This review, as well as all [except for this one] of my reviews on this forum, are seriously condensed thanks to the forums text limit as well as the inability for most members to actually fully read all the garbage I type out carelessly anyways. If you want intricacies on battle systems or the backstory, feel free to look up a decent PREVIEW on the net and then come back here and read about the good and bad sides of the game. Anyways, on with the "review"...
NBA Street
Presentation:
To be perfectly honest, after playing Twisted Metal: Black, I have been spoiled. I know it\'s very bad for a reviewer to actually compare any aspect of any two games that are obviously in completely separate genres, but I just can\'t help myself. The menu system is completely uninspired and the only thing that actually maintains the "Street" theme in NBA Street is the gusto loud-mouthed announcer that speaks during the selection screen and the "graffiti-styled" art that is presented in the selection font. The game is irrevocably fast paced and it\'s unfortunate that the menu system does not emulate this fact in some way. I do give EA Big lots of credit for making the game easy to navigate though in so many ways.
Speaking of which, the best aspect of the presentation in Street is the way that the player select menu is represented as well as the create a player mode. Each character is articulated incredibly well in each mode of the selection and they move and pose according to the order in which they were picked. Each player is also modeled beautifully on the player select screen showcasing just how much detail has gone into the game. I just wish that there was more life in the menu system, however, as this game has a lot of personality that deserves to be showcased through and through.
Graphics:
Fortunately, just as was stated above, the players are beautifully rendered to portray their likenesses. Their heights and physical appearances match their real-life counterparts to an incredible point that you almost feel as if you were Micheal Jordan running down the street court. Perhaps where Street excels however is in its original Street character designs offering up an incredible level of mismatch teammates that you\'d come to expect in a Street ball match up. Although the idea of MJ, Kobe Bryant, and Shaquille O\' Neal dishing it out to a group of street ballers in some backwater court in Chicago seems very odd, it is very believable in so many ways in Street and this adds plenty of artistic variation to the title.
Also, not only does the game display the 6-players on screen at once with extremely rare framerate dips, it also displays many people and vehicles in the background moving around as if the game was a true NBA event. Not only that, but the weather effects presented in the game are also incredibly varied ranging from a snowy asphalt, to slippery when wet rainy days. Gone are the 2D sprite people presented in large stadiums EA titles, but I feel that with their loss, some of the life in the game is a bit lost making it feel a tad bit less energetic. Being cheered on by 20 people is no substitute to being cheered on by 60,000 plus spectators, even if they are computer generated.
The only serious gripe I have with the visuals has to be that the players move in a somewhat jerky manor. Smooth transitions from steeling the ball to performing a jump shot are absent in the overall scheme of things. Smooth 180-degree spins are also absent in favor of a much faster style of gameplay. However, I don\'t think the game suffers too much from this loss in visuals when playing the game, it does however become a tad bit annoying when you are trying to immerse yourself in the excitement. Overall, even though the frames of animation are light in all of the actions the players can perform, it\'s not enough to make the game seem any less like a true next-gen title.
Sound:
When I first started playing Street, I was greeted by a somewhat smooth hip-hop beat in the background befitting of the title and I almost began bobbing my head to it, but then I remembered that hip-hop music just wasn\'t something that fit my forte. I tried to be as objective as possible when listening to the beats and the tunes, but it\'s just not my thing. The music did little to enhance my overall play experience and I would have preferred a choice when dealing with the soundtrack. At times when I was younger, I felt that the beats in certain rap songs were very appropriate when playing basketball, but the tunes in Street do very little to bring that experience back to me again when I scream down the court for a dunk.
Another mixed bag for me was the announcer Joe "The Show" Jackson. At first, I was greeted by his offering as a welcome breath of fresh air completely different from the scripted tellings of most sim sports game announcers, but after a couple of games, his breath of fresh air fell into a decrepit aura only remedied by turning his ass off completely. Maybe I just got annoyed with his voice in general, but in any case, it just didn\'t make me feel like I wanted to continue playing. Just give me the ball and shut up, please.
On another note, the sound effects are something that I can completely relate to. The ball handling sounds as well as the general "pack" sounds are way over the top, but they do add a whole lot to the overall street atmosphere of the game. When I made my first gamebreaker slam-dunk, I was literally in basketball heaven as the backboard and rim flung and twisted with my every whim. In other words, pop in a CD with your favorite upbeat tunes on it and turn off the in-game music and commentary and you will be pleasantly surprised at how well the game plays regardless.
***Read the next post for the rest of the review***
