Nba Street Vol 2 Review

Some of the one-two alley-oop moves
are fantastic to watch, for players on either side.

Apologies for the World's Latest Review - we'd like to say it was because we were too darned busy with this belter of a b-ball game, but the truth is, we just clean forgot. Sorry. It won't happen again.

Anyway, what can you possibly do with basketball that hasn't been covered by the hundreds of NBA games already available? Generally speaking, absolutely nothing. Unless you're the producers of EAs' NBA Street.

This little beauty fuses three-on-three arcade-style basketball with the stunt-combo system from SSX Tricky, thereby creating a beatifully fluid sports game that ought to be appealing to any console fan.

Teams can be mixed gender, if you want.

It's all about playing with panache. The more special moves you can squeeze into the build-up to a hoop, the more trick points you then accumulate. These can be used for special gamebreaker shots, which deduct points from the opposition.

And the special moves are superb. By playing through the one-player mode, you'll be able to buy increasingly spectacular tricks, and apter a short time you'll be disappointed if you don't get at least ten of them into every attack.

It's still basketball, of course, but it's just an incredibly slick, playable take on the sport.

The presentation matches the quality of the gameplay, featuring a range of hip-hop tunes available in standard radio versions, or interactive remixes that react to the on-court action.

That's Michael Jordan. He's in there too.

Background sounds such as mobile phones and car alarms add atmosphere, and after a while the commentator will give your players nicknames according to their style of play. Our giant dunk-master swiftly earned the title 'Runway', for his thunderous drives an massive hang-time.

Beating the various solo modes earns reward points to spend o items such as clothing or customised abilities. The players you design can then be imported into other teams of current and former NBA players, or mixed with the larger-than-life boss characters you can win by defeating the computer.

Street Vol 2's the biggest and most enjoyable basketball game in ages.

A cracking basketball game that almost negates the need for realistic sports sims. Why play serious when this is twice as much fun?

+:
Fast and frious. / Fantastic dunks. / ridiculous amount of unlockable stuff.

-:
No three-point showdown mode. / Replays aren't all that impressive

Verdict: 88/100