to make the game actually look worse than it probably could have. Either way, the game looks great.
Sound:
Depending on what kind of music you listen to, NBA Street Homecourt is either hit or miss. Most of the tracks are classic hip-hop and there are also some house and upbeat funk thrown in for good measure. The soundtrack has over 40 tracks and just about all of them are pretty fitting for the game. The sound effects of the game fit the arcade style of the game, but for the most part become rather repetitive over time. Some more environmental sounds could have made the game more dynamic.
Replay Value:
Although a great game, it doesn’t last long. The main single-player mode takes about 12 hours to finish and all you have left after that is multi-player and online. Thankfully, both multi-player and online are very flush and this game is definitely one of the better party games out there. It’s easy to say this game is very casual and won’t last long but is easy to enjoy for short periods of time.
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Rating:
Story: 6.0
Gameplay: 8.5
Graphics: 9.0
Controls: 9.0
Sound: 8.0
Replay Value: 7.0
Overall: 8.3
Own, Rent, Avoid:
Rent: A very fun experience for a few hours as well as a great party game for the weekend with friends.
Last Thoughts:
Very fun gameplay but a huge lack of modes make this a short-lived albeit fun experience.
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Written By
Jonathan
Leack
02/28/2009
