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by Fussbett 05/05/2003, 5:21am PDT |
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This man is Jerry West, and I'm delighted to say that I just unlocked his "throwback jersey". Jerry will be monitoring this mini-review.
I didn't play NBA Street Vol.1 at all. I guess I got sick of NBA Jam back in the dizzay, and since I also hate proper basketball video games AND anything "urban", I knew NBA Street and I would not get along. I was wrong, because we actually go together like peanut butter and chocolate. As if I live in a romantic comedy, we attractive and single opposites were thrown together and though everyone else knew that NBA Street Vol.2 and I were perfect for each other, we just didn't see it at first. The NBA Street franchise is actually taking basketball down off the shelves of the intelligencia and making it accessible for the Fussbetts. This game's terrible secret is that there is really not that much basketball, and instead there is a whole lot of videogame.
I gather that in regular basketball you try to outscore the opponent by simply eeking out one basket at a time, by defeating the opposing team's defense. In NBA Street this strategy will allow you to squeak out some victories, but you'll be living on the knife edge, easily defeated as often as you win! The actual game in NBA Street is one of combos. A regular basket does not raise your Gamebreaker bar, while a rebound + fakeout + trick + alleyoop will contribute to your Gamebreaker bar significantly. Once maxed, you can pocket the Gamebreaker and risk going for the bigger reward of the 2x Gamebreaker, or you can go ahead and take your Gamebreaker shot which yeilds 2 points for you, and takes away a point from the opposing team. The second way videogames triumph over basketball is in the defense. Playing NBA Street feels like I have a huge influence on whether or not the opposing team scores a basket. Unlike normal basketball games I never feel helpless as I watch my shots miss without reason, nor do I yell at my AI teammates for lack of effort, nor do I attribute the other team's score to my bad luck. Blocks and stuff are so common and occur under such logical circumstances (a player's hand getting in the path of the ball), I know at any point if I really buckled down, I could stop them from getting points (aka "get them out of my house"). At the very least good defence will stop them from getting combo-rich points.
The EA Big brand always does a good job of polishing up a title, and the presentation of NBA Street Vol.2 gets me excited about basketball everytime I play. I may not be able to see the difference between a "deodorant jam" and "da hangman" jam for the life of me, but dammit, after watching the intro and flipping through the menus I want deseperately to rock the rim on both dunks. With authority. I imagine young basketball enthusiasts must be going ape over this game. |
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