NBA Street V3

Format PlayStation 2

Developer EA Sports

Publisher EA Sports

Genre Sports

With higher scores than a pulling competition on a Club 18-30 night out, there's something rather mechanical and soulless about basketball. Given the sheer size of the players involved, getting baskets seems more of an inevitability than an achievement. While there have been some excellent hoop games previously on PS2, none have so far overcome the seemingly detached and automatic process of scoring.

Until now. NBA Street V3 gives you an unbelievable amount of control over how and even when every basket is scored. The right analogue stick is used to pull off one of eight dribbling tricks on your approach to the rim. Hold down one of three other buttons while doing so and you open a new set of more complicated moves that range from flipping the ball under a leg to the more humiliating trick of bouncing it off an opponent's head.

In The Air Tonight
And it doesn't stop there. Once airborne you use the right analogue stick again to perform up to four more tricks before either slam dunking or delaying the basket by passing to a leaping team-mate behind you. He can then do a further four tricks before finishing the move or passing it to the third and final man to complete the job. The longer you delay scoring, however, the better chance your opponent has of stealing the ball and going down the other end relatively unchallenged. The Gamebreakers in NBA Street Vol. 2 were never this stylish.

The main new mode is Street Challenge, in which you have 70 days to build up a reputation and a wardrobe. Each day offers a selection of challenges, ranging from individual skills competitions to small tournaments, with your choices of what to attempt affecting both your character and the morale of the team. If you accept an invite from one competition having already promised to play in another, you'll lose the support of the team. Stick to your original schedule and the second tournament invite might never crop up again. Throw in a Dunk Contest that should better the one in NBA Live 2005 and even ardent haters of the sport will find this hard to resist.

PSW Staff